Octagon First Call

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. 

Ashton Kutcher is sneaking up to the top of the most marketable men in Hollywood.

He is best known for the television series That ’70s Show. He was the creator, executive producer, and host of the MTV celebrity prank show Punk’d and now Pop Fiction And now he is the executive producer for a new ABC sitcom Miss Guided.

USA Today’s Laura Petrecca yesterday talked about his latest endorsement project in which he becomes the new face for Nikon’s Coolpix digital camera (replacing Kate Moss). TV ads start today. Nikon even has a Ashton specific website address “AshtonsCoolPix.com” taking everyone to their home page.

Also, Baume & Mercier announced in a press release that Kutcher and Teri Hatcher will become new brand ambassadors the watch company. Past ambassadors included Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger and Gary Sinise.

And before acting and serving as a pitchman, he was an aspiring model. Born in Iowa, he moved to New York and within months he was walking the runway in Milan and Paris, for Versace, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger.

And oh yeah, he is married to Demi Moore.