When opportunity strikes, you have to pounce.  Like a cougar.

At Bailey Gardiner the summer means Del Mar Racetrack season and Del Mar Racetrack Season means Cougars.  When we were told there would be a stakes race at Del Mar, the longest of the entire meet, and it would be called the Cougar II Handicap (after an old horse, Cougar II), we chuckled.  Then we pounced with the creation of the Miss Cougar Del Mar contest.  And what an opportunity it was!  Miss Cougar covered all the bases in local media with TV, radio, print and online interviews.  NBC San Diego has given her a shout out in their new TV commercial and just last week we got the call that she may be making an appearance on national TV.  The media coverage resulted in 28 submissions over only four days.  Now that’s success through the most obscure of marketing.

The week of Miss Cougar Del Mar was followed by yet another obscure opportunity.  The Travelocity Gnome was coming to San Diego and Del Mar was chosen as one of his destinations.  We were to coordinate the most quirky photo opportunities for the little wooden gnome, and that we did.

As our media is changing, we’re seeing a shift in what creates news.  No longer can we give the public information.  We must now give them something to talk about.  We love work like this because we value media opportunities outside of the traditional PR plan.  We value the opportunity to get people talking, to take a risk, and to have some fun.