In this article, expect editorializing supported by sources such as YouTube.com, Advertising.About.com (Apryl Duncan, Editor), and IMDB.com.

Celebrity: Kirstie Alley Product: Jenny Craig Diet Food System
Expertise: minimal education in nutrition, but she was once a competitive swimmer
Trustworthiness: middle-American women love her accessibly casual humor
Liability: Having once had the discipline to swim 3-4 hrs every day, and a previous 3-year endorsement of Pier One, Kirstie might have been a minimal–risk choice.
Appropriate Physical Attractiveness: As America’s 55 year-old Fat Actress, with a past role as an attractive bar manager on the long-running primetime hit, Cheers, Kirstie could be easily seen as an appropriate role model for middle-aged women who need to loose significant amounts of weight. Kirstie’s humor is an important bonus, as weight loss can be an extremely frustrating and complicated process for many mature women.

Celebrity: Bill Cosby Product: Jell-O
Expertise: Doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts, and a dad onscreen and off. Also the author of a comic, self-help book, “Fatherhood�
Trustworthiness: After the successful Cosby Show, most of Americans wanted to have (or be) the father that Bill Cosby portrayed on his sitcome.
Liability: After 30 years as Jell-O’s spokesperson, Cosby is THE FACE of Jell-O.
Appropriate Physical Attractiveness: Perceived in America as the educated, white-collar, eternal African-American patriarch of pop culture.

Celebrity: Ellen DeGeneres Product: “My Life, My Card, American Express�
Expertise: Comedy, Gay/Lesbian Rights
Trustworthiness: As a popular daytime hostess on primetime television, a famous lesbian, and a recent animated movie star (Dori in Finding Nemo), Americans have witnessed the unique and often courageous lifestyle of Ellen DeGeneres. A Disney favorite, she is the hostess for several themepark rides, including the Dinosaur (Energy) Pavilion at Epcot. Families and the gay/lesbian community love her.
Liability: Right-wing consumers might react negatively, but this might be of little concern considering the current anti-Bush political climate.
Appropriate Physical Attractiveness: She’s the quintessential counter-archetype to the stodgy-businessman persona that has been so overused by credit cards and financial institutions.

Celebrity: Joss Stone Product: GAP
Expertise: British pop singer, discovered by Elton John
Trustworthiness: Stone’s predecessor, Sarah Jessica Parker (of Sex in the City fame), was fired from her three-season $38 million deal, the first multi-season deal the company has ever signed with a celebrity.
Liability: Stone, a fresh-faced music celebrity was a short-lived endorser. GAP has moved on to a widely-distributed, politically-conscious campaign showcasing multiple celebrities (including Oprah Winfrey) buying ruby-colored products to raise AIDS awareness. Also, GAP resurrected Audrey Hepburn this season to introduce the Skinny Pant, a 1980s flashback in fashion.
Appropriate Physical Attractiveness: Young, thin, earthy, soulful, original.

Celebrity: Catherine Zeta-Jones Product: T-Mobile
Expertise: Actress, Singer, Dancer. Little to no technical expertise.
Trustworthiness: Zeta-Jones replaced Jamie Lee Curtis when VoiceStream Wireless rebranded itself with the T-Mobile moniker. Zeta Jones’s deal with T-Mobile began in 2002 and has been the longest celebrity spokesperson deal in the wireless industry so far. In 2005, T-Mobile extended her contract another two years and she reportedly brings in anywhere between $8-9 million a year for the gig.
Liability: No history of arrest or potentially embarrassing scandal.
Appropriate Physical Attractiveness: With leading roles in blockbusters such as The Mask of Zorro, Ocean’s Twelve, and Chicago, Zeta-Jones has been characterized as sexy, independent, and cunning. Americans relate to her as a working mother, while her humble beginnings and marriage to legend, Michael Douglas, position her as Hollywood Royalty.

Abstract: This article describes the perspective of Entertainment executives and recommends tactics for marketing to them effectively.

Analysis: According to Tony Uphoff, VP for The Hollywood Reporter Magazine, the entertainment industry so dynamic that “deals can be made or broken in minutes based on rumors and news.â€? This quote relates equally to films, music, and TV – which are rapidly converging – as well as the exploding mediums of the internet, mobile technology, and globalization.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers produced a “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook� report in 2005 that projected a $1.8 trillion industry by 2009. Video sales are expected to reach $26.9 billion worldwide by 2009, and video rentals $9.6 billion, with online rentals making up one-third of rental revenues. �Major record labels are projecting that 10-20% of their revenues will come from digital downloads and wireless platforms in the near future,� said John Kilcullen, president and publisher of Billboard. Uphoff adds, “the control which on-demand programming and DVRs give to viewers is creating a need for new advertising models.�

Another aspect of the entertainment industry that differentiates it from others is that it is project-driven. The responsibilities within a film are contracted to specialists; this separation can frustrate marketers who are targeting a centralized operation. To gain the attention of marketing-savvy execs, pitches must be authentic and targeted to the project’s special needs.

The most successful ad campaigns are those announcing the production company’s recent projects or award-considerations; these affirmations draw future projects.

Marketers looking to make a splash may want to consider these hot products:

- Technology affects the industry on all levels, from production to distribution to how it connects with its audiences
- Financial products draw producers, directors, and creators of all media
- Globalization can turn a domestic flop, like “Troy�, into a $400 million heavy-weight

Take aways: This article shares it’s view with many other writers and execs who we’ve been learning from in class.

Abstract: This article details the rising competition for mid- or top-level executive positions in television. “

Analysis: The closing of Warner Brothers, UPN, and Carsey-Werners resulted in at least 100 lay-offs. The stakes have been further raised by recent mergers: including those of NBC with Universal and CBS with Paramount. In addition, like most American corporations, conglomerates – most notably Time Warner – have slashed salaries and staff to cut general costs. These cutbacks effect mid-level positions, mostly at the VP level, yet ground-level posts remain plentiful. Similarly, writing jobs have plummeted due to the rise of reality shows and a depression in the sitcom genre.

These displaced execs and writers can move to expanding cable networks; or into the technical sector. Yahoo and AOL have both made recent deals for TV programming, yet it is unknown whether the demand created by emerging technologies will entirely fill the void.

Take aways: In the last five years, so many industries have downsized, and yet technologies for entertainment have so diversified that this “news� is only a confirmation of common sense.