Promotional Media Tours–Becoming Too Obvious?

It’s a traditional tool that all PR pros use to spread the word about a product or event.

In between the promoting, celebrities have two choices: Go into hiding or stay in the limelight.

But is this tool becoming a little too obvious when celebrities only use it to promote their album, clothing line or movie release? For those who love the spotlight, ie: Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears, you really don’t notice it. Every time the TV is on, there they are putting on a show.

For those who like to keep a low profile, Mariah Carey for example, you rarely see them making appearances at different events (with the exception of charity events) or do any performances until right before a release.

Gwyneth Paltrow is a prime example. The Oscar winner has been pretty vacant in the past few years, off raising her family I’m sure. Now that her new movie, Iron Man, is set to premiere, she’s been everywhere. The Signpost made a comment about her reappearance.

Granted, this reappearance has caused a lot more positive attention because of her new look. She’s looking better resulting in praises from a lot of the media and style gurus. The Elle Tell All blog praises her coming out style.

It’s coming to a point where celebrities don’t see the need to put themselves out into the spotlight until it’s time for the public to start buying. Is that fair to the consumers?

PR-wise, it’s not. A celebrity can’t call on the public only when they need them. Like I’ve said in previous posts, the public is not forgiving and it definitely doesn’t forget.

These celebrities have the misconception that the public owes them something for their great talent but it’s really the other way around.

The public will survive with one less entertainer. But can they survive without the consumers? I don’t think so.

Entertainers have to maintain a presence during the down time to keep up the awareness. I know I’m bringing in a marketing aspect, but it does make sense. If consumers are not thinking about that singer while they’re at Wal-Mart, they are not going to buy their album. It’s simple logic.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are always in the limelight with little effort. It could be because they are thought to be the best-looking couple in the world or it could be because they are always at some event. Oftentimes they attend charity events, which always add major good will points. I’m not saying they attend charity events to get on the public’s good side, but they are always on the cover of a magazine.

They prove that celebrities don’t have to dance on table tops to keep attention but rather be comfortable with the media enough to keep themselves in the snap shots.

Not only does staying in the limelight create a presence, but it also continues to foster a relationship. Celebrities give the public some pictures and performances, and the public will return the favor.

Gwyneth Paltrow image courtesy of celebrity-gossip.net

Brad and Angelina image courtesy of img2.timeinc.net

A Negative Reputation the Only Way to Get on the A-List?

In corporate world, the rules are simple. Those who do wrong and suffer the consequences–if not legally, then through public opinion.

For entertainment, the rules are completely opposite. The worse celebrities behave, the more people crave them.

Take a second to think of two celebrities off the top of your head. I can almost guarantee that Britney Spears will be one of them. The question is why? Her talent is less than desirable and she hasn’t had a project in years (with the exception of her recent album). But for some reason, she is the face of the entertainment industry to those who aren’t familiar with that world.

Her actions have grown to be more destructive by the week but it’s obvious that the worse she does, the more paparazzi hunt her down.

Case in point: When R&B singer Akon’s album, Trouble, first came on the scene in 2004, everyone was chomping at the bits over who was this badass newcomer. His voice was decent but his “street cred” hooked people. But that credit has been blown by The Smoking Gun report that stated he fabricated his whole criminal past.

I first read the article on E!News and later followed up with Michelle Malkin’s blog, which calls him a marketing fraud. 

I don’t need to go into details about what lies Akon has told (see above links for all that), but I’m confused with why he felt the need to make it up. He obviously wanted to put himself in the same light as “notorious thugs” such as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and TI.

We can’t really blame him because the message the public is sending is to ”do bad and we’ll worship you!”

If it’s not painfully clear, look at the celebrities with talent and somewhat clean backgrounds who aren’t getting the same amount of press attention. Toni Braxton, Julia Roberts, Robin Thicke, etc. These are the kind of entertainers who rely on their talent to get attention. Seems like a funny notion to stars such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan but it doesn’t hurt try it.

As PR reps, how do they handle it? In the white-collar world, PR agencies pull their hair out trying to keep their clients out of the negative spotlight. PR folks act as clients’ conscious telling them what is the right thing to do.

With celebrities, there’s not a lot of options when the client is diving head first into the pit of crisis. These kind of celebrities, also known as media whores, find every way possible to seem like a deviant so that they can be on the cover of US Weekly.

How can PR reps convince them that their talent keeps them afloat. More importantly, what can they do if their client has no talent (shocker)?

Elizabeth Berkley launching a PR campaign?

Well, maybe not exactly. But you do have to admit that the former Saved by the Bell co-star has put herself out there lately.

In attempts to put herself back onto the A-list, she has thrown herself in every location possible to renew her fame. She’s definitely got something up her sleeve and I don’t think this is the end of her plans.

The classic signs are there with her show appearances and (eek) a reality show launch.

She appeared CSI: Miami last month in her recurring role of Julia Winston, which gave the show its highest ratings of the 10 p.m. time slot in five years. Berkley told TVGuide.com that she plans to pop up on the show a few more times in the future.  

Also, the little minx has signed up to host Bravo’s new reality show, Step Up & Dance. The formula is no different than the other thousands of reality shows: 12 dancers compete for $100 thousand, as reported in the Editor’s Blog of TVGuide.com.

As I did my research on the actress, I stumbled upon her Web site, Ask-Elizabeth, which I didn’t know existed. The site’s mission is to provide a safe haven for adolescent females through interactive workshops at youth groups and high schools across the country.

It’s all butterflies and rainbows, which is surprising in light of the fact that it’s coming from the Showgirls actress. Newstoob.com blog talks more about Showgirls’ cult success. I’m all about the notion that a person can change, but is this her way of creating good will?

Her resume of good deeds seems to be endless, but has anyone really heard of any of them?

Berkley She is slowly creeping up in places that she knows get top ratings. CSI: Miami, a top-rated drama series and a reality show, which we all know have become the new TV crack for American viewers.

She is playing it safe by not jumping into a big movie role (remember Showgirls?) or a TV drama series. We all know that reality show hosts are replaced as easy as last week’s milk.

Berkley is not tying herself down to one project, rather she is spreading herself out with hopes of high fan return. She has analyzed her target audience, appropriate media outlets and planned her campaign accordingly. Well done.