here it is

Feb. 16‘10

Most people who know me know that my parents are from Italy.   While I didn’t “Grow up Gotti” (remember that show?), I can certainly relate to and laugh with the FaceBook group 42 Things in the Life of an Italian Child, which outlines common and funny things that my brothers, sister, cousins and friends can relate to.  Whatever.  I’m not that offended.  I can take a joke. 

Now, I haven’t seen MTV’s Jersey Shore – partly because I refuse to watch it – but it is causing quite a stir among the Italian-American community, particularly The National Italian American Federation (NIAF).

Based on everything I hear – the tans, the clothes, the tattoos, the fighting, the partying, rinse and repeat – it sounds like a dramatic group of young adults who, together, are bound to draw some attention.  It just so happens that they are Italian, and are waving their Italian flags everywhere and busting out of their “I love Italy” shirts while causing all sorts of commotion.  For all the Italians I know in America and in Italy, I don’t know any like them.   

So the NIAF sends out emails monthly to members asking for help “to promote positive media portrayals of Italian Americans,” and has campaigned against the show through national media outlets like Fox, ABC, Newsweek, and The New York Times.  I appreciate the NIAF for valiantly defending the Italian-American name, culture, heritage and reputation, but so much time is spent campaigning against this show.

As a public relations pro, I have a tendency to look at the positives to a situation.  What about NIAF using Jersey Shore to leverage a campaign to educate America on what real life Italian-American families are like?   There is no other time more appropriate than now to launch a positive campaign.  There are many media outlets willing to listen because of the controversy caused by Jersey Shore. 

There are so many inspiring stories of immigrants coming to this country and finding their way, carving the path to success, making a name for themselves and building a legacy for their families.  What about the Italian-Americans who have contributed to entertainment, government, law and business in America?  Do the names Giada De Laurentiis, Chief Justice Antonin Scalia, Janet Napolitano or Jerry Colangelo ring any bells? 

NIAF is an influential group based in Washington, D.C. and has access to many of these Italian-Americans who they should include as part of their campaign to “promote a positive image of Italian-Americans.”  They need to act quickly on a positive publicity campaign while this story is still hot.  Then, maybe the NIAF will make the tans of the Jersey Shore group pale in comparison.

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Feb. 8‘10

Call me un-American, but there is only one thing I enjoy about Superbowl Sunday. Before you ask, no- it’s not the uber masculine trash talk about which team will prevail nor is it the gluttonous table spreads of bean dip, chicken wings, and blocks of processed cheese- rather it is the ridiculously over-priced advertisements between plays I look forward to most.

Light beer, Doritos, and Go-Daddy models- oh my.

Nielsen says I am not alone in this lack of enthusiasm for the actual sport. Viewer survey shows that just over half (51 percent) of respondents enjoy the Super Bowl more for the ads than the game.

So why is it we are so captivated by slapstick versions of the same message these corporate brands produce the other 364 days of the year? I have no idea- however, I do know there is simply something mesmerizing about anything that costs an average of $3 million dollars and only lasts 30 seconds.

So how did super bowl spots get so popular, and what gives CBS the audacity to charge marketers millions of dollars to capture their audience? Well, it really only takes considering the sheer size of the Super Bowl audience to put that mystery to rest. An average of 110 million viewers tuned in to watch last year’s game, with the numbers predicted to be even higher this year.

A direct indicator of an ad’s effectiveness is traffic to an advertiser’s Web site. According to Nielsen ratings, next-day Web traffic to Super Bowl advertiser sites last year was up an average of 63%. The numbers are there, sure, but $3 million dollars? I can think of a few things I could spend that amount of money on. Hovercraft? Chartered jet to Europe? Endless supply of peanut M&M’s? Just to name a few.

If you thought the economy would in any way affect this marketing bonanza we call the Super Bowl you were mistaken. As a matter of fact, companies are more likely to buy Super Bowl advertising when they want to make an impact by jump-starting a brand or introducing themselves. This fact could also explain why you didn’t see Pepsi or FedEx participating in this year’s event, rather focusing marketing money somewhere besides a 3 million dollar means of reminding us they still exist.

Talking animals, the overused Budweiser Clydesdales and Go Daddy’s tacky spokes models have resonated among avid ad watchers, but how have they evolved? You tell me. What did you find refreshing about this year’s spots?

Oh- and congratulations to the New Orleans Saints? Wizards?  I don’t know, I think that’s who won.

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Jan. 20‘10

Using Your Body for PR:  Sounds risqué, I know.  But I made you look, didn’t I?  Well so did Heidi Montag this week when she appeared on Access Hollywood, Good Morning America, and The View to talk about the horrors of undergoing 10 plastic surgeries in one day – she almost died! 

After being holed up since November, the reality star resurfaced on the cover of People Magazine with the headline reading, “Heidi Montag: My Surgeries Aren’t an Addiction.”   Of course, she needed to further defend herself on national television and tell her painful story firsthand. 

Her interviews have created an outrage among viewers and readers, and of course, the media.  She has everyone talking about her from my coworkers at the water cooler to a board certified doctor on Web MD.  

It’s been a few months since Team Speidi made headlines, they needed some sort of publicity stunt to catapult them back into the spotlight, and not to mention, increase sales for Heidi’s next Playboy cover.  The story definitely meets the journalistic news criteria of unusual and unexpected – okay, okay — and celebrity and prominence, too.  

We’re talking about her, right?  Her publicist’s work here is done – for now, of course.    

PS – I like her before picture.

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Jul. 16‘09

The current storyline on WWE’s Monday Night Raw deftly demonstrates the promotional prowess and marketing magic that have made the show a cable power player, and has shown how the WWE manages to stay on top even in tough economic times. Three weeks ago, in a brilliant attempt to compete with a media -frenzied John and Kate Plus Eight scandal, WWE President & CEO Vince McMahon “sold” the program (due to these harsh economic times) to Donald Trump, but then immediately regretted his decision, repurchasing the brand for double the cost the following week. 

Nearly seven million viewers tuned in to see what Donald Trump would do with a bucket of pyro and a roster of wrestlers. It wasn’t long after these record results were yielded that McMahon announced that instead of one general manager overseeing Raw, each week would bring a new face to create matches, alliances, villains and champions. This has created an ever-evolving character or guest host providing limitless opportunities to jolt the show with more life, more air, and most importantly more viewers.

Testing the waters the first week with some caution, the WWE named Dave “The Animal” Batista as the guest host; a name that excited WWE enthusiasts, as he is currently on leave suffering from a torn bicep. Batista (as he goes by) has a real beef with current Champion Randy Orton and put him through the ringer scheduling him for fight after fight throughout the night.

At the end of the show, they announced that Ted Dibiase (AKA Million Dollar Man), would guest host the following week hopefully as a draw to bring back old school fans. Dibiase is famous among wrestling fans for his “heal” or bad guy persona he made famous in the 80’s and 90’s with WWE. The throwback could be an attempt for the WWE to cater to past fans at a time when there is Monday Night Football or the NBA to compete with.

Then in an attempt to shake things up the next guest host was announced to be Seth Green. Seth Green? Yes, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Austin Powers, 5’4,” potentially 140 pound star, stood face to face with such big guys as John Cena, Triple H, and Chris Jericho.  He even put himself smack in the middle of a 6 Man Tag Team match.  Green wasn’t only there for fun, he promoted his newest project Cartoon Network’s hit Adult Swim series “Robot Chicken” through a series of clever dialogue and vignettes alongside the wrestlers.

The role of guest host works not just to add novelty and viewers to the program, it also creates a platform of promotion for the host, which certainly is a revenue generator for WWE. WWE has put a new exciting face on a format that has been a proven success for Saturday Night Live and numerous talk shows.

How has this guest host idea worked out for the show’s ratings? The WWE is on the eve of announcing their 2nd quarter earnings and though they haven’t seen the kind of numbers that Trump’s appearance brought in, the angle keeps a degree of mainstream appeal and relevance for the company, while allowing key storylines to gain momentum and keep viewers entertained. 

So who will be the next guest star in the squared circle? It was speculated that the honor would be bestowed upon “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, another throwback wrestler. However, speculation couldn’t have been more off the mark, it was announced that the host would actually be Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. A brilliant move for both parties, as the band is looking to garner publicity for their current tour, and the WWE Universe is dying to see an answer to the age old question: what would ZZ Top do with a steel chair, a sledge hammer, thumbtacks, and a locker-room filled with talent? 

Yes, by consistently reinventing itself, by thinking out of the box, by partnering and cross marketing with both the familiar and the new, and by not being afraid to take a chance, the WWE is a marketing model which many businesses should be thinking about to get back on their feet again. 

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Jun. 26‘09

Between watching live breaking news coverage on CNN, and checking updates on Google News, NYTimes, and Twitter, it was hard to tell if the news of Michael Jackson’s death was true.  TMZ.com was reporting his death, Tweeters were posting “RIP Michael Jackson,” yet CNN was reporting that he was in a coma.  I mean, was TMZ.com really the most credible source to break the news?  Perhaps yes, since they are an entertainment source, but I wasn’t believing it until NYTimes.com said it.

Once the Associated Press reported that Jackson had passed away, many media outlets began posting obituaries, biographies, life timelines, highlights, pictures, videos, montages, you name it…

How were they able to get all of this information together within minutes of his death? Perhaps they had time to write these stories when reports of his cardiac arrest had taken place?  Possible.  Most likely is that many of these outlets already had his biography written and on file for when a tragedy would occur. 

It is not uncommon for the media to do this.   Last year AP had written Britney Spears’s obituary when the troubled star was at an all-time low.  In defense of the news, AP entertainment editor Jesse Washington told US Magazine, “We are not wishing it, but if Britney passed away, it’s easily one of the biggest stories in a long time.”

The AP reportedly has 1,000 obituaries on file, according to TheWire.com, including one for Amy Winehouse.

In the book, Mediawriting: Print, Broadcast, and Public Relations, the authors state, “Both newspaper reporters and public relations practitioners often keep on hand up-to-date biographical narratives or pre-written obituaries of prominent people.”  This ensures that when someone prominent dies, the appropriate stories are written in a timely manner. 

So keep this in mind when you are watching live coverage (or sometimes, marathon coverage) and wondering how the media is able to get this information together so quickly.

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May. 28‘09

With the temperatures inching towards the triple digits, you can pretty much find me any given weekend lounging by the refreshingly blue waters of my pristine community pool with an assortment of intellectual summer reads, including OK Magazine, US Weekly, People, or Life & Style Magazine. And there are plenty of opportunities to exchange reads at this popular weekend hangout!

It isn’t often when I have this burning desire to rant (or Twant, as it is called in Twitterverse) about the content of a celebrity gossip magazine and the much ado about this show I had never heard of called Jon & Kate Plus 8.

I remember the day quite distinctly when I first heard these words uttered. It was at our company staff meeting, a Wednesday, when B-Diggs (himself guilty of reading celebrity gossip) leaned over to show me the latest breaking news conveniently made available on his Blackberry. “Jon of Jon & Kate Plus 8 caught cheating.” To which I loudly replied, “Who?” I sensed his disappointment, but my remote control rarely makes it past E! Hollywood.

Well since that day, this Jon & Kate Plus 8 show has become a phenomenon – no, a media sensation – making headlines on every possible gossip magazine, show, RSS feed, column, blog, and yes, even CNN. It was the headline on the homepage of CNN that stopped me in my tracks and made me “pick up the pen” to write this blog post.

This much I know:

1) The best television shows available ceased to exist after a dramatic grand finale week in mid-May.

2) Jon & Kate Plus 8 premiered on Memorial Day

You don’t have to be a publicity genius to know that this, eh em, scandal was the brain child of a scheming publicist looking for a way to make this 5th season premier with a bang.

Did I watch it? No. Will I? Yes, I probably will at some point because I’m curious after reading all the juicy tidbits in People Magazine and US Weekly. “Is she as much a control freak as they say she is?” “How does she keep those kids looking so sparkling and happy?” “Did he cheat?” I certainly hope he didn’t, and yes, I want to know how she manages those kids!

Here’s the thing. We all need to make a living, and I don’t blame this family of ten one bit. I’m just calling a spade a spade, and the Jon & Kate Plus 8 saga looks like a publicity stunt.

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