Creativity in Public Relations

A friend of mine is a big fan of everything new that has an on and off button, and so was one of the first to buy Amazon’s Kindle – the very cool device that lets you read books, magazines, newspapers, blogs from it – saving paper, your back (from carrying everything) and time (everything sent wirelessly to Kindle (via mobile phone networks) and at superfast speeds.  It definitely is a step in the right direction toward a paperless environment (can’t you just hear trees around the world sighing in relief). 

Kindle has created an army of fans across the US, so much that many are now volunteering time to show their Kindle to people considering buying one for themselves.  Amazon is helping fans connect with potential fans by creating a simple forum on its site called “See A Kindle In Your City.”  On the site people post their locations and then wait for someone close to them to say they have a Kindle and then they meet.  The fans don’t get paid and seems like they do it just to spread the fun of Kindle around.  My friend in San Francisco says he does it to meet new people, hoping for a Kindle Konnection I’m guessing.

It’s an obvious smart move by Amazon to facilitate these conversations, creating an army of brand/product ambassadors who are so passionate about Kindle that they’ll donate their time and energy to make the sale to others.  Its not every company or product that would be able to pull something like this off, but definitely something to try and create if you can.