#oscars Marketing

In my last post, I capitalized on the recent trend of “real-time marketing” and how Oreo has done an exceptional job using this technique in their social media platforms during cultural televised events, like the Superbowl and the Grammys, to connect directly with their audience, in real time. 

Yet, in the words of PR Daily’s reporter, Kevin Allen, “this cookie has created a monster”. While nearly one billion people were tuned into the 2013 ceremony of the Oscars this past Sunday, millions of people were also tuned into Twitter to tweet about the host, the winners and the best dressed. A lot of brands saw this as an opportunity to jump on the “real-time marketing” bandwagon. JC Penney, Special K, Stella Artois, Sharpie, and Visa, were some of the brands that released on-the-fly executions with varying degrees of success. Some were good, most were a complete flop, showing little thought put into them.  

Twitter users saw these brand’s executions, as a technique to not fall behind. Allen explains, “much more thought was put into being clever on the fly for the sake of being among many who were trying to be clever on the fly”. These executions were just an attempt to go viral, instead of a real marketing efforts to connect with fans. Yet, even the good executions, didn’t reach half the amount of retweets and buzz that the Oreo Superbowl blackout ad received. Twitter users were so fed up with the amount of brands using this technique, that for a short amount of time the hashtag, #oscarrtm (Oscar’s Real Time Marketing) was trending. 

You all know I’m a big fan of “real-time marketing”, but if you’re going to use this technique brands need to be truly fast, connect the execution with the brand message, or provide further information for tweeter users. This is where most brands missed their opportunities. 

Which brand had the best executions? 

The Real Winners of the Superbowl

It’s no joke what social media has done to the Public Relations and overall communications industry. It has dramatically changed the way companies interact with its publics. It can either unite a community of followers to hate on your brand or it can create serious communication opportunities for the brand to be on top of things and engage in insightful conversations with its followers. This is called “real-time marketing”. 

Many brands have been using real time marketing in social media to manage crisis. Yet, real-time marketing goes way beyond crisis management. Real-time marketing can be used to seize or create unseen opportunities to be creative and increase brand awareness. This is the case of Oreo. 

During the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII when a power outage at the New Orleans Superdome caused a blackout for thirty-four minutes, Oreo’s social media team jumped on this opportunity, tweeting an image of an Oreo and the caption, “You can still dunk in the dark.” The message was in instant success, getting more than 15,000 retweets and more than 20,000 likes on Facebook.

In an interview with Wired magazine, Sarah Hofstetter, president of digital marketing agency 360i, which handled game-day tweeting for Oreo, confessed that they had a social media team ready to respond to whatever happened online during the Super Bowl, whether it was an outstanding play or a blackout. The team consisted of copywriters, a strategist, and artists ready to react to any situation in ten minutes or less. Now, this is what I call being proactive. 

Mrs. Hofstetter capitalized on their strategy saying “Once the blackout happened, no one was distracted — there was nothing going on. The combination of speed and cultural relevance propelled it the forefront”. Talk about capitalizing on an opportunity! 

And since being an effective communicator involves jumping from one opportunity to the next, Oreo yet again proved their team is on top of things when they released another on-the-fly ad celebrating Justin Timberlake’s return to pop music at last night’s Grammy Awards. The ad, which didn’t cause that much commotion or steal the blackout ad’s spotlight, was very timely and clever. 

In an time where advertisers spend millions to run an ad during the Superbowl or an important award show, having a brand engage with their users using real-time techniques on social media is a clever way to reach people on smartphones and computers. This said, companies have to stay on their toes on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels to stay relevant. And companies like Oreo keep reminding us that social media is here to stay and the key to scoring a publicity touchdown is being proactive and a little bit clever. 

Oprah's Touch

You know it’s Christmas time when Oprah releases her Favorite Things List. Each Holiday season, the legendary talk-show host, Oprah Winfrey, handpicks and creates a list of her favorite items and gadgets of the year. If you’re lucky to create a product she loves, a mention on this list might skyrocket your success. The fortunate products that make it in this exclusive list, experience the Oprah effect: an instant increase in sales and prestige. That’s because Oprah is one of the most influential people of our time, and has secured a huge following over the years. Those big numbers translate into big sales for the products Oprah recommends. She is not only a pop-culture star, but she is also a star-maker.

We’ve seen many success stories of products that have been featured in her Favorite Things List or secured a mention in her show, and immediately see sales peak. Yet, you can’t fully understand the Oprah effect until you experience it firsthand. While working in Orlando-based advertising agency Push, I was given the task of collecting media clippings for one of our clients, Corkcicle.

Right of Publicity?

Among the major liabilities pertaining the Public Relations industry, we find that privacy laws have been continuously arising lawsuits and affecting the industry directly. Privacy laws vary from state to state and are encompassed in a grey area where the boundary between First Amendment protected speech and commercial speech is yet to be delineated. According to Don Pember (2008), author of Mass Media Law, there are four areas of privacy law: appropriation of name or likeness for commercial purposes, intrusion, publication of private information and publication of material that puts an individual in false light. For this particular discussion, I’ll focus on the first category, appropriation of someone’s name or likeness for commercial gain without permission. 

It’s important to know that the appropriation tort is divided into two categories: the right to privacy and the right of publicity. The major difference between each other is that the “right to privacy protects an individual from the emotional damage that can occur when a name or likeness is used for a commercial or trade purpose” (Pember, 2008, p. 281), while the right of publicity intends to “remunerate individuals for the economic harm suffered when their name, picture, image, likeness, voice, etc. for commercial exploitation without compensation” (Pember, 2008, p. 281). Although it’s more common to see celebrities take legal action against companies claiming their right of publicity, average individuals can use these legal causes of action as well. 

Not - so - Fabulous Entertainment Public Relations

Being knowledgeable in legal terminology and precedents in our industry of choice is vital to maintain a successful business. This knowledge provides a laying foundation of what to expect if engaging in a legal battle.

We generally see entertainment public relations professionals in the midst of legal battles playing the role of firefighters, representing their clients as legislative public relations representatives, a sub segment of crisis management. Yet, the public relations industry, especially that related to the entertainment world, does have legal liabilities, and although not common, from time to time you'll see a public relations representative as one of the parties of a legal feud. These liabilities definitely make the industry seem less fabulous and more risky than Samantha Jone’s job in Sex and the City.

Wanted: A PR for PR

In the past couple of years, there has been a growing interest to explore and expose the inner workings of the public relations industry. Although some movies and TV shows like The Spin Crowd, PoweR Girls and The City, positioned our industry in the spotlight, they haven’t exactly portrayed it in the best light. It’s a known fact that pop culture has overly glamorized the public relations industry. From Samantha in Sex and the City series to Whitney Port in The Hills, public relations professionals are portrayed as powerful ladies dressed head-to-toe in Gucci and Dior, who spend their nights in exclusive VIP parties. All in all, the PR industry is perceived as superficial and frivolous.

Kim Cattrall plays Samantha, a glamorous PR Executive
 in Sex and the City.
Photo Credit

Artist Manager (aka Jack-of-all-Trades)

Behind every great artist, there is a great manager. Everyone knows that in the entertainment industry, talent is simply not enough. To make it big in saturated markets, such as the music industry, artists need to portray a unique image, have access to the right contacts, and have a great support system. It’s the artist manager who provides those elements that complement the artist’s craft, and enable him/her to reach stardom. 

After signing with an artist manager, the artist becomes a company, and the manager, its CEO. It’s the artist manager who oversees all aspects of the artist’s career and makes sure that the artist’s vision is articulated properly across all channels. Of course, like in all businesses, CEOs can’t do it all by themselves. While he is truly the personal representative of the artist, the artist manager has to assemble and manage a team of professionals that will help him achieve the artist’s career goals. It’s common knowledge that the artist needs a good lawyer, to protect his career against restrictive contracts or dangerous lawsuits, and an experienced accountant to manage the financial aspects. Traditionally, the manager will also bring a publicist and a booking agent on board. Yet, it has come to my attention that there’s an emerging trend, especially in the Puerto Rican market, where managers also act as the client’s publicists and booking agents.

This “jack-of-all-trades” management approach has certainly surprised me, due to the time consuming nature of Public Relations. It’s difficult for me to conceive that a manager can put in the necessary time and dedication to develop and execute an effective PR campaign, while dealing with all the other duties that artist management involves.