Publicity only for the conventional?
You may remember the recent court case that resulted in a €100,000 fine for Drivers Jonas after it hired a Cannes restaurant down the road from MIPIM to entertain delegates on the way to the conference venue. The judge agreed with organisers Reed Midem that Drivers Jonas was guilty of “parasitisme”, ruling that its hiring of the Pavillon Croisette cafe, five minutes’ walk from the official venue, constituted a business stand.
Drivers Jonas, which has since agreed its merger with Deloitte, has not commented on the case, but NovaLoca MD Miranda Munn thinks it would be interesting to know how a UK court would deal with something similar. “I really hope this is not the end of guerrilla marketing. Surely innovation is to be encouraged?” she asks.
“Pipped at the post by a competitor, I was unable to pay to sponsor the recent North West Property Awards so wore a branded necklace as a mini-protest and managed to get a great shot published on the Property Week website. (Have a look at the images on the Property Week website – the necklace is photo 47 of 48.) Where is the line to be drawn? Would parking a branded car outside an event or flying a banner overhead be considered parasitic?”
“I can’t say I have read every detail of the case but can’t help feeling supportive of Drivers Jonas . . . How would this affect companies across all industries that often rely on PR stunts to give them a chance to get noticed? Should publicity only be offered to those that can afford – or choose to afford – to go down more conventional routes?”
“I am sure that there are many companies that benefit from the traffic brought to Cannes by MIPIM and I doubt they all pay the organisers,” she concludes. What do you think?
