Leaping to Attention

Publicity is the art of drawing attention, and sometimes that is accomplished through self-styled daredevils performing wildly-dangerous stunts. Long ago, people would wrestle bears, walk on airplane wings, or go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Newspapers would send reporters. Movie newsreels would send out a crew. Radio networks would broadcast live.

Media has changed, and so apparently have the stunts. Felix Baumgartner is the latest daredevil to capture worldwide attention with his 24-mile plunge from a helium balloon to the New Mexico Desert.

What makes this stunt a game-changer is how it used social media. By encouraging tweets, posts, and reposts, Baumgartner and sponsor Red Bull siphoned some of the attention away from the baseball playoffs, the NFL season and other more conventional sporting events.

Questions...

•How do you gather a large audience in old media like television and newspapers? How do you gather a large audience in new media like YouTube and Twitter?

•Does this event work better with new media or old media? Why?

•Why do you think Red Bull sponsored this and not an insurance company or a car maker?

•Where do you expect Felix Baumgartener to turn up in the media now that he has everyone's attention?

•What does this sponsorship do for Red Bull's image?

•How do we know this isn't a hoax?