Octagon First Call

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.

Now more than ever, tweens are reshaping the celebrity landscape.  With High School Musical 3 hitting theaters at the end of this month, the use of tweens in advertising and marketing campaigns is hitting a fever pitch. Several brands are looking to capitalize on the buzz surrounding the newest installment in the HSM series.

Honda recently signed on as the exclusive automotive sponsor of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. The co-branded campaign features members from the teen cast in TV and radio spots, print and online ads, and a microsite. The campaign also offers a sweepstakes with winners receiving autographed pieces from the HSM3 set as well as a 2009 Honda Odyssey. The cast can also be seen promoting Sara Lee’s Soft &Smooth brand in TV ads, point-of-sale-materials, PR, a HSM microsite, movie theater events and a consumer sweepstakes contest.

Tweens have now broken into the Broadway scene as the new musical “13″ opened on Sunday. The show speaks directly to its tween target demo with an entire cast and onstage band of teenagers. Look for these performers to start appearing in more mainstream tween entities.

And, these young stars are savvy about their images, many of them already linked to a cause or charity. Just this past weekend, many of the biggest tween stars attended ‘Target Presents Variety’s Power of Youth’ event supporting St. Jude Children’s Hospital.  Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Selena Gomez, Taylor Lautner, Miranda Cosgrove, Victoria Justice, Mitchel Musso, Brenda Song and Moises Arias (among others) were all in attendance.

Publicist Kristian Laliberte nailed it when she stated that “they’re the new influencers”. Today’s youth are hit with an overwhelming amount of media from all angles-TV, internet, cell phones, video games, blogs and more. Moreover, they have relatively large dispensable incomes and they’re looking to people they can relate to (ie: tween stars) for ideas on where to spend.  It is tweens’ media savvy combined with their purchasing power that enables them to influence marketing campaigns of popular products and brands.

Red Roof Inn loves country… and so does their guests. The leading budget lodging chain recently enlisted popular country music stars Phil Vassar and Little Big Town as a part of their multimedia campaign.

The artists recorded wake-up calls and hold messages for guests of the widespread inns. Red Roof Inn also created a Red Roof Loves Country website (hosted at the Great American Country- GAC- website) that features special video clips of Vassar and Little Big Town branded with the Red Roof label. The deal also includes sponsorship with a cable TV network and 250 radio stations devoted to country music in addition to traditional media (print ads, posters, postcards, sweepstakes, contests and discount hotel rooms).

The simple, country music of Vassar and Little Big Town matches the no-frills attitude of the hotel chain and their customers. As the CEO of Red Roof Inns stated, the country music-based campaign is “a bull’s-eye with [their] customer”.

My friends and I were talking about Seinfeld and Bill Gates new commercial this weekend. I like it. I was wondering the goal of it until I read Laura Petrecca’s column in USA Today this morning. It’s a good piece on Microsoft’s “biggest consumer effort with a TV ad — about nothing”. One of Microsoft’s brand and marketing strategists calls it an “icebreaker … water cooler conversation .. for an effort to come in the future”. Brand marketers are typically not that honest and I appreciate the candor. It makes total sense.

Also, I like the new ad by HGTV’s Candice Olson for Silestone. As host of Divine Design, she is incredibly influential the mother-demo, which fits well for this brand. She has endorsed the product for a year now but they are just rolling out this new campaign now. Olson has included Silestone, natural quartz counter tops in her kitchen for years.

And lastly, Regis Philbin, Alice Cooper and some NFL players have been recruited for Samsung’s last football campaign. As the “Official HDTV of the NFL“, the brand is inviting fans to share their viewing habits via , “That’s How I See It.” Check out Samsung.com/HowISeeIt. From Nov. 20 through Jan. 4, select videos will be posted on NFL.com/SuperAd. Fans can vote for their favorite and one video will air as a commercial during NBC’s pregame coverage of Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1.

The popular TV show Dancing with the Stars just released the newest roster of ‘stars’ for their seventh season. Coming off an Olympic gold medal in beach volleyball, Misty May-Treanor will appear on the show’s cast. Other athletes include retired NFL defensive tackle Warren Sapp (who just announced his retirement) and 2000 Olympic gold medalist sprinter Maurice Greene.

Singers Lance Bass and Toni Braxton as well as actors Susan Lucci, Ted McGinley, Cody Linley and Cloris Leachman will also compete on the show. Chef Rocco DiSpirito, reality show star Kim Kardashian, comedian Jeffrey Ross and model Brooke Burke will round out the list of competitors. The 13 stars and teammates comprise the largest contingent of contestants on the show.

In the past, DWTS has successfully reinvigorated contestants’ careers. Mario Lopez, Emmitt Smith and Drew Lachey saw marked increases in their marketability since their time on the show. Reaching over 20 million viewers two times a week, the show inevitably brings the cast into the media spotlight. However, the question of which star will be able to break out from the rest to re-launch their career remains to be seen. Who do you think will become this season’s fan favorites? Given the close proximity to the Olympics, Misty May-Treanor is a likely candidate. And, Rocco DiSpirito has the potential expand his appeal outside of the kitchen.

As we hinted last month, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer of The Lonely Island are more than the grand prize of Klondike’s summer contest, they are creating content for it as well. Check out the digital short TLI created for Klondike, answering the question, “What Would You Do For a Klondike Bar?” The contest micro site can be found at www.klondikecontest.com, stay tuned throughout the summer for further TLI involvement… 

Talent generated shorts can be an effective way to connect with consumers through the media clutter. Campaigns that rely on consumer generated content alone are fairly popular these days; the addition of a creative powerhouse like The Lonely Island to Klondike’s campaign is meant to add interest and importance to the promotion.

As we discussed back in March, the digital short world is becoming a popular place for brands to reach consumers. Klondike has targeted consumers in this fashion, reviving their famed “What Would You Do For a Klondike Bar?” slogan and creating a digital short contest around it.

We’ve brought digital short gurus The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer) into the mix, who’ll serve an integral role in the Summer-long contest. Stay tuned for more info on this front…

Country’s rising star, Taylor Swift, is the newest face of the L.e.i. clothing line, a mix of jeans and tops that are very popular amongst teens and tweens.  The Back-to-School campaign, entitled “This is L.e.i. Country” will hit in late summer, with ads debuting in the August issues of Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and other fashion and entertainment magazines.  The campaign also includes online, mobile marketing elements and a strong presence within Wal-Mart stores (the line will be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores as of July 2008).   The company will also tie in sweepstakes and contests to meet Swift and attend her concerts.

Taylor is on fire.  Her first album, released in 2006, went triple platinum and has spent 18 weeks so far in the #1 position on the Billboard Country CD Sales Chart.  She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year at the 2008 CMT Music Awards and leads the pack for the 2008 Academy of Country Music Award nominations.  She is touring this summer (from June 13-September 26) with country’s reigning champions, Rascall Flatts.  Although the 18 year old is popular among teens, she appeals to adults as well.  She was named No. 57 on Maxim’s Hot 100 List for 2008, just behind Dancing with the Stars turned country singer, Julianne Hough. 

Is L.e.i (life. energy. intelligence.) , who has never before enlisted a celebrity to be the face of their campaign, on their way to becoming the next Sketchers?   Swift is a great spokesperson to enlist, both because of her marketability, potential longevity with her career, and the person and values she represents.