In addition to seasonal pumpkin carving this year, I decided to do something different and carve a pineapple. By carving something exotic during the first truly frigid weather of the season, it made the night feel more like a luau than preparing for Halloween. I also learned a few PR lessons along the way; here are three of them.
Have you ever carved a pine-o-lantern?
3 PR Lessons from Carving a Pine-O-Lantern
- Create a Plan (And Tackle it in Layers)
While staring at my pineapple, I realized I would have to approach carving it in a much different way than a traditional pumpkin. While the orange gourds allow you to make a few cuts and then dive in with your hands to scoop out the ‘guts,’ a pineapple proved more difficult. Because of the thick inner core, removing the insides was hard; I had to approach it in multiple layers.
Taking the extra time had its rewards in the form of delicious, fresh pineapple juice that I got to enjoy straight from the fruit. The PR lesson is this: always create a game plan for your campaign and have the patience to see it through; most plans take 6-12 months before you see a big difference.
- Try Something Wildly Different
Carving a pineapple instead of a pumpkin is a bizarre tradeoff, but I gained some benefits that don’t exist when following the usual tradition. This is a great PR lesson you can apply to your next campaign. While you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks, try something wild and unique in your next campaign. You may be the first to create a new trend.
- Make it Multi-Purpose
In addition to having a cool, carved conversation piece this Halloween, I also got a large bowl of pineapple ‘guts’ to blend into smoothies and for making juice! I also plan to take the top of the fruit and plant it as soon as Halloween is over to create a new pineapple houseplant.
Just like my pineapple, your content should be multi-purpose. If you’ve just completed some major research, get some extra mileage out of it by sharing facts on social media, writing a press release and creating a blog post. In addition to getting your message out on multiple platforms, you’ll be able to cross-promote each piece of content, which helps improve your SEO.
Have you ever carved anything other than a pumpkin for Halloween? Can you think of any PR lessons you learned during the process?
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