American Idol Makeover: Will The New Cast Supercharge The Ratings?  

Just over the past weekend it was officially announced that Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban will join the new panel of American Idol. Nicki Minaj will receive a $12 million dollar deal for one year while Keith compensation would not be disclosed. The only original remaining judge is Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey joined the show during the summer time.

RyanSeacrest had this to say about the new panel, “the serious and obvious diversity on this panel, you can see just by the panel the kind of power the show has.”

All of the new American Idol judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban all of their contracts are for only one year with a renewal option. This is a really smart move because if this set of new judges can not bring in the ratings then they will be let go.

The Fox president Mike Darnell, “I am thrilled about this year’s judges panel, with an unparalleled star like Mariah, fan-favorite Randy, chart-toppers like Nicki and Keith and our incomparable host Ryan, we’ve put together one of the most exciting judging panels around.”

In recent years, the ratings for the show have dramatically declined this is partly due to the increase in the talent show competition. Now there are shows like X-Factor which Britney Spears and Demi Lovato are judges and NBC’s The Voice with Christina Aguilera. Another reason is that the ratings are failing is because it has not produced any successful talent like Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson.

The last season finale was the least watched finale in the show’s history with a smaller audience than even Season 1’s finale with 11 million viewers. This is a 26% drop from the previous season finale with 30 million viewers. Even though these are strong numbers, they used to trump over all other sitcoms during that hour and now the sitcoms are pulling higher ratings.

With a new elite panel of judges where all of them have contracts over $10 million you have to wonder if they are going to save the pioneering talent show. 

Seeking Expert Advice While Crafting Your Business Plan

Starting a business is never an easy task but is most defiantly a fulfilling reward especially when you are pursuing your dream. It is always important to seek experts advice when starting your own business as they can give you tips and pointers to help guide you through the process. The two experts that I have chosen to follow are widely known for their innovative business mind but it is the way that they have branded themselves that truly inspires me.

Mark Cuban is widely known to the world as the manager for NBA Dallas Mavericks but he is a innovative entrepreneur as well. Mark was brought up in a middle class home, and learned the aspect of business through his father and grandfather. His father worked at a car upholstery shop and his grandfather was a immigrant from Russia who was a hard worker and always tried to make the best deal to provide for his family. Mark excelled through out the years in academics which translated into his business skills.

He had numerous successful business ventures but is known for his management skills with the Dallas Mavericks. In 2000, he purchased the NBA team for $285 million dollars. When he purchased the team it was in rough shape but he revamped the entire franchise and lead them to the finals twice.

Recently, Mark Cuban gave his insight into startups to Entrepreneur.com. He made some really valid points and some not so much. One of the first points that I 100 percent agree on is “Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love.” This is so true because work will never feel like work. He also goes to mention about not having offices, making the job fun for the employees, etc. The major key point I disagree with is that he does not think it is beneficial to hire a PR firm. I personally think it depends on the business, the size and the direction. It is true that not all startups need a PR consultant but this could drastically change your business.

Oprah Winfrey has built a huge empire for herself with the highest rated talk show program in history and is also ranked the richest African-American of the 20^th century. She had really rough beginnings but this most defiantly was her source of motivation and played a huge factor in her talk show.

It is easy to understand Oprah’s view when it comes to starting a business. First you have to write everything out so you can prepare for any type of situation that might happen. This will help you when difficulties come and will better prepare you. She offers great advice like finding a mentor, and developing a prototype. One key point that she brings up is test your competitor’s services to see exactly what they are lacking to make sure that you are a head of them. This is brilliant and of course makes a lot of sense. 

Anthony Davis a Smart Young Man: Fear The Brow is Now a Trademark

Anthony Davis was a star elite player in NCAA Men’s Basketball the last few years. After leaving college to enlist with the NBA, he made a huge career move that is not normal with college athletes before the draft. He was accurately predicted being the top overall draft pick but that athleticism is not all he has to offer but smarts.

While playing in college he was known by his facial appearance and was mocked for having the unpopular facial hair but no one knew that just a couple years later the same unpopular facial hair would be a major revenue stream. Due to him being popular for his athleticism and his team taking the NCAA Championship it was clear that he would be one of the most talked about in the NCAA.

Even though he was the most popular NCAA college basketball player no one was prepared for his next business move. A few days before the NBA draft the sports world was buzzing with news that Anthony trademarked the phrases “Fear the Brow” and “Raise the Brow”. It makes sense that he would trademark these two phrases since they were both heavily used in Kentucky merchandise on t-shirts and signs.

Anthony had this to say about his major business decision to CNBC was asked about his major business decision he had this to say, “I don’t want anyone to try to grow a unibrow because of me and then try to make money off it, me and my family decided to trademark it because its very unique”.

Anthony Davis is not the first college athlete to file for trademarks before being traded. Robert Griffin III trademarked RGIII, RG3 and the phrase “Unbelievably Believable” which he said during his infamous Heisman acceptance speech.

This is now becoming the new wave of branding for athletes. If you think about it, it is a really smart business decision. Now the athlete is taking more control over their career and creating a revenue stream that will for sure set up their families for the future.

I think that this is a great business move and more athletes should take notice. Stop letting organizations cash in on your expense. It will be interesting to see how popular both these phrases become when the NBA season is back. 

To check out the merchandise you can visit the main website Fear The Brow

-Sara

The Believe Album Launch A Truly Successful Integrated Marketing Campaign

This album launch got my attention and I began to sit back and watch to see how this powerhouse was going to launch this project. Of course like many other artists, you have your non-stop promotional campaign on various television talk shows but Justin and his team set the bar higher.

This campaign for the Believe album was a true integrated marketing campaign with multiple components. Let’s break it down. For starters, Justin used social media platforms to hype the album way before the release. Then Justin and his team had a little surprise for his fans also known the Beliebers. He was going on a concert tour performing the new album but there was a catch. This concert was FREE! The concert was titled “All Around The World” which is conveniently one of his songs on his album. This concert made stops in places like Norway, England, Mexico, and of course New York City.

But this was not the only announcement, for the fans that would not be able to make it to the free concerts NBC aired a two day special, Justin Bieber: All Around The World Tour which followed him on this major promotional tour for his album. Conveniently the special aired on June 20^th – 21^st which coincides with the album launch.

It does not stop there, Justin and his team also released a product. This like the promotional tour and two day special coinciding with the album tour. This I actually stumbled upon this week when I was at the mall. The picture below is the first thing that you see when walking into Macy’s.

Then when you walk in you see this huge poster but it does not stop there. It is like Justin is everywhere you go! The thing that got my attention is the name of the perfume, Girlfriend conveniently also coinciding with his first single from Believe “Boyfriend”.  Also, by the check out counters his album Believe was available for purchase with the fragrance. I just stood there in amazement with the smarts behind this marketing campaign. I have never seen an album launch quite like this before.

When I got home and begun researching Justin Bieber and the different aspects of this marketing campaign I was more amazed. The Girlfriend fragrance website showed the commercial contest they had set up for his fans. He wanted his Beliebers to send in videos of themselves signing their version of “Boyfriend” called of course “Girlfriend”. This commercial of course aired during the NBC special which was sponsored by Macy’s.

Is this sinking in just yet? Well just yesterday it was announced that Justin Bieber Believe album is officially this years biggest debut of 2012. The album ironically knocked off his mentor Usher from the top spot of number 1. It will be interesting to see what else this Justin Bieber team has up their selves for the summer and for the continuing growth of this empire.

-Sara 

Another Product Line For The Kardashian Empire

Recently the Kardashians made a huge announcement they will be launching their own makeup line. Of course Kim Kardashian is the main face of the empire but these ladies are only in their early thirties with a huge amount of success and show no signs of stopping. Their business ventures range from of course the reality shows, books, fragrances, jewelry line, clothing lines, stores and dozens of miscellaneous ventures all of them bearing the Kardashian name. The Kardashian empire just of last year pulled over 65 million dollars. It is no doubt that this family knows a thing or two on marketing, promotion and publicity.

Kim is infamous for using her social media accounts to promote her products and has over 6.9 million Facebook fans and over 15 million twitter followers it is no wonder that every business venture has been a success. Also she is known for charging $10,000 dollars from sponsors for every tweet that she broadcasts on Twitter and charges a few thousand dollars for guest appearances in hosting events and club appearances.

But what is the key element to this booming money making empire? Well, Kim told Success magazine  that, “Every six months my mom and I set goals and visions for what we want to achieve.. Then we write a goal that is outlandish and outside what we think is our goal range.” It is that simple, setting goals and making sure you are achieving those goals.

The Kardashians have successfully used every platform correctly by maximizing business opportunities for the entire family. It seems that everyone wants to be on reality television for their 15 minutes of fame but not this family. They have used their reality shows Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and Kim and Kourtney take New York, and Kourtney and Khole Take Miami for publicity and marketing and promotions for all of their business ventures. BRILLIANT! In my opinion they are the only family and individuals that have used this platform of reality television for their business ventures successfully and make it look so flawless.

Not to mention all of the family members have their own blog sites where fans can keep up to date with each member daily. The blog website is filled with behind the scenes look into the daily lives of the Kardashians. But don’t be fooled it is really just another platform for them to use for their business ventures. 

When filming, you can catch the Kardashian sisters in their clothing line or conveniently working at their stores. The Kardashian sisters are always drenched in their products every moment of every day especially when filming for their reality shows. Once again using this platform for their business ventures. 

“People aren’t stupid, you really have to love what you do and you really have to believe in what you’re working for, for everyone else to believe in you.” So true way to go Kim!

It will be interesting to see the launch of their makeup line but it is no doubt that this will be another successful business launch adding to the Kardashian empire. I find it really interesting that no one has caught on to this business scheme that they have created or maybe people do know but they just can't help but love the Kardashians. 

-Sara 

The New Vevo Program

It all started in the early month of May when Rihanna joined forces with VEVO to premier her new music video “Where Have You Been”. Rihanna is a mega superstar with a huge social presence, and is considered one of the top social musicians according to Billboard with a Facebook following of 57 million and over 20 million followers on Twitter. It was no surprise with a following like this that she was able to break the record with the most Vevo and YouTube views in 24 hours with over 5 million!

Unfortunately her record would be broken in only five days later. Justin Bieber joined forces with Vevo to premiere his music video “Boyfriend”.  Justin Bieber like Rihanna is always among the top social musicians with over 23 million Twitter followers and over 44 million Facebook followers. So its no surprise that he could break a 24 hour record. But he did not just break the recent record but almost doubled it with over 8 million views in 24 hours.   

A few months after the record breaking views set by Rihanna and Justin Bieber Vevo announced a partnership deal with Facebook. Vevo wants to be known as the trusted source that artists use rather than YouTube which has become a video sharing website for everyone. Vevo had another announcemnent up their sleeve, a certified program that praises artists for their millions of views. This certified program offers amazing incentives to both the artist and their fans. 

The certified program kicked off on June 12^th with Justin Bieber, who holds the record of most views overall with over 2.5 billion! The certified artist will be on featured the main page of Vevo along with extra content. There will be behind the music video clips, never before seen footage, and a special fan will be chosen to meet their idol to present them with the certified award. Which of course will be recorded and uploaded when the artist becomes certified.

I think this new platform is going to bring the importance of music videos back again. Unlike a majority of kids today I grew up on MTV, BET, VH1 back when all they had to play was music videos and music content. I miss being able to turn on the television and letting it play for hours while I worked on other things. I can't wait to see some of the extra footage behind major music videos like "No Church in The Wild".  

-Sara

Tips For New Professionals From an Entertainment Lawyer

I had the amazing opportunity to interview an Entertainment Lawyer who has great insight into the industry from her years of experience. Julee L. Milham has been practicing law since 1986 in the field of entertainment, intellectual property and business law. Julee has practiced law in numerous states such as Florida, New York, California, D.C and she is a approved arbitrator for intellectual property matters with the American Arbitration Association. I asked some key questions that any new professional would like to know from a lawyer with years of experience in the entertainment industry.  

Here are important tips and takeaways that any new publicist or marketing specialist should know before diving into the business. 

Tip 1: Don’t use other people’s work

“I see a several common mistakes for marketing people. First, they often like to copy popular things thinking that if they tweak it just a little they won’t be committing trademark or copyright infringement, which is not true.”

Tip 2: Make sure your company name is unique rather than suggestive because it will be a weak trademark!

She stressed this because when you are protecting your trademark you will have a greater level of protection if the trademark is fanciful versus generic. Take Kodak for an example which is considered a fanciful trademark versus Orlando Dry Cleaner is really generic.

Tip 3: Make sure you have a written contract for everything and don’t rely on oral agreements!

“One problem EVERYONE has is their failure to get copyright assignments for work done for them.”

Tip 4: Get a lawyer especially if there are significant rights at risk.

It is always good to have a lawyer, they can guide you when drafting contracts and they can read contracts or agreements that come your way. This can be really beneficial and can save you from getting into a sticky situation.

Tip 5: Set a minimum requirements for performance in all contracts!

This will protect you, if you have a client that does not have a great work ethic and you will be able to end the contract because they are not meeting the requirements that you have set.

Tip 6: Read what you sign and always obtain copies!

Make sure you read and are able to understand the contract fully before you sign! Sometimes, contracts can have a playful way with words and this will change the meaning of the overall contract. It is always best to have someone else look over the contract to make sure there is a clear understanding of the requirements and terms.

 “There’re always free documents on the internet but they’re rarely a good fit.”

Tip 7: Don’t always rely on contracts/documents on the internet.

Even though the internet is always a great source to use, it sometimes provides you with inaccurate information. Which you can not afford to use when dealing with your business. 

Overall, those are my little insight tips that I have learned from my interview! Hopefully, these tips will come in handy to any new professionals in the industry. If you want more information on Julee or have some questions vista her website and she has a great FAQ section. 

-Sara