Teaser campaign set to tickle buyers' interest

Expect to hear a lot about the next generation of the Tickle Me Elmo toy - even before it hits shop shelves - in the latest example of a synchronised global product launch.

The public relations launch of "top secret" TMX - or Tickle Me Elmo extreme - kicked into gear last month and will keep going until the toy goes on sale worldwide on September 20.

The cryptic campaign, which aims to build hype around the toy without spoiling the surprise of its special features, is one of an increasing number of global product launches.

The increase in synchronised launches is a response to the rapid speed at which people around the world can now get information on new products.

Public relations experts say the teaser tactic used in the launch of TMX is a legitimate strategy but warn that customers will be frustrated if the product doesn't live up to the hype.

Porter Novelli senior account director Sarah Ward emailed three media releases last month, all written overseas, announcing that the new product was on the way - but not revealing specific details or photographs.

Ward says several national media outlets responded asking for the scoop.

"I've had a lot of people saying 'please tell me all about this, please let me know'," she says.

"People want the inside scoop: what makes this toy so great, what does it do? For something to be this confidential, it must do something fairly incredible."

Ward can't release any extra details, even if she wants to, because she has not seen the toy.

"The confidentiality around it is amazing - no one in New Zealand that has seen it and there's one person in Australia," she says.

"If we did need to preview it to media then they would need to sign a confidentiality agreement and then the toy would need to be escorted."

Because September 20 arrives in New Zealand before other countries, TMX will go on sale here before anywhere else.

Ward says advertising is planned after the launch but she hopes there will be queues of people outside toy stores at midnight wanting to be among the first to buy, similar to the demand seen at global movie launches.

Pead PR's Deborah Pead says global launches are here to stay and they can allow local campaigns to tap into a much bigger resource.

"They can be very effective in terms of adding scale and profile to what we do on a local level."

Pead PR last year tied the launch of the Xbox 360 into a campaign generated in America.

"They invest a lot of money into the big launch activity," says Pead.

"When we launched here we did something of a smaller scale but we still had the benefit of the global launch, which really sets the tone and the pace for it."

The challenges of synchronised launches include the "date and time boundaries", particularly for fashion, says Pead, and, fundamentally, whether the product is available.

Manufacturing capacity might mean a product must be launched in stages or New Zealand might not be seen as a priority.

"Sometimes it's a harsh reminder that we are a trading post at the end of the world."

Megan Rosier, managing consultant of public relations consultancy Text 100, says adding a local flavour is key to a successful synchronised global launch.

"One of the things where international launches can be most successful locally is obviously where people don't take the corporate press releases and just farm them out around the media traps," says Rosier.

"Engage with the local marketplace before the launch so when you've got the launch it's actually meaningful, in our case, for New Zealanders."