The Longest Running PR Stunt In History
Those working in the communications business whether in advertising, marketing, sponsorship or public relations are consistently challenged by clients to devise bigger and better stunts, secure long-lasting coverage, redefine how an industry is promoted and provide value for money. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective – such as a 3,500km bicycle race around France.
The idea of the first ever Tour de France was to sell copies of L’Auto newspaper, a publicity stunt that was such a success it destroyed the paper’s rival Le Velo in the process. The race is now owned and run by a subsidiary of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) http://www.aso.fr/index_us.html , which since 1993 has been part of the media group that owns L’Équipe, France’s most successful sports newspaper.
Le Tour de France is now the biggest annual sporting event in the world, run over 21 days in July, the race has grown to become a rolling publicity caravan watched by millions who line the roadside and millions more on television. One wonders whether the France tourist board ever need to undertake any paid for advertising or other promotions as, for three weeks of every summer, we have spectacular pictures of fields full of sunflowers or lavender, mountain pastures full of plump dairy cows and historic chateaus amid vineyards beamed onto out TV screens.
Cycling has seen its reputation tarnished repeatedly over recent years due to various doping scandals but Le Tour’s popularity has remained strong. The sport as a whole is starting to attract lucrative new sponsors such as satellite broadcaster Sky (Team Sky) – who have built on the British cycling’s recent Olympic success – Taiwanese technology company HTC have partnered with US sports apparel manufacturer Columbia (Team HTC-Columbia) while sat-nav producer Garmin jointly fund a team alongside glasses maker Transitions (Team Garmin-Transition).
Copyright ASO
What is attractive to corporate sponsors is the relative cost of sponsoring a pro cycling team is tiny when compared to other global sports. You can run a team for an entire season on a budget comparable to a formula one driver’s annual salary and there are more than just 19 race weekends.
Copyright ASO
107 years after journalist Géo Lefèvre, talked his editor, Henri Desgrange, into the bold move of hosting a publicity seeking event for the benefit of one company, the Tour provides a vehicle for publicity for hundreds of businesses, host cities and an entire country. It is arguably the biggest and longest running PR stunt in history and redefined an industry. Maybe Monsieur Lefèvre was wasted in journalism – perhaps he should have worked in PR?
[...] France Originally conceived in 1903 to sell copies of the struggling L’Auto newspaper, today’s Tour de France is “a rolling publicity caravan watched by millions.” The communications specialists from Our Perspective discuss some lessons learned from “the [...]