Octagon First Call

As 2008 winds down to a close, people start looking in anticipation towards 2009.  Films often release trailers and premiere dates in order to excite the public for the upcoming releases.  In this spirit, the people over at Fandango posted results of their survey about the most anticipated film releases of 2009.  

A number of sequels made the top ten, including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Angels & Demons (The Da Vinci Code), New Moon (Twilight) and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. In addition, the 2009 remake of the ever popular Star Trek made an appearance on the list.

While surveys like this one are often fun and lighthearted, they can also be valuable marketing tools.  They can help determine who the public will be intrigued by in the near future and thus who will be valuable in PR and marketing campaigns, especially when paired with a complementary campaign.

Ryan Reynolds gets onto one of his three motorcycles.

As a motor enthusiast, Eric Bana (Star Trek) could be a perfect fit for a high-end automobile manufacturer.   The stunning beauty, Megan Fox (Transformers) would be a great cosmetics or fragrance spokesperson.   The sophisticated actor Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) could endorse a fine wine with his polished demeanor and restaurateur background.  Carla Gugino’s (Watchmen) face is familiar with a diverse audience because of her roles in Night at the Museum, Sin City, the three Spy Kids films and HBO’s hit TV show Entourage. She would be an ideal candidate for crossover appeal to men and women, such as technology products.   As the proud owner of three motorcycles and soon to be a superhero, Ryan Reynolds (X-Men) would be a convincing sell for motorcycles or extreme sports gear.  With her cheerful and bubbly demeanor, Amy Adams (Night at the Museum) resonates with a female audience.   Because she is often seen in fairytale-type roles, she would be ideal for a credit card commercial that allows “wishes to be granted”.  Though Robert Pattinson has already been featured in Hackett’s advertising, I’d like to see the teen idol (New Moon) endorse luxury hair products.  

Be sure to keep an eye out for these names and faces to shine in 2009 and beyond.

Ashton Kutcher has done it again.  The actor-turned-media mogul’s company, Katalyst Films released a hilarious holiday video card in lieu of a more traditional holiday greeting.

This is a smart move by the star for several reasons. 

1. It’s innovative and stands apart from the mountain of paper cards and various gift baskets that are traditionally given at this time of the year.  
2. It probably didn’t cost them too much since they used their own staff and equipment to shoot the video.  Not to mention the fact that they didn’t spend money on printing, stamps, gifts and shipping.  
3. Most importantly, they created a built-in PR/marketing opportunity for themselves.  They were able to showcase their work, spread the card to an exceptional amount of people (beyond their own rolodexes) and the story was even picked up by celebrity news sites (such as Deadline Hollywood, Raincoaster.com and Celebrifi.com).

News generally tends to be slower during the holidays, so it’s a great way to push your message to the public.  Brands and celebrities should consider thinking outside of the box and creating a similar holiday greeting in the future. 

MGA Entertainment Inc.  has recently encountered a stunning defeat as a U.S. district judge has ruled that they must immediately stop manufacturing their ever popular Bratz dolls because the designer developed the idea while still working at Mattel.  Barbie, which had suffered a 15% sales drop, will likely see an increase in sales due to the removal of Bratz from store shelves after the holidays.

Cook with your favorite TV personalities this holiday season… or at least a video game version of them.  Jamie Oliver (from Food Network’s Jamie At Home and known to many as ‘The Naked Chef’) has teamed up with Nintendo DS to create What’s Cooking? With Jamie Oliver.  The new video game will feature the celebrity chef narrating directions to his favorite recipes.  Alton Brown serves up commentary on the Nintendo DS and Wii versions of Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine.  Fans of the show are able to fulfill their dreams of challenging Mario Batali, Cat Cora or Masaharu Morimoto in a one-on-one cooking battle.

Sony has partnered with the AC Milan soccer phenom Kaka to globally promote their products.  The newest commercial (currently being shot in Northern Italy) will feature Kaka with the world’s largest zoetrope.  The soccer superstar is a perfect choice to promote Sony’s new Motionflow technology, as he is known for his speed and smoothness.

Bravo’s Top Design fan favorite, Andrea Schroder, has been hard at work creating a Winter Wonderland for Staples.  The talented interior designer was enlisted to design the office supply store’s first ever holiday window for their Bryant Park store.  And, she did it all from Staples office supplies!

Andrea Schroder surrounded by her Staples Winter Wonderland

In addition to her beautiful window display, she also took time to visit with children from the local Boys and Girls Club.  Schroder taught them how to make simple, beautiful and economical holiday décor out of office supplies.  Her ideas and step-by-step instructions for the inexpensive holiday decorations can be found at her website and will be distributed to Staples Rewards members.  Andrea is also participating in a Satellite Media Tour this morning to promote the unveiling of the holiday window that is scheduled for early afternoon.  Be sure to check it out if you are in the NYC area. 

Kudos to the Staples PR firm, Weber Shandwick, for a beautifully crafted PR program.  They put a fun and relevant spin on a cherished holiday tradition (window displays), obtained media coverage and made it appropriate for the tough economic times.  Not to mention that all of the office supplies used in the window will go to a good cause- as they are being donated to the Boys and Girls Club after the display is taken down for the season.

Canadian rock group Barenaked Ladies was on hand Tuesday night at the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) sponsored Bryant Park Tree Lighting to get the crowd into a festive holiday mood with their catchy music and witty banter. Along with Michael Feinstein, Canadian Brass and others, BNL highlighted a two hour televised event in midtown that was pretty fantastic to witness.

The CTC sponsors and hosts events like this around the USA throughout the year, informing and reminding Americans through these activations about Canada as a warm, friendly (and often spectacularly beautiful) vacation destination. BNL represented their native Canada well, jamming out a few holiday themed songs to get the crowd into a frenzy before the 50+ foot Canadian fir was lit up like, well, a Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree at Bryant Park

A great activation from CTC to bring so many logistical pieces together and leverage their sponsorship so thoroughly to include event hospitality, 1 to 1 consumer connections (kiosks for Canadian photos and goodies), media impressions (BNL, other interviews, VIP media in attendance) and a prime time multi million viewed TV special. Lastly, kudos to the folks at Weber Shandwick who helped orchestrate the overall effort.

Penning Away
Nancy O’Dell of Access Hollywood is offering pregnancy advice to expectant moms in a new book, Full of Life: Mom to Mom Tips I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Pregnant, to be released in April 2009.  Actor Denis Leary released his book Why We Suck, to a mixed audience last month.  In it, Leary openly reveals his controversial opinions on anything from parenting and politics to sexuality and fast food.   Olympic record-holder Michael Phelps has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to write a book entitled Built to Succeed.  The book will tell the story behind his historic eight gold medal swims and will be on shelves just in time for the holiday season.  The Hill’s Lauren Conrad has signed a deal with HarperCollins to write a three-book series of young adult fiction titled L.A. Candy, based on her experiences of becoming a reality star.  The series will debut in summer 2009.  With the help of Penguin Books, Mario Lopez is switching gears from fitness pro to children’s pro.  Lopez and his sister, Marissa, are co-writing Mud Taco, an illustrative work of fiction based on Mario’s own experiences as a child growing up in California.

Healthy Fare
As part of its Happy Meal film partnership with DreamWorks’ Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, McDonald’s has launched a new “One Minute to Move It” children’s well-being effort.  The campaign will include appearances by Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson at McDonald’s locations across the nation, encouraging kids to use their minds, bodies and spirits.  Welch’s 100% Grape Juice has hired wacky food scientist and Food Network TV star Alton Brown to be its pitchman.  In the 15-second ad, Brown, who is known for making food science fun, explains how grapes pack a fruity punch to create healthy hearts, minds and immune systems.  Adding to his impressive list of endorsement deals with Kellogg’s, Visa, Speedo and Rosetta Stone, Michael Phelps signed a deal with sandwich chain Subway.  The deal has locked Phelps into an exclusive quick-service restaurant contract in which he will represent the brand across all marketing channels to promote Subway’s various menu options. 

‘Tis The Season
Starting this month, Rihanna will appear in Gucci’s first-ever United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) holiday ads, dubbed the Tattoo Heart Collection.  You can catch a sneak peak of the e-documentary featuring Rihanna on the set of the shoot and at the Gucci Winter Ready-to-Wear show here . Singer Nick Lachey, actress Diane Farr, NFL star Curtis Conway and TV Host Laila Ali have teamed up with V8 and Feeding America for their “Make Every Serving Count” campaign, in an effort to provide vital vegetable nutrition to hungry Americans nationwide.  You too can contribute to the cause on http://www.v8juice.com/MakeEveryServingCount.aspx.  Vegan and farm animal advocate Emily Deschanel hosted the Farm Sanctuary’s Celebration FOR the Turkeys event in California last month.  Attendees had the opportunity to spend time with other compassionate people, enjoy delectable vegan versions of favorite holiday foods, listen to inspirational speakers and feed the rescued turkeys.  Actress Keri Russell is reminding homeowners to be safe during this holiday season by partnering with the independent safety test lab, Underwriters Laboratories.  She is increasing awareness and sharing key safety tips during the holidays through online videos and an appearance at Chicago’s 95^th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Recently, First Call has been called on to provide expert insight into the world of sports and entertainment. In AdAge, you can find First Call’s Managing Director’s (David Schwab) thoughts on the potential advantages of having Chicago host the 2016 Olympic Games.  As he says, time zones can have a large affect on audience metrics.  If Chicago wins the bid, expect increased audience excitement due to live coverage of events.

Schwab can also be found in the Sports Business Journal  commenting on the benefits of using Facebook as a communication and marketing tool in the industry. He and other industry professionals share what they have learned from using the popular social networking platform.

Finally, Schwab is featured in PR Week’s PR Toolbox. With the tough economic times, everyone is looking to get the most bang for their buck. Schwab gives tips and tricks to help companies ensure that they use celebrities effectively in campaigns.

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…

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.

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.