Flash Mob for Wedding Planners

I love finding out about new ways of marketing and how we can possibly integrate them into what we do. One of the crazes I stumbled across a while ago which has slowly started to become more popular is Flash Mob. So what is Flash Mob I hear you ask? Well in it’s most basic format it is a group of people, usually strangers, who assemble suddenly in a large public area, perform an unusual and brief act and then quickly disappear.

The one that has most caught my eye is one produced by T Mobile in the UK who launched an advertising campaign at London’s Liverpool Street Station using the Flash Mob idea. This vibrant station which is always bustling with commuters was the innocent stage for 400 dancers dressed in street clothes and station staff uniforms to break out in a choreographed 3 minute dance to a medley of hip hop, ballroom, and disco music.

The whole thing was filmed by some secretly placed cameras and used for T Mobiles latest advert in January last year and is still being blogged about all over the world. Add to this the fact that many of the commuters filmed it on their mobile phones and then posted it all over the stratosphere and you have a very powerful marketing tool.

So what does this have to do with marketing for the special events industry? Well I often get asked about what is the best way to market yourself as a wedding planner. How is it possible to raise the profile of wedding planning as an industry in Australia? Personally I think that this Viral Video/Flash Mob approach could be the perfect idea. Imagine staging an all singing and dancing mock wedding in the middle of Flinders Street Station with 40 wedding planners all running around doing their thing. Of course it would all have to be properly choreographed and executed, but what a great way to publicise the industry and get on TV. It would undoubtedly cause a stir and would definitely provide some much needed publicity. Exactly how it would be put together to make sense to the passersby I haven’t thought about yet, but at this stage it is only a marketing idea for you to think about. My point really is that to get noticed and to really stand out from the crowd you need to be different and take an idea and make it your own.