Stunt and event-led agencies are feeling the pinch. The recent and unfortunate demise of experiential outfits Cunning Stunts (famed for projecting a naked Gail Porter against Parliament) and Making Waves Communications is evidence of this and as more and more clients are withdrawing budgets and opting for ‘safer tactics’ it’s questionable whether this format will survive.

PR stunts are often seen as risky ‘want to do’ rather than ‘need to do’ tactics which do not necessarily generate the highest results against spend for the activity however, experiential is still a good way of reaching audiences and can often build a strong emotional connection between the consumer and a brand.

Whilst the return on investment is difficult to prove and the current economic climate is not enthusing some of the most whimsical of budget holders to take huge risks, some agencies are in fact witnessing an influx with some willing clients looking at taking a chance on  interactive experiences. An example being, agency Pretty Green who rec­ently organised for 100 Beyoncé Knowles lookalikes to dance in Piccadilly Circus to promote chewing gum brand Trident giving away tickets to her sold-out tour.

In an interview for this weeks edition of PRWeek, Cunning Stunts founder Anna Carloss said ‘clients are tending to go to digital or TV where they feel more comfortable with their money. Stunts are seen as a want to do, not a need to do and that attitude is impacting on the experiential market.’

Contrary to this, Mischief PR MD Mitchell Kaye said: ‘I couldn’t agree less. We have never done more experiential work than in the past few months and we see no trend of clients moving away from that.’

However, he did warn that stunts and experiential work had to be part of a wider comms strategy to be successful. ‘Where experiential sits in isolation it could struggle,’ he said.

Some brands have built such a reputation through experiential stunts that they have become synonymous with this activity. Offering its consumers anything less could be detrimental to their campaigns and without strong PR to accompany it, failure to deliver is likely.

Whilst there is evidence that the crunch is slowly disappearing, it will be interesting to see where the future of experiential lays. Could the cull of Cunning Stunts and Making Waves be bad fortune or is this a sign that the trend of cautious clients will soon completely dismiss the opportunity to directly engage with audiences…?!

To see the article in PRWeek, click here.