Octagon First Call

Celebrities are lending their names to more than just perfume and soft drinks these days. As we’ve noted before, more and more celebrities are endorsing cause-related campaigns. This weekend, celebrities will be seen supporting good causes at three different television events.

Over 50 celebrities are slated to perform, take pledges and/or introduce segments of the program for Stand Up to Cancer, a charity focused on cancer awareness and research.  Many of the participating stars (ie: Christina Applegate, Katie Couric, Ellen DeGeneres) have a personal connection to the cause. The star-studded event will be aired on ABC, CBS, NBC and E! during Friday’s prime time slot.

Friday, Fashion Rocks will kick off New York Fashion Week (aired Tuesday on CBS). Performers include Justin Timberlake, Fergie, Keith Urban, the Pussycat Dolls and Kid Rock with Denis Leary hosting. The annual charity concert will benefit the Stand Up to Cancer charity.

Finally, the two-hour variety show America United: In Support of Our Troops will air on Sunday evening. Celebrities such as Pam Anderson, Janet Jackson, Ne-Yo and Snoop Dogg will make global appearances at military bases to benefit SupportAmericaUnited.com.

The celebrities involved in these events run the gamut in personalities, age and image. While this may attract a unique audience, cause-related campaigns should be aware of the change in perception that celebrity supporters/spokespeople can cause for a NPO. The results of our Cause-Related Celebrity Survey indicate that the public often changes their perspective on a campaign due to their personal opinion of celebrity spokespeople. 

Check back soon for a summary of all of our survey results.

Like we’ve said before, traditional celebrities (actors, musicians and athletes) are not the only ones who are endorsing products and brands. While the Tiger Woods and Madonna’s of the world can still charge a hefty chunk of change for an endorsement fee, endorsement and PR budgets of companies are falling with the struggling economy. However, the Hank Haney’s (Tiger’s coach) and Tracy Anderson’s (Madonna’s trainer) of the world are more affordable and wield a considerable amount of influence over consumers.

McDonald’s recognized this potential in influencers and made a smart marketing move. Product placement has shown up in dramas and reality TV for a while now. McDonald’s, however, seized the opportunity to use true influencers in their product placement… newscasters. According to the New York Times, the fast food corporation struck a deal with 12 media stations owned by Meredith Corporation. Two cups of McDonald’s iced coffee sit prominently on the Las Vegas FOX affiliate’s morning news desk, displaying the McDonald’s logo for all to see.

Watching the morning news and sipping on a cup of coffee are included in most people’s morning routine. Thus, the marriage between the two seem to blend well together. Moreover, the newscasters are seen as a trusty and reliable source of (impartial) information. Hence, McDonald’s newest spokespeople have a significant amount of influence over their viewers. Considered experts, these influencers have great potential to increase the strength of McDonald’s campaign. And of course, the new delivery method has received considerable media buzz.

 

This drives the media world crazy but the increasing power of celebrities has allowed them to use media outlets (or social networking sites) to their advantage.

Recently retired Green Bay Packers football legend Brett Favre gave his first comments about the “I am retired”, “No I am not retired” saga to Fox News‘ Greta Van Susteren. The lack of reach/distribution of the interview makes you question why?

Well, look no further than Van Susteren’s background. She is from Appleton, Wisconsin and is a Packers shareholder.

That’s one smart way of controlling the questions (and then Greta turned around and gave an exclusive interview to the Associated Press)!

At Promax BDA’s annual marketing conference network execs and industry leaders tried to solve the ever growing issue of effectively recruiting audiences. With so many outlets to consider, which advertising medium should marketing agencies utilize to get the most bang for their buck? Online video streaming and advertising may be the way to go.  Last year, $471 million was spent in advertising through streaming video and it is estimated that this will increase to nearly $7.2 billion by the year 2012.  Many companies have already begun to take full advantage of this up and coming marketing trend by using experimental tactics to gain internet popularity.

As we’ve mentioned before, Klondike utilized viral marketing with the revival of their “What Would You Do For a Klondike Bar” campaign.  Klondike is transforming the way they reach their target market. They’re not only keeping consumers entertained by creative shorts produced by The Lonely Island guys, but they’re getting customers involved, encouraging them to produce videos of their own. Similarly, Hungry Girl’s Lisa Lillien has gained popularity through the web, which has helped her business reach new heights.

Lillien keeps her consumers engaged through online forums, weekly newsletters, polls, her personal nutrition opinions and much more. By referring to well known products through positive reviews and recipes, Lillien not only creates a sense of credibility, but customers are more apt to relate with her as an influencer.  Thanks to the attention created by her online advertising efforts, Lillien has recently published a cookbook of her own.  This is a prime example of how the world of advertising & marketing is recognizing real-world individuals as influencers and relying less on celebrity status. By integrating the right form of marketing from the beginning one can grow from insignificant internet based forums to thriving online moguls.

By: Liz Baker

This morning I thought to write about a few subjects that have been sitting in my in-box.

Actor Jim Carrey and two year girlfriend Jenny McCarthy led a rally on Capitol Hill yesterday to “Green our Vaccines”. It is an effort to eliminate toxins in vaccines which some believe cause autism. McCarthy’s six year old son Evan has autism. This is a rare cause or corporate appearance for Carrey and interesting that he is doing so in connection with Jenny’s child.

NFL Hall of Fame Quarter and current FOX football broadcaster Troy Aikman’s headache infomercial/testimonial is back on air. It has run for years and I just saw a new version this morning. I just went to the website and noticed that it is National Headache Awareness Week, hence the reason for the spot to be on air again.

A few months ago, Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) contestant Marie Osmond joined Go Red for Women (American Heart Association’s heart disease cause marketing program. Her new PSA is running on-air now. DWTS remains the leading reality show bringing celebrities back to mainstream and connecting with corporations.

Finally, it’s not just people that are being marketed as celebrities but animals. The owners of Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner has partnered with a marketing companyto increase sponsorship and licensing opportunities for this weekend’s (and the future) Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown. If Big Brown wins (he is a huge favorite at 2-5), they stand to capitalize on plush toys, memorabilia, books, DVD’s, calendars, posters, t-shirts and more. I’ll even call it now that you will see photos “signed” by the hoof of the horse.

Kudos to the best show for putting on a finale for the ages. I am always interested to see who advertises, cross-promotes and performs during big shows like this.

Performers include (and you can bet they are touring this summer) include Bryan Adams, George Michael, ZZ Top, Jonas Bros., Donna Summer, Seal, Graham Nash and OneRepublic. And let’s not forget Idol winning alums, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks.

Celebrity-based ads/endorsements include Underwood and Nintendo (game Nintendogs), LA Dodgers manager Joe Torre for State Farm (a relatively new spot), itunes using Coldplay (they ran this twice), an old Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce / American Express commercial, Kelly Ripa and Electrolux, two Ashton Kutchner / Nikon ads and two Guitar Hero video game commercials (one featuring David Archuleta and one with winner, David Cook). Both ads minmicked the famous Risky Business with Tom Cruise singing in his underwear in his parents living room.

What a night.

PS — The most underrated folks on Idol are the three female backup singers. They have received an unbelievable amount of attention without anyone knowing their names. One smart company will be creative and figure out a way to use them in a promotion in the future.

Right now, the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A’s are in the bottom of the ninth inning on ESPN2 (9:05am). Oh, you thought the season started next week. Well it does for all the other teams but the Sox and A’s are starting early playing in Japan.

 What’s interesting are the logos on the sleeves and hats of the teams. You can visibly read Pepsi on the A’s sleeves and EMC on the Sox. Both teams have Ricoh patches on their hats.

Brandweek’s Barry Janoff announced these deals back in late January and so we have been waiting to see what they look like on the uniform before writing about them.

 We like the logos. They are classy and do not detract from the look of the ballplayer. It’s a good, safe test for MLB and something I would expect to see more of in the future — during Spring Training, All-Star games and eventually the regular season.

It’s a much better idea than in 2004 when the Spiderman logo was to appear on all the bases during games.

Here are a few blogs talking about the Ricoh Japan MLB series too — Over the Monster and Sports Marketing and PR Roundup.

A study conducted by Magna GLobal USA revealed the median age of viewers for each network, broken down further by specific programs. The CW is the youngest by far, with a median age of 32, followed by Fox (42), ABC (48), NBC (49) and CBS (53). With shows like 60 Minutes (median age of 60) on their roster, CBS continues to have the oldest median viewers. The opposite can be said for the CW, whose show One Tree Hill nabbed the youngest viewers with a median age of 26. Fox ranks no.1 among adults 18-49, but for the first time passed the 40-year-old mark. This is not a good or bad thing for the network, but shows that even the “hippest” of programming does not yield younger viewers. They have rather expanded their programming to incorporate a larger demographic. Ad buyers tend to look at the total amount of viewers, but this type of information might be just as valuable.

This week the networks have rolled out their fall lineups, getting advertisers and audiences interested in the upcoming schedules. A Grey’s Anatomy spinoff “Private Practice”, Peter Krause’s return to TV in “Dirty Sexy Money” and Candice Bushnell’s “Sex and the City” redux “Lipstick Jungle” are a few of the hot shows to keep your eyes on. Networks have pared back on the number of series they typically invest in as fractured audiences have made conservative show orders the general rule of thumb. While there has been plenty of pomp this week as shows get rolled out, be sure to check out how quickly the poor performers get quietly cancelled when they underperform in the Fall.

FOX’s hit show 24 has been known for subtle product placement - cars, mobile devices, computers, etc. - but last night’s Cisco Systems “video conference” may have been the most blatant. Seconds before a tele-conference between Russian officials and the United States, the video conference screens went blank except for Cisco’s video conference service name (which would have been just as effective in half the time). At the next commercial break, Cisco aired a :30 commercial promoting the product too. Cisco has had product placements on 24 since 2005 and earlier this season the logo was spotted on the phone handles at CTU (the show’s counter-terrorism unit). Product placement is commonplace in most television programs, but last night 24 reminded us of the times when networks get a little too logo-happy.