1972 In July, Malcolm boarded the hot air balloon for the first time. When he was floating over a field in New Jersey, he had a sudden idea: "Let's buy something like this. I think it looks good, and we can get the company name on it. "
Three months later, Malcolm and his driver Danny got the driver's license of hot air balloon and received an ordered yellow-green balloon with several big characters printed on it according to Malcolm's meaning: Forbes-the weapon of capitalism. There is also a line of small print at the bottom: necessary weapons for generals in shopping malls.
Malcolm's imitation of fixed balloon advertisements is a wonderful way to promote Forbes. Because of the good effect, one year later, Malcolm launched an unprecedented "hot air balloon trip across the United States", which attracted a large number of readers. Its momentum is no less than Michael Jackson's national concert.
In 1973, before he started this hot air balloon worth as much as $25,000, he also held a briefing session, during which he told the swarming reporters, "You asked me, what is the relationship between hot air balloon and my business magazine? My answer is:' octupole is irrelevant.' This trip is purely for fun. "
However, Malcolm would never do anything just for fun, so he immediately added, "But then again, if it weren't for this big balloon, you people would never be here today, especially to report to the boss of Forbes."
1973165438+1October 6, that is, the fifteenth month after obtaining the license, Malcolm set a record for hot air balloon crossing the United States and completed the journey across the United States in 2 1 day.
Although on the way back, the balloon accidentally hit a high-voltage power line in Virginia and fell into the wonderful Bick Bay, but it was also near misses. The water is not too deep, the balloon just got stuck there and didn't drift into the sea.
Malcolm instigated this travel plan, hoping to use this event to spread Forbes' name far and wide, so that people who are not interested in business news can also hear Forbes' name. Malcolm achieved his goal. At the end of the "Trans-American Tour", many Americans who had never heard the name of Forbes regarded Malcolm as the best topic after dinner, saying that he was childlike and full of energy.
Of course, Malcolm's trip is not only out of "childlike innocence", he wants to attract attention and attract business. In response to this image propaganda war, which cost as much as $65,438+$3,000, the famous sports magazine reported: "Malcolm Forbes is already a name that everyone is reciting in the United States ... Although his propaganda purpose is obvious, everyone likes it."
In this way, Malcolm became famous in one fell swoop-his fame was far beyond the business news circle, and he was very excited and planned to snowball his fame while the iron was hot-but this time he hoped to win the respect of all parties at the same time. Finally, he decided that the best way was to set a record for a hot air balloon to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
Despite Malcolm's careful preparation and planning and even holding a press conference, the plan to cross the Atlantic failed. Before departure, only five balloons of 13 flew into the sky due to the insufficient weight of the trolley, and then fragments of balloons were found nearby.
Later, it was said that this well-designed system-including launching system, hydrogen balloon and landing device-actually had many defects, and disaster was absolutely inevitable.
Malcolm's plan to cross the Atlantic failed, but because he set a record for crossing the United States in a hot air balloon for the first time, he finally won the "astronaut trophy of the year", which added a lot of luster to Forbes.
After the plan of crossing the Atlantic failed, Malcolm had no intention of giving up, because Forbes' list of the 400 richest people in the United States had been changed to the list of the 400 richest people in the world, and Malcolm wanted to bring Forbes to inhabited places in the world through himself.
Malcolm continued to sharpen his two sharp tools to improve his popularity: hot air balloon and motorcycle. However, he has decided to give up those plans that are too risky, but he intends to take it slowly one country at a time, instead of being too ambitious and trying to conquer the world at one go as before.
1in the summer of 979, Malcolm flew to Moscow, the Soviet Union, with four colleagues, relying on the matchmaking of his good friend and industrial giant Hammer. I don't know whether Malcolm was unintentional or intentional. He gave the mayor's wife a big handbag with a few big words written on it: capitalist weapons. At that time, the Soviet Union was still strongly opposed to capitalism, and Malcolm made a sensational news.
From 1982, Malcolm started a series of "goodwill trips". His first target is Chinese mainland.
The trip to Chinese mainland was approved through the relationship between former President Nixon and Dr. Kissinger. Malcolm specially wrote several big characters in Chinese on the hot air balloon: Forbes pays tribute to the friendly relations between China and the United States.
Although the relevant departments in China have particularly emphasized to Malcolm and others that all hot air balloons must be tied tightly and are not allowed to float in the air. But Malcolm made trouble on purpose. On the way of the car, the tether of the balloon he was riding suddenly loosened and floated freely into the air.
At the farewell party leaving China, Malcolm publicly stated that he didn't mean to loosen his balloon to cause trouble. He just wants to tell everyone that balloons are meant to float, and it's boring to tie them up.
In any case, Malcolm's illegal behavior in China caused many topics, which made Forbes' name popular in the mass media for some time.
Because of the great gains from this trip, Malcolm learned from bone marrow and used this formula again and again, constantly creating a sensational effect.
In Pakistan, he blew the hot air balloon into a monument to Pakistan's freedom; In Egypt, accompanied by a balloon with a sphinx; Brought to Thailand are balloon elephants; When I arrived in Japan, I brought a balloon pagoda; When he arrived in Germany, Malcolm was still standing on the Berlin Wall on the border between East and West Germany, with a bust of Beethoven blown up by balloons. ...
Is Malcolm doing this to help promote advertising? An executive of a large company listed in Fortune magazine's financial list said that Forbes invited him to travel with international stars in a hot air balloon in the French countryside without advertising, which was no problem.
A spokesman for Advertising Weekly once said: "Malcolm's advertising promotion method is really clever." . "This is definitely much more effective than putting a banquet in the hotel lobby."
Ingeniously borrowing the "gold content" of the head of government
Heads of government usually have strong social influence, and if they can be invited to promote their products, it will undoubtedly bring great benefits. But unfortunately, heads of government generally protect their public image and will not be easily used by enterprises. If the heads of government can really be so unprincipled to enterprises, then the heads of government all over the world will become "advertising stars" instead of politicians.
However, the economy is an important area within the scope of government heads' attention, so it is not news for politicians to take entrepreneurs abroad, but it is not entirely impossible for government heads to directly create business opportunities for enterprises as long as the methods are proper.
Large enterprise groups often do some transnational business, and the international reputation of enterprises will affect the cooperation between enterprises in other countries. If an enterprise has a good international reputation, it may have many foreign trade partners. If an enterprise has a bad international reputation or lacks popularity, it is difficult to find an international trading partner. Here, sometimes you spend a lot of money on advertising and still can't get obvious results. But what do you think will happen if Clinton is allowed to advertise for you? Maybe you think it's impossible, but someone actually succeeded.
1994 65438+In February, China National Light Industry Federation held the first China Famous Wine Exhibition Fair in Los Angeles, USA. Because of his extraordinary experience, Chen Shiceng became a hot spot in the American press, and even President Clinton invited him.
Chen Shiceng decided to seize this opportunity and let Clinton advertise his giant beer. To this end, he decided that the president and political circles of the United States should let people taste the beer of the giants when attending the banquet.
On February 18, President Clinton arranged for Chen Shiceng to visit the White House first. On the afternoon of 19, Chen Shiceng rushed to the US Department of Commerce and met with the Assistant Minister of Commerce and two assistants of the Director of the International Bureau of Commerce respectively. After listening to the introduction of giant enterprises, reading giant picture books and drinking giant beer, these officials in charge of commercial power unanimously welcomed giant beer to enter the American market and said: If there are legal and procedural difficulties, they will certainly help solve them.
In the evening, Vice President Al Gore held a Christmas party and invited dozens of famous American entrepreneurs. Chen Shiceng walked into the banquet hall with a large glass of beer in his hand. Gore stepped forward and said, "Welcome to yours." Then introduce the business celebrities present to Chen Shiceng. Before leaving, Chen Shiceng asked every entrepreneur to take some beer and go back to enjoy it with his family. The move itself is a news, which will spread the next day. At the same time, the families of these people tasted beer and became free advertisers of the giant. The reputation of the giant beer spread far away with their footsteps.
On the evening of 20th, President Clinton and his wife Sheila smiled and stood at the door of the lobby on the first floor of the White House to greet Chen Shiceng.
This meeting greatly expanded the popularity of Chen Shiceng, and Giant Beer made a sensation in the United States. Its effect is far greater than spending huge sums of money on advertising. Chen Shiceng seized this opportunity very keenly here, and broke Giant Beer into the White House, creating an extremely classic case of using the influence of political dignitaries to expand brand awareness.
If Chen Shiceng relies on his personal legendary experience, then in the following example, we can't deny its universality.
In 1950s, the French Brandy Company decided to introduce the famous brandy into the American market. They chose the promotion time as the 67th birthday of American President Eisenhower, and announced to the American people through different news media that the French people would give two barrels of extremely precious brandy brewed for 69 years as gifts. ...
These continuous reports have attracted millions of people and become a hot topic for the citizens of Washington. People are waiting for the arrival of wine. When the gift was sent to the United States by special plane, there was a rare phenomenon. People in Washington who had always disliked the excitement were surrounded by tens of thousands of people. News reports, special reports and news pictures about the arrival of famous wines filled the newspaper pages of the day. In this atmosphere, French brandy swaggered onto the American state banquet and the table of the citizens.
Coincidentally, 1984, US President Ronald Reagan visited China, which was a success. Reagan decided to hold a farewell thank-you meeting. Usually, farewell thank-you meetings are held in the Great Hall of the People. But the Great Wall Hotel, which just opened, decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity, and they persuaded the American side to hold a banquet. On the day of the thank-you meeting, more than 500 foreign journalists came to the Great Wall Hotel for live coverage. Hundreds of millions of domestic and foreign audiences saw the Great Wall Hotel, which not only made a deal, but also made President Reagan advertise himself and became famous at home and abroad in a blink of an eye.
In the initial stage of Pepsi, there was not much room in the United States because of Coca-Cola's preconceptions. Chairman Kent wanted to March into the former Soviet Union. 1959, the American exhibition was held in Moscow. Kent turned to his close friend Nixon for help and invited "Soviet leaders to have a Pepsi". Nixon obviously spoke to Khrushchev, so in front of the reporter, Khrushchev showed a satisfied expression with Pepsi in his hand. This special advertisement made Pepsi quickly gain a foothold in the former Soviet Union.
This is the great charm of political celebrities and powerful people. It can be seen from this that due to the authority of politics, especially its lofty position in people's minds, political orientation has greatly influenced people's orientation. Therefore, this constitutes a potential resource that has a great impact on business. Making good use of and exploring will bring opportunities for success.