in: Public Relations
by: Sabina Hitchen
First of all congratulations to you! Having a product featured at the Oscars used to just mean having it on the arm/body/wrist/face of a celebrity who will be walking the carpet, but these days it can mean so much more. A celebrity or one of their "Glam Squad" (hair, makeup, stylist) could mention your product in an interview or on social media, or mention your food or drink as an essential part of their Oscar prep routine. Whatever the case may be, if you're asking this question, a big congratulations! Someone important (in the eyes of the media, and nation) has shown your business some love. Their fame can at times have a time limit, so you'll have to work fast. It's time to leverage this opportunity and I'm going to share some ways to do that effectively.
To make it as clear as possible we're going to use a real life example of this exact situation. During March 2014's Oscar weekend it was revealed via Instagram that breakout star of the year Lupita Nyongo's makeup artist used Tin Shingle member Perfect Beauty Tweezers to get create her flawless face. The magic was captured on social media! So what do they do now? Read on (and note this can be used as a model in most "celebrity used my product" situations.
#1 - Pitch Celebrity-focused Media
By this I mean the media world that includes Star Magazine, Us Weekly, People.com, Access Hollywood, HollywoodLife.com and any other outlet that cares a lot about what celebs are doing/wearing/eating and so forth. Outlets that aren't celebrity-niche but still cover celeb must-haves (for instance Today Show 4th hour, InStyle.com can work here at times), depending on the angle. Pitch all of these outlets and hit 'em up with the facts and only the facts: XYZ Celebrity Wore/Used Your XYZ Brand Product at the Oscars. This isn't your moment to sell your business feature story, it's your chance to tell them WHO wore WHAT (or ate what, drank what, etc). The purpose of this email should be clear from subject line to body of the email, and also include bullets with your products facts, features, price points and where to buy. It should go without saying but you should also include your photographic "proof" (via embedding an image or linking to one).
When do you act? Fast and instantly. The moment you see scoop like this you act, because you want to strike while the story (and actor) are hot!
#2 Pitch the Media Outlets that you Usually Pitch with an Oscar-angle:
"But they don't normally cover celebrity gossip", you tell me. Not directly, but most of the magazines that cover products, from lifestyle magazines to blogs, love a "sexy" validation or endorsement like when a high profile star uses your stuff. Find a way to include this in a pitch about your product. It's basically another excuse to "ping" an editor or blogger via email, but you're doing it with exciting information. For instance, if you're like Tin Shingle member Perfect Beauty Tweezers and Lupita Nyongo's makeup team used your tweezers to achieve her flawless beauty look. An example of a subject line that would work for this is:
What brand gave Lupita Nyongo those perfect brows? Meet Perfect Beauty Tweezers
Point is, sure you've pitched these editors or bloggers in the past, but now you have new and sexy information to send, so keep them in the loop wiht your brand and share it! Use that name and fame to get some attention! At the very least remind them that you exist one more time, and remind them with a bang!
#3 Share Your News on Social Media
Be sure you share your news (visually) over social media. This can also mean blogging it sharing the experience via that blog over Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Heck, if you were Perfect Beauty Tweezers and really want to build buzz why not create a social media shopping promo code with the word LUPITA as the code?
#4 Share Your News with Current & Potential Retailers
Retailers, whether you work with them right now or not, want to know the items you sell are newsworthy and people are talking about them, so anytime you have a celebrity use your product or land a great press hit, share it with your retailers. Bonus points if you have made this easy to do by creating a mailing list for them ahead of time in your newsletter platform. (We use MailChimp and it works like a charm)!
#5 Be Sure Your News is Featured Prominently on your Website
No matter how much you share this news all over the web and with friends and family, someone is going to miss it. Be sure that every person who discovers you after the fact hears about your news by featuring it prominently on the homepage of your website and linking it to the buzzed about product! For SEO tips on how to make waves in search and social marketing, click here.
#6 And FINALLY...don't forget to savor the moment and enjoy it. You made something BIG happen - good for you!
Want to learn more about how to get your product on celebrities? Check out these real world tips in this podcast!
