Celebrity Thursday: Hugh Jackman

TODAY’S BUZZ TIP | October 1, 2009

This one is for the boys.  Hugh Jackman just had his opening night on Broadway together with his only co-star Daniel Craig in “A Steady Rain”.  The play is getting rave reviews.  It’s about two long time friends who also happen to be cops in Chicago.  Guess there’s a lot of heated dialogue. The play was also helped by a bit of press before the show opened.  Apparently during a preview earlier this week someone forgot to turn off their cell phone and Hugh got more than a little miffed.  He stayed in character and basically told them off.  Good for you Hugh.

Hugh Jackman
c/o Whitney Tancred
Rogers & Cowan PR
8687 Melrose Avenue 7th Floor
Los Angeles CA 90069
Phone: 310-854-8100

Media Wednesday: USWeekly

TODAY’S BUZZ TIP | September 30, 2009

Yesterday we spoke of leveraging your celebrity gifting results. One of the publications you should definitely target for your leveraging efforts is USWeekly. USWeekly is second only to People Magazine in terms of circulation among entertainment publications based in the U.S. It’s a great guilty read also if you like celebrity gossip and keeping up with the latest celebrity fashion.  It’s a must read for me of course and if you plan to pitch, for you as well.  But remember, in order for your product to be considered it must have been gifted or purchased by a celebrity. An A List celeb is best, but even a C celebrity can gain you entree.

USWeekly
1290 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor
New York, NY  10104
212-484-1616
email format: firstname.lastname@usmagazine.com
Lead Time: 2-4 Weeks.

Leveraging Celebrity Gifting

TODAY’S BUZZ TIP | September 29, 2009

By now you have a great list of celebrity contacts thanks to moi.  But as one Buzz member asked, “how do you leverage celebrity gfting?”  For example, your product actually does get used by a celebrity and they send you a thank you note.  Or, you are lucky enough to get a picture of a celebrity wearing/using your product.  Well the answer is you can do alot and that is why celebrity gifting is so powerful.

Sometimes the impact will happen automatically.  For example when Brangelina debuted Shiloh to the world on the cover of People Magazine, the tee shirt that little Shiloh wore sold out in days.  Consumers immediately had to have that tee shirt for their own little stars.  So essentially the tee shirt company just sat back and reaped the benefits.  Now that’s a lucky score indeed.  However, most of the time you have to work a little harder to make sure people know that your product is beloved by celebrities.  If you’ve received a thank you from the celebrity then be sure and first contact the publicist and ask if it’s okay for you to post it on your website.  One company recently sent out an email newsletter with a copy of a letter they had received from a celebrity and sent it to all of their customers.  I don’t know if they got permission, but the fact is they had proof the celebrity loved their product.  I will play it on the safe side and ask permission first.

Also, you can send a copy of the letter, or better yet, image of celebrity using product, to the entertainment press including UsWeekly, People, InTouch, Life& Style, OK Magazine, etc. as well as entertainment television programs that love to feature celebrity products.  You should also include the thank you note and images of celebrities with your products, in marketing materials including your press kit, brochures, sales kits, etc.

It’s a big deal that your product is beloved of a major celebrity so tell the world and leverage the heck out of it.  More tips on entertainment press tomorrow.