Lunar Eclipse PR Strategy

The total lunar eclipse of today is a PR opportunity for many companies, especially for those who understand how these rare events can become web trends. The lunar eclipse of June 15, 2011, has been a Google trend for three days in a row now, and many companies took advantage of the opportunity to drive traffic, and boost brand awareness.

For example, Product Reviews promotes the DXG-018 3D camera with a witty title: Snap Total Lunar Eclipse with the DXG-018 3D camera, describing the product with even wittier terms: child friendly, affordable, and just released on the market (yesterday), for $69.99. The author, Peter Chubb, definitely knows how to sell: Now we know that there are so many better cameras on the market, but how many of them will be affordable, 3D and child friendly? You had best hurry though, as these $69.99 cameras only came onto the market yesterday, June 14, 2011.

Another example of using the total eclipse as a PR opportunity comes from Southern Stars, which launched a new version of its best-in-class SkySafari astronomy app for iOS, and announced the launch with a press release via PRWeb. June 15, 2011 also happens to be SkySafari’s second anniversary – another reason to celebrate for Southern Stars. To mark the anniversary, the company made SkySafari 3 release free around the world only until June 18, 2011. Those who miss this special offer, can purchase the app later at basic ($3), Plus ($15), and Pro ($60). The Pro version is also available at half price at iTunse till June 21, 2011. The Pro app includes the largest database of any mobile astronomy app. It contains over 15 million stars from the Hubble Guide Star Catalog; 740,000 galaxies to 18th magnitude; and more than 550,000 solar system objects – including every asteroid and comet known to science.

If you have other examples of companies using the total lunar eclipse to promote their products, let us know.