Octagon First Call

I had the chance to crisscross Chicago yesterday accompanying actress Gabrielle Union on the first half of her two-city charity tour with Ronald McDonald House Charities.  In both Chicago and Detroit, Gabrielle is promoting World Children’s Day, RMHC’s  largest global fundraiser that benefits children and families in local communities in the United States and around the world.   RMHC did a great job creating a well-rounded tour, where Gabrielle was able to connect with television viewers, radio listeners, consumers, RMHC families, and RMHC and McDonald’s executives.  Through smart, strategic planning and partnering with a bookable celebrity, RMHC effectively used a variety of mediums to get their message of giving across.

Gabrielle started her (very early) day off with a series of media interviews with local radio stations and the local CBS and Fox affiliates, encouraging Chicagoans to visit the South Side McDonald’s restaurant later that day for a chance to meet her and “Give a Hand.”  As a part of World Children’s Day (which is officially today), McDonald’s restaurants are selling paper hands and select food items to benefit the charity. The Fox spot was filmed at the outdoor Millennium Park Ice Rink, where figure skating great Debbie Thomas was also on hand promoting Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics (yes, at 7 years out, the campaign is in full swing). 

Once at the restaurant, fans swarmed the actress, who were asked to purchase a “hand” to meet Gabrielle and get her autograph.   Instead of asking consumers to buy hands while at the register, a chance to meet Gabrielle and get her autograph was an extremely impressive sales tactic (that overtook the lines for almost all four cash registers).  A couple hundred hands later, we were off to the Hyde Park Ronald McDonald House, just a few blocks from the home of President-elect Barack Obama - already blocked off and surrounded by presidential security.  Gabrielle received a guided tour of the 18-bedroom, 30,000 square foot House led by Doug Porter, the CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana.  Children, teenagers and parents alike were thrilled to meet and take pictures with the film star.  One special fan even wore her school’s cheerleading t-shirt, in honor of Gabrielle’s well-known film Bring It On.  On the heels of a busy day, Gabrielle left for Detroit, where she plans to visit a Southfield McDonald’s restaurant and a Detroit Ronald McDonald House.

As the economy worsens, charities need to be creative, and work harder than ever to encourage consumers to donate to those in need.  Celebrities are one of the many ways to get that important message across.

I received a note from a friend Gary Braun who is the co-founder of Braun Film & Video (they do great work by the way). He forwarded me an email from someone in the gambling world that “couldn’t believe the fabricated $100 million number being thrown around as the money spent on the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Diego Chargers controversial game last weekend.”

To remind everyone, the game ended with a blown call by the referees, so the Chargers covered the spread. But the Steelers should have.

What’s missing in the equation is that the casinos are taking advantage of the blunder and creatively using it to market their own product.

Yes, the $100 million number is fabricated but it is a big number and thus, the media want to talk about it. It’s just a publicity stunt by the casinos. Surf the internet and you’ll see which casinos are talking.

It’s a brilliant marketing ploy and kudos to them for thinking through it quickly and spreading the message around! As they say, these guys are laughing all the way to the bank.

I should have asked Gary which side he had in the game…

Driving into work this morning, I heard New York Giants star running back Brandon Jacobs on ESPN’s Mike & Mike radio show. Typically during the NFL season, you can hear football players on the radio on Tuesday’s. Why? It’s their day off so it’s the one day a week when they perform their “media days” for their corporate partners.

Today was no different. Jacobs was on the air on behalf of XBOX and there to promote the game console’s new partnership with NetFlix, where XBOX 360 owners can now download more than 12,000 NetFlix movies straight from their XBOX machine. And as part of the promotion, one lucky fan will win a “movie night” with Brandon and his wife (where the Giants player and wife will actually come to a fan’s house for the evening).

Host Mike Greenberg threw out a softball to Brandon. “So Brandon, this is a clever concept between XBOX and NetFlix, what does one have to do to participate in the promotion?”

His response, “I don’t know what to do.”

It doesn’t matter how bookable a celebrity is if they can’t deliver your message. Please spend the appropriate time on messaging so there are at least a few sound bites that can be rattled off in each interview. And at the very least, make sure they know the website so they can simply drive people there to learn more.

I assume the interview was one of many for Brandon this morning. I hope for XBOX and NetFlix, the rest went better.

This post comes to you straight from Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood, where Jewel is in the middle of a photo shoot for Karastan carpet. She follows in the footsteps of Kelly Preston, Mariska Harigitay, Evangeline Lilly and Andie McDowell as stylish spokesmodels for the luxury carpet brand.

An industry leader in flooring, Karastan has assembled an all-star creative team for this photo shoot including creative director Dino Maniaci, photographer James White and celebrity stylist Jessica Paster. This “glam squad” (and their often hefty budgets) is a common afterthought when planning an advertising campaign - Karastan has done a great job to make sure the high quality of their creative team is a priority. Their combined efforts have complimented Jewel’s terrific work ethic today, powering through a number of different shots in a very short period of time, Jewel is a total pro.

Be on the look out in home décor and lifestyle magazines starting February of next year for these beautiful advertisements. In the meantime, if you are interested to see the previous ads, be sure to check them out here.

The Country Music Awards (CMA’s) were televised last night and while the winners were pure country - George Strait, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley; the show stars we’re, let’s just say, “adopted” country. Take a look at Ken Barnes USA Today LIFE cover story today, of the nine photos selected, two were American Idol alums (Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler), one from Dancing with the Stars (Julianne Hough), two A-list actresses (Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman) and even Hannah Montana (i.e., Miley Cyrus). I’ll grant you that Miley’s dad is Billy Ray and Nicole’s hubby is Keith Urban. It is just another indication of how Hollywood and music (and sports typically) have collided into one world.

Carrie Underwood wins female vocalist of the year.

And while we are talking country, singer-songwriter Jewel along with Mary Kay cosmetics and the Country Music Association, unveiled the second annual “A Kiss for Country” promotion on Tuesday morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. The charitable campaign helps raise money for the prevention and awareness of domestic violence around the country. More than 60 artists, including Jewel, Reba McEntire, George Strait and LeAnn Rimes, kissed, signed and wrote inspirational messages on special Mary Kay prints that are now available for auction.

Also, Barbara Walters named today six of her top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for her TV special and two of them were Olympics 14-time gold medalist Michael Phelps and Sarah Palin-twin Tina Fey. The last four months have been very good for both of these stars.

I had the fortune of running the New York City Marathon 10 days ago. But I write this blog about the post-race email I just received not the typical how great the course, City and fans were (which of course they were fantastic).  

Runners are passionate and the New York City Marathon definitely is taking advantage of it. I just received a survey that was different from most “post event surveys”. It went into detail about their sponsors - did we recognize them, remember them, willing to buy their products, questions about ambush marketers as well as details about the elite runners. Event organizers should make note of this. Fans and audiences will respond if they care. Take advantage of this “free form of research”. It only cost them someone typing in my email address in their computer.  

And of course, sponsors included ING, Poland Springs water, Gatorade, Powerbar, UPS and many others. And PS - the survey was created by Survey Monkey so that only cost them $50 dollars or so.  

Smart marketing!

I was driving in this morning and thinking about what companies would be first in the marketplace to try and imply an “Obama endorsement”. I grabbed my coffee, opened up USA Today and boom, Money writer Bruce Horovitz beat me to the punch (well done, Bruce). In one article, he’s able to sum up how the internet, viral marketing and buzz has transformed marketing over the past decade. Ten years ago, companies could try and make something implied, but the buzz wouldn’t have the “legs”. But the world has changed …

Publicists and social marketers from all the brands listed (and I am sure more to come) — Nicorette, Berry Honest Tea, Planters Trail Mix, J. Crew, etc. — will be spinning their story today.

And then I opened up the LIFE section and Pedigree took out a full ad — “Dear President-elect Obama” — talking about Obama’s announcement of adopting a dog to the White House and plugging their website, www.dogsrule.com. It’s a very smart ad that they will merchandise for a long time (or until the President’s advisers tell them to stop using his name to commercialize a product — which they probably won’t do because Pedigree will get increased ink for that).

This is the (present and) future of marketing.

From the early days of his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama has won the support of Hollywood.  While it is typical for celebrities to support their candidate of choice through financial means, Obama’s celebrity supporters have gone above and beyond the standard monetary donations.  Much can be learned from Obama’s extremely successful Presidential campaign.  He was able to use the strengths of each key influencer to reach a broad spectrum of the voting public.

For instance, the pro-Obama music video “Yes We Can” featured the talents of will.i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas), John Legend, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Cannon, Kate Walsh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar among others. The video’s skillful production and songwriting as well as the broad appeal of the celebrities quickly caused the video to become a YouTube sensation. Through the video’s viral campaign, Obama was able to reach the “youth” voters that proved to be crucial for his campaign.  

Oprah Winfrey, on the other hand, was able to target large audiences who regularly look to her for advice. Thus, by endorsing Obama through various media platforms that she controls (TV, radio, magazine, etc.), she was able to reach her trusting fans with Obama’s message.

And many more celebrities have helped the Obama campaign in a low-key fashion. Ed Norton placed phone calls to California voters on behalf of Obama. Scarlett Johansson knocked on voters’ doors in Minnesota. Ashley Judd spoke to a group of University of North Carolina students about early voting. And the list goes on. Each celebrity volunteered their time and unique talents to help Obama en route to the White House.

Much like Obama’s Presidential campaign, it is essential for a brand to recognize an influencer’s unique strengths. Successful campaigns will use tactics to capitalize on these strengths and effectively reach their target audience.

14-time Olympic Gold Medalist (and 8x winner in Beijing) Michael Phelps appeared just moments ago on ABC’s The View promoting his partnership with the language company, Rosetta Stone. We found a few things compelling about the interview.

First of all, how Phelps and his team have been able to selectively agree to national media opportunities (and spread them out) so that each of his sponsors are able to activate their partnerships and number two (and more importantly), how willing Whoopi was to talk about Rosetta Stone.

Publicists are always looking for national shows in which corporate plugs are OK. And this one, was a real win for Rosetta Stone and their PR agency. Whoopi held up the product, asked Michael about it and then held it up again at the end of the interview. Barbara Walters then announced that everyone in the audience was receiving a few Rosetta Stone set of CD’s too (and they showed the product again).

It’s tough enough to organically get a product plug in, so when you can do it and have it shown on TV three different times during the interview, let’s just say, it’s pretty special.

Well done Rosetta Stone publicists.

Think Pink Continued…
Talk show hosts aren’t the only people raising breast cancer awareness this month.  Breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow is raising money through the sales of her Bootheel Trading Co. clothing line.  10% of the proceeds will go to the Revlon/ UCLA Breast Center and the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program.  Crow also partnered with Yoplait for their Save Lids to Save Lives program, by hosting a private concert in Los Angeles.  For every pink lid donated at the concert, the brand gave $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure and for every lid mailed to Yoplait through December 31st, the brand will donate $.10 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Sales of Amy Grant’s new single, She Colors My Day, will go to the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund.  Mariah Carey will be celebrating the launch of her new fragrance by issuing a challenge for her fans to design a luscious pink dress for her.  The three winning dress designs will be produced — one for Mariah to wear, one for the winner and one to be auctioned off for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Breast cancer survivor Melissa Etheridge is joining Hard Rock International to launch Pinktober, Hard Rock’s 9th annual breast cancer awareness campaign.  Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls is teaming up with the Jell-O, Cool Whip and Philadelphia brands to design limited edition t-shirts with proceeds benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  To learn more, visit http://www.kraftbrands.com/poseforthecure/.  With an extremely original tactic, Katy Perry will have a mold of her breasts created to be auctioned off for the Keep a Breast Foundation.

Boundless Energy
OutKast rapper Big Boi has signed on to be the new face of Coca-Cola’s Full Throttle Fury energy drink.  The drink is the official sponsor of both the record release parties and promotional tour for his new solo album, Sir Luscious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty, on shelves today.  Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens will be endorsing Dr. Pepper Snapple Group’s (DPSG) Venom energy drink.  Owens will be part of the brand’s marketing and promotional campaign, which includes attendance at sponsored events and presence on in-store merchandising materials.  DPSG will also donate money to Owens’ Catch a Dream foundation for every bottle of Venom energy drink sold through March 2009.  The always energetic Richard Simmons is appearing in Yoplait yogurt commercials to promote their low calorie flavors such as Key Lime Pie, Boston Cream Pie and Strawberry Shortcake.  Check out the spot here http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/yoplait_richard_simmons.   Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal is the spokeswoman for a nationwide casting call to find five young ambassadors who will deliver gifts to patients in children’s hospitals this holiday season  as a part of Duracell’s “Power A Smile” promotion. 

Lap of Luxury
At the age of 72, Sean Connery is appearing in print advertisements for fashion house Louis Vuitton, set to launch before the November release of the latest Bond installment, Quantum of Solace.  Fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier has teamed up with Evian to make two exclusive creations for the company in 2009, the Evain Pret-a-Porter Bottle and the Evian Haute Couture Bottle.  Only seven of the Haute Couture Bottles will be released worldwide, and a few will be exhibited at select locations around the globe.  Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has signed a global development partnership deal with Dubai’s UAE Leisurecorp, which will see him design kitchens in homes and open his first two restaurants in the Middle East, both in the Water neighborhood of Jumeirah Golf Estates.