The Super Bowl angle nobody’s pitching

I saw a tweet from a journalist this week that said, “Props to the three businesses that have NOT pitched me a Super Bowl angle this week.”

You already know that tying into a massive current event is a proven way to make your pitches more timely. But when you’re hooking into something as competitive as “the Big Game,” as all of us non-official-sponsors must call it, you can often get lost in the shuffle. Big brands are spending millions – not just to pay for their ads, but to push huge PR programs around them.

Why fight that battle – why not just focus on “the day after” the Super Bowl? Probably nobody is pitching something pegged to Monday morning.

I’ve got a great example, but I can’t share it yet. It emerged when I shared this concept in my pitching boot camp last week. One of the participants came up with a great idea she’s going to use and I don’t want to hurt her chances by giving it away.

But here’s a fun example of how this concept applied to the “day after” another competitive event: Halloween.

One Nov. 1st I was driving to the airport and heard an awesome story on the radio. A local medical clinic was hosting a “trick-or-treat trade-in” during the two days after Halloween. Kids could bring their candy in, combat childhood obesity, and receive a movie voucher for every three pounds of sweets they donated. The collected candy would be sent to overseas military.

What a fantastic brainstorm to get some attention for the clinic. Anyone who has ever tried healthcare marketing knows how difficult it is to highlight one particular facility over others. But getting the media to cover this is kinda like, well, taking candy from a baby.

Turns out the story landed coverage on two TV affiliates, the NPR affiliate, and the main newspaper in the clinic’s market, and the outreach brought in more than 500 pounds of candy.

I’ve since found other examples of the “trick-or-treat trade-in” idea online, but obviously it hasn’t reached a saturation point yet. It’s an even better angle for a dentist, right?

So whether you find an angle for “the day after” the Super Bowl or not, keep this tactic in mind when you’re brainstorming around the next big media event.