It’s Rainiering coverage (sorry)…

...it’s Monday morning and that’s the best pun that I can come up with, OK?

Judging by the coverage, every single person in the world will have heard about Rainier PR’s YouGov survey into the best and worst bits of PR in 2006. You haven’t? Where have you been? What have you been reading? What have you been watching? It’s all over the shop…it’s even been picked up by the Hindustan Times. Bossman Waddington posts about it here.

As someone points out in a comment on Waddington’s blog, “You are a PR whore Mr Waddington. Textbook tactic executed with pure class” and it’s hard to disagree (well, can’t comment on the “whore” bit, but with the execution). In terms of getting the Rainier name out there, it’s second to none.

But to what end? I have to admit, when I first read the story I was a little confused. After all, Rainier’s a tech agency, isn’t it, so why all this guff about Mills-McCartney and Think Pink?

The answer lies hidden away in the press release: “Rainier PR conducted the survey of PR highlights and lowlights during 2006 to see how more technology orientated campaigns squared up to celebrities and big name brands.”

Yes, yes, of course it did. It wasn’t simply to generate a whole bunch of broad-reach coverage and get the Rainier name out there, was it? Unsurprisingly, however, amongst the general public, stuff related to celebrities like Madonna and Paul McCartney is a touch more memorable than, say, debates about DVD formats.

Still, you’ve got to be impressed…I thought survey-driven coverage was dead (even in the fallow news days at the start of the New Year). Nice job.


PS – This is NOT a Rainier advertorial, we are not “in the pay” of Waddington, not do we work for Rainier or any associated companies, for any muppets out there wondering.