Archive for the 'Celebrities' Category

01
Feb
11

Eva Longoria available for the right price

By Mark Plumb 3 Comments
Categories: Advertising, Celebrities, Communications, Marketing, NFL, Social Media, Social Networking and Twitter
Tags: , , , , ,

The recently launched site TwitChange is taking social media in a new direction.  TwitChange gives people a chance to win a celebrity auction, but not your traditional celebrity auction.

You bid on a donation amount to the designated TwitChange charity and attempt to win the Twitter affection of your favorite celebrity. The largest bidder is declared the winner of the TwitChange auction and can win one of three valuable rewards:

  1. A follow from your favorite celebrity on Twitter
  2. A special tweet from your favorite celebrity
  3. Your favorite celebrity will re-tweet one of your tweets

Last September, Eva Longoria (who has more than 1,217,000 Twitter followers) led the effort to raise money in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Leveraging the power of her celebrity, the TwitChange auction produced more than 30 million hits in 30 days, and raised $500,000 to build a home for disabled and special needs children in Haiti.

The latest auction started Jan. 29 and goes through Feb. 4. It benefits Operation Once in a Lifetime – the charity ensures soldiers’ homes aren’t foreclosed on, heat and electricity stays connected, and families are safe while soldiers are deployed.

As an added incentive for the current Operation Once in a Lifetime auction, the highest bidder on Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu (NFL defensive player of the year) will receive two Super Bowl tickets to this Sunday’s game between Pittsburgh and Green Bay.

A huge Side Note Blog congratulations to Eva Longoria and Troy Polamalu for using Twitter to bring awareness and financial support to these charitable causes.

This is the best example we’ve found of Twitter being used for social change that can change the world.

Let us know if you have found social media efforts that you believe deserve recognition. Share your thoughts with us right here on the Side Note Blog or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow @Weise_Ideas on Twitter.

04
Feb
09

Oh Phelpsy, You’re Just Too Young To Understand

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Celebrities, Crisis Communications and PR

Picture this, you’re walking along in the park and you see a cute little bunny hopping towards you. Then, the cute little bunny looks up at you and says, “I’m cute!” Suddenly, that cute little bunny has become obnoxious and you start thinking how much you miss the tie-dyed rabbit’s foot you had in third grade.

This is what Michael Phelps’ apology did to me, and this is where Beth and I disagree.

Had Phelps’ publicist issued the statement about the Olympic star’s young age, I would have been completely on board this train. However, Phelps being the one to say he was young and would make mistakes boggles my mind, because his recognition of his own immaturity is in fact an act of maturity.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want him to suffer for this. It’s not like I’m some small county sheriff who needs some publicity (check out that story here). I’m just saying the PR rep should have thought this through.

I sure did.

03
Feb
09

Super Bowl Fake Out

By Tracy Weise 1 Comment
Categories: Celebrities, PR and TV

I’m not mad at Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill or even Whitney Houston, at least not for lip-syncing at the Super Bowl. The NFL, however, does not receive my good graces.

Here’s a quick timeline of how it went down:

Sunday: I missed the Super Bowl
Monday: I heard about Jennifer Hudson’s amazing performance and watched it on Youtube.
Tuesday: I read that it was lip-synced. GASP! What?

I get the NFL’s reasons for pressing the artists to lip-sync when singing the National Anthem and other patriotic songs. Rob Levine, executive editor of Billboard magazine, put it like this:

“If Bruce Springsteen flubs a line on ‘Born to Run’ only his fans will notice,” he said. “If Jennifer Hudson flubs on the national anthem, people are going to get upset. People want it to be technically perfect as well as emotionally inspiring.“

And you know what? It was emotionally inspiring…until this morning. There are a million analogies I could come up for this kind of disappointment: Going to bed after having a few drinks and waking up with a headache; thinking someone is waving at you on the street only to find they are waving at the person behind you; reaching for a grape in the fruit bowl only to discover it’s plastic…you get the picture.

For it to last, it has to be real. The fact that the NFL encourages lip-syncing makes me feel pandered too and like they are out to get me. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think anyone who tries to deceive me shouldn’t be trusted.
Is the game real? Or is it just a show too?

And why isn’t the NFL receiving the kind of bad PR that Ashlee Simpson suffered five years ago? I know you haven’t all forgotten that…or forgiven her for it.

26
Jan
09

Neuromarketing and Product Endorsements

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Celebrities, Endorsements, Marketing and Neuromarketing

A friend sent me an article this morning on neuromarketing from 80percentmental.com. In a nutshell, neuromarketing is the study and evaluation of consumer brain responses to marketing stimuli. Therefore, we can learn how certain tactics affect consumers biologically. Nifty, right?

When used to measure product endorsements by celebrities, there are three categories:

Source Credibility—the more you believe the celebrity knows about the product, the more credibility he or she has earned from you
Source Attractiveness—this pertains to how much you identify with and like the celebrity
Product Match-Up—how logical is it that the celebrity should endorse the product

Now then, let’s apply this.
80percentmetal.com used the doomed Tiger Woods / Buick and David Beckham / Pepsi endorsements for it’s analysis. (Both contracts were ended prematurely.) But here is some content we analyzed on our own:

Brooke Shields and VW

This is a totally credible endorsement. If Brooke Shields were doing this at the start of her career, some 25 years ago, there would be little credibility coming from her. But she is age appropriate for the product and she has kids of her own.
You also have to believe that Brooke has a sense of humor because she pulls the sarcasm off so spot-on that it matches her perfectly with VW branding. And as for attractiveness, who doesn’t either identify with or want to be Brooke Shields? Even guys want to be her. (Stop looking at me.)

Jessica Simpson and Pizza Hut

I don’t believe Jessica Simpson is an expert on any food, especially after the infamous Chicken of the Sea misfortune during her reality stint on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. Furthermore, after this aired, Jessica apparently told Elle magazine that she was allergic to cheese, wheat and tomatoes. So, why should I believe her endorsement of Pizza Hut? And no, I don’t want to be her.

Check out the full 80percentmental article here and see how it went wrong with Woods and Beckham. (Thanks Daniel)

23
Jan
09

Dunkin’ Donuts Pulls Something From My Memory

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Celebrities, commercials and Funny

I really like the latest from Dunkin’ Donuts. I think they are in the midst of a solid messaging platform and I’m sure it will continue to take them uphill. However, their “You Kin’ Do It” ad kind of reminds me of something else. Check out the two videos below and see for yourself.

22
Jan
09

Is “green” the new Britney Spears?

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Celebrities, Green, Marketing and trends

We love to promote the heck out of something and then tear it down. Britney Spears is this generation’s poster child for such behavior. I admit that I don’t really feel bad for victims of this process. Probably because I tend to dislike everything from the get-go, so I avoid this little dance. However, I like things that are “green.” And what does my devotion get me? That’s right, “green” is now on the chopping block.

Brand Week published an article last week about the inevitability of the green backlash. Here’s how it starts:

light“The signature spiral shape of the compact fluorescent light bulb has become, in many ways, a symbol of all things “green.”… but, upon deeper investigation, they are actually far worse for the environment (and the human race), than they are good.”

Here we go. Apparently everyone’s favorite new light bulb is filled with mercury and when we throw them all away in twenty years, they will flood our rivers and poison us and we will die. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but you can bet there are people out there who will tell their friends about the situation in just this way.

We have to be careful that, during this backlash, we don’t undo all of the good that has come of our desire to be greener. While we should definitely annex the products and companies that claim to be green but in fact have not done much at all to better our planet, we should also remember that this new drive has prepared us all to move our entire society into an era of new energy and of new thinking.

As far as the light bulbs go, we all know what’s going to happen there…Jeremy Piven is going to claim he ate too many of them and got mercury poisoning and GMA is going to give him air time for it.

Today’s lesson = don’t believe the hype…on either side of the spectrum.

21
Jan
09

From the president

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Celebrities, Journalism and PR

Tracy Weise, President of Weise Communications, sent me this message after today’s blog:

“Are you serious? Everything going on in the world and GMA caters to this? Any reputable reporter would have done more research on Pivens’ claims and determined the basis of them before putting him on camera. And if at that time GMA still found this to be a credible story, they should have had a physician on to discuss mercury poison, including the risks and concerns associated with it so that the audience could have received credible information from a credible source.

I understand and appreciate that actors can lend their “star power” to get increased awareness for diseases and issues that affect them personally but, when that happens, qualified individuals need to provide information on the issue (doctors, lawyers, scientists). For GMA to air mercury safety issues (potentially false ones at that) based on the information from an actor who may or may not be trying to use this to win a law suit, is terrible reporting.”

Well said.

21
Jan
09

Good Morning America, How Dare You!

By Tracy Weise 2 Comments
Categories: Celebrities, Journalism and PR

Dear GMA,

Really? I can’t believe you would pander to Jeremy Piven and this ridiculous PR cover up on your January 15 show. Thanks to you and your wingman—Diane Sawyer—you may have very well usurped the War on Terror with the War on Fish. You know there are at least a million viewers who saw your broadcast and have rejected fish from their lives forever. What did fish ever do to you, GMA, other than give you protein and heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids?

Thankfully, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) knows the truth, and they have given it to us via the next great viral video. Eat your hearts out GMA. Because the truth is, it doesn’t take a PR expert to see what a disaster this is. Not only do I now have no respect for Jeremy Piven, but you have lost credibility, GMA.

I expect to see a pro-fish story in the next week. And this time, see if you can get someone who is an actual doctor, or at least who plays one on TV (see vid).

Check out the full story at the LA Times.

24
Dec
08

Mix It Up—Holiday Style

By Tracy Weise 1 Comment
Categories: Advertising, Best of, Celebrities, Marketing and New Media

I admit that I’m a nut for holiday songs. It’s an excuse to get giddy about nonsensical music for no reason…much like how I used to listen to Britney Spears in 1999.
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So, for the last Side Note of the year, I’m going to share with you 3 sites that get into some festive holiday remixing.

picture-1A Dog and Puppet Show

Right here in Denver, Factory Labs jazzed it up with a self-promotion on their Web site. You have to check this out. I believe the pictures are of their staff, which doesn’t really explain the dog or the puppet, but it’s awesome, nonetheless.

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picture-3Merry Mix It

I’m giving total props to GAP for their holiday spirit too. Their Merry Mix It promo actually provided me with a good 15 minutes of entertainment. Any company that can bring the Dixie Chicks together with Sandra Bernhard in an effective way gets my vote.

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picture-2The Emoticarolers

Finally, it’s not too late to send an e-card for the holidays. I recommend the Emoticarolers. These familiar faces will sing a song to the recipient of the card, and you can even change the lyrics to make them as hilarious as you like. I expect a card from each of you.

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That’s it for The Side Note until January 7, 2009. Thanks for reading, and have a happy holiday…or else.

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