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Above is a link to my favorite blogger, Perez Hilton. For those who are unfamiliar with his work, Perez is a “professional celebrity blogger”. The first thing you might notice when you go to his blog is the fact that it’s entirely pink. The second thing you might notice is the catchy headings he has for each gossip topic.

As someone who makes a living gossiping about celebrities, Perez has made quite a living and name for himself. His signature pink themed blog is popular on an international level, and he was once named one of the most influential people by TIMES magazine. I think that’s pretty amazing.

As an avid fan and regular reader of his site, I think Perez Hilton has created quite a brand for himself. By differentiating his blog from other celebrity gossip columns (i.e. the pink theme, and the famous white pen marks he creates too add flourish on celebrity pictures), Perez stands out to me from other celebrity bloggers. Unlike other celebrity gossip blogs, Perez’s is incredibly easy to use and is often the most up-to-date in terms of relevent information. He clocks in the moment when Miley Cyrus is spotted at a gas station picking up some road snacks and when Lily Allen is spotted digging for gold in her nose. Put simply, Perez Hilton provides quality information in the most efficient manner and I for one, am grateful for it. I don’t even consider going to other celebrity blogsites because he has everything I need. And, because he is so famous for what he does, I have reassurance that he must be doing something right if the celebrities he writes about are willing to befriend him. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Perez is the fact that he can get exclusive interviews and videos from various celebrities simply because he is befriended them at various launch parties and other hollywood-esque events. It’s because he’s friends with celebrities that I feel like his information is valid, and therefore more reliable than other sites. It’s a wonder he’s managed to achieve such high status in so little time.

If you ever google Perez Hilton, you’ll notice how he brands himself. Like Lady Gaga and lil’ kim, Perez has a certain…style to him. Once famous for his crazy pink hair, Perez has evolved and adopted other interesting style choices. During interviews for award ceremonies, he often chooses ridiculous (and in my opinion, fashion police violation worthy) outfits, helping to make him stand out in a crowd. It’s not about him getting you to to like him so much as it is getting you to pay attention to him. And a lot of people do.

The old saying “Any publicity is good publicity” suits Perez well because he’s as hated as he is loved in the celebrity community. Because his brand power is so strong, fans of many celebrities are often influenced by his opinions. If Perez Hilton says Mel Gibson is crazy, people who were previously indifferent are now interested in why he is crazy. And that means more publicity for Mel Gibson. Indirectly, Perez is both deflating and inflating the reputation of the celebrities he writes about, and that is a lot of power for one man to have.

Overall, Perez Hilton makes my day great. I read his blog every night before I go to bed and even though the lives of celebrities are irrelevant to my own (hell, when am I ever going to get shoved by Justin Bieber in a game of  laser tag?!), I remain curious about what it is they do. To fulfill this undying curiosity, I go to Perez Hilton because I know that he is the only one that can keep me posted on why the hell my future husband Jake Gyllenhal is cheating on me with Taylor Swift. Quite frankly, who wouldn’t want to know that?

My friend Justin is a funny guy. 6’1 with the body frame of Gumby, Justin is the guy who belligerently asks the question "Do you want to fight?"  to complete strangers.

 He is also the guy who tells people in Irving  to play Rock, Paper, Scissor with him if they want a free chair. If they win, he grants them the chair. If they lose, he keeps the chair like the cheeky son of a gun he is. Some people don’t get that kind of humour, but it’s what adds to his quirk.

  Now, truth be told, Justin’s always been a larger than life kind of guy. He makes everything theatrical  and when it comes to Halloween, he’s no different. Nevermind the guy who puts on a baseball  cap backwards and calls himself a Rapper – that kind of costume in Justin’s mind would be considered "amateur". Oh no, when it comes to costumes, Justin thinks you have to go all out. Maybe that’s why he spent $80 this year in Halloween gear – a price I would never pay for something so trivial. And yet he did.

According to Justin, halloween costumes with all the bells and whistles are $50+. At a seasonal store called "The Spirit of Halloween" (or something similar to that title), costumes included Bert & Ernie , pilots & air hostesses, and other ridiculous outfits similar to the one Justin bought : A big fat penguin onesie, complete with a bowtie and webbed feet. You can check out this monstrosity for yourself in the picture I’ve attached.

Now, if you’re someone like me, you don’t value Halloween as much as Justin does. Hell, I’d rather pay $80 for a nice meal than a costume I’ll only wear once a year and maybe not even the year after that (let’s be honest, no one likes to have a repeat costume two years in a row!). It seems absurd that anyone would pay that much for a costume, and yet people like Justin do. And stores like "The Spirit of Halloween" know how to milk them.

Like Christmas items, Halloween items are seasonal. Obviously, there isn’t a very high demad for them throughout the year, only during the month of October. Every week leading up to Halloween, "The Spirit of Halloween" store jacks up their price to maximize what they know to be last minute buyers. The day after Halloween, these  prices then drop by 50% and the store catches all the people keen for next years Halloween. To me, that’s just ridiculous. It does, however, make me think about the value of Halloween costumes. Even though I don’t value Halloween costumes to be worth the price Justin pays for his (and I’m sure I"m not alone in feeling indifferent about Halloween), the point is that there are others who do. And I think it’s smart that costume stores take advantage of this with their pricing, even if it seems unfair for the people stuck without a costume on Hallow’s eve. They’ve managed to create value for their products by selling highly original costumes, while incrementally pricing it to consumer shopping behaviour. They’re also making mad cashflow as they’re doing it. If that’s not brilliant, then I don’t know what is.

The downside in all of this, however,  is the quality of these so called "original" costumes. Justin paid a solid $80 for his penguin suit, yet the right eye of his costume is crooked and deformed, giving the illusion he’s really a penguin on crack. Despite this, Justin still thinks its worth it and proudly showcases his costume anywhere he can. He also plans on returning to the same store and buying another original costume for next year. Apparently the "cool" factor of being a penguin with a bowtie exceeds the $80 cost, even though the costume was probably made in China and only cost $5 to make. In my mind, Halloween isn’t worth that $80 pricetag, but to others that is. I guess it’s another case of differentiating what different consumers value and for Justin, the originality of his costume was valued above its price therefore making it a worthy buy.  I don’t understand why anyone would spend more than $30 on a costume, but hey, some people have strong Halloween spirit and who am I to criticize them for that? If there’s anything I’ve learned from this Halloween weekend, it’s that people are crazy when it comes to finding the right costume. Apparently looking like a penguin or banana (Justin’s costume last Halloween), is more important than the monetary price they pay for it. Ain’t that strange.

During the weekend I had an opportunity to clear out my closet, and you’d be amazed at what I found. Along with $30 in cash stowed away in random pockets, I somehow managed to find myself in a pile of I <3 something shirts. The shirts are universal, and even though they originated in NY, they’ve been marketed to other locations.

In total, I have six I <3 something shirts. Here’s my inventory:

– I <3 NY x 2

– I <3 SF x 1

– I <3 Bangkok x 1

– I <3 Alaska x 1 (kind of cool eh?)

– I <3 HK x 1

And after finding all these shirts, it got me curious as to how a such a simple statement could mean so much. Whenever anyone sees the I <3 NY shirts, they instantly associate it with the big city life…the sounds, the never-ending noise, the traffic etc. So then I thought I’d do some research and see where this whole idea of I <3 NY came from. After a couple minutes of wikipedia (what DOESN’T wikipedia have?!), I found out that the iconic I <3 NY originated from a cartoon that showed a bunch of tourists visiting NY wearing I <3 NY shirts. So there you go, the history of the image. And it’s strange to think it’s lasted so long.

Truth be told, I really like these shirts (why else would I have so many?!). They’re symbolic of where I’ve been and give me a sense of…traveler’s pride? Even though they’re cheap, and are sold at every stall in NY or SF or wherever, they represent something bigger for me as a consumer. These shirts tell people I’m hip and trendy (let me believe so anyway) because I’ve been to hip and trendy places. Ok granted, Alaska is not exactly hip and trendy but it says something about me. Since different cities have different vibes, in a sense, I can be a different kind of person from a different kind of place with a different kind of vibe on different days. And who doesn’t like having that kind of choice?

I suppose to get down to the jist of it, I like these shirts for the extra value they provide to me – the perceived benefit I receive. And since that’s what marketing is about (weighing costs to perceived benefits), I thought I’d blog about it. But now that I realized I’ve spent more time blogging about marketing than studying for MA, I think I better scoot. Before that, I leave you with a question though:

What do you <3?

Prop8, more commonly referred to as PropH8, was a 2008 ballot proposition and constitutional ammendment to the California constitution which denied the acknowledgment of same sex marriage. In its wake, many celebrities voiced thier opinions on the matter through fashion, social media, and interviews. The following is a video created by actors Justin Long (Dodgeball) and Mike White (The School of Rock), their own quirky take on this political hot topic:

Even though this wasn’t an “official” commercial, it still has some marketing value. Unlike other channels of political voice and opinion, their work took a new take on an old statement. By comparing a homosexual marriage to a heterosexual one and by stating that homosexuals should be able to suffer as much as the rest of us, Long, White, and the producers of this video have effectively brought awareness and perspective to a highly controversial topic. By focusing on marriage, this video is connecting with those who have experienced it, want it, and seen it . It almost seems like an inside joke, something intimate yet applicable to millions of humans who are, or who someday want to be in holy matrimony. I don’t want to argue and say that this video simplifies gay rights, but in a way it kind of does. It makes the important statement that it doesn’t matter which two people take that next big step because at the end of the day, misery loves company. I for one, love that.

As a newly-released movie, the last exorcism hadn’t received a lot of buzz during its promotional campaign (come on, how many movies can you make on exorcisms!?). The trailer for the movie appeared to be pretty bland as far as horror movies go, and it wasn’t until they campaigned online that interest perked up.

For those who don’t know what chatroulette is, it’s an interactive video chat site where you can talk to complete strangers through webcam. The site essentially pairs you up with someone else and you vidchat until you feel the need to “next” them. At that point, you are then paired up with someone new and the process starts over again. Here’s what happened when the promotional team of The Last Exorcism used chatroulette to advertise their film…

Overall, I think this method of advertising was pretty brilliant. I hadn’t seen anything like it before, and I can appreciate the fact that they’re trying something new. I particularly liked the way they twisted chatroulette’s purpose as it is sometimes used as a way of sharing inappropriate actions/behaviour. In this case, all viewers of the ad thought they were going to see a beautiful lady shed her clothing but were then devastated (and in some cases, traumatized) to find she was possessed. Whether or not the film bombed at the box office, I think it’s promotional work through chatroulette sparked a lot of talk, talk which worked in their favor. If you can get people to start talking about something, it’s a start and this method of advertising definitely did that. It was also smart of the movie’s promotional team to target a young demographic through a channel of social media that is really relevant to their lifestyle. I’m pretty sure The Last Exorcism isn’t targeting the grannies and gramps of today, hence their more modern approach to a younger audience and advertising channel. At the end of the day, I can’t say I’m interested in seeing the film, but I’m definitely interested in telling others about this cheeky campaign.

THE BEST OLD SPICE GUY:

This is Old Spice man. His real name is Isaiah Mustafa and he is made of awesome. His short sentences are catchy, random, and charming.  Much like the ones I am writing now. When spoken aloud, you will sound like Adam West. Short phrases for the win. Did I mention this ad is also really random? I’m on a horse.

Ok, but seriously. This ad has got some awesome features and has been immitated by people ever since it’s airing. What better way to revitalize an old brand with a new direction …namely a ridiculously good looking man named Isaiah Mustafa. The hilarious script combined with Isaiah’s Batman-like intonation  makes the ad quirky, and altogether unforgettable. The only problem is that Isaiah has been replaced.

In early September, Procter and Gamble  (P&G) released a new series of Old Spice commercials, sans the handsome Mustafa. To this I cry out WHY!

In the newer O.S. commercials, the jokes seem less funny, the set more hokey, and the masculine association of the brand shrivels up along with my disappointment.  The new “manliest man” of Old Spice can be seen in the link below and carries none of the class or good looks that Isaiah brought to the table. All that goes on in my head as I watch this ad is confusion. Who is this guy? Why does he look so old?  Where is my charming Isaiah Mustafa?! Needless to say, without Mustafa as the face of O.S, I become uninterested and tres disappointed. Maybe when they bring him back will I feel like my world is complete. Until then, I will get on my horse and ride. HYA!

THE NEW (UN)IMPROVED OLD SPICE GUY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRVSb1xX-Y4