When I was getting ready to promote the 2008 International Sketch Comedy Competition, I needed a celebrity host. I’d been producing this event for several years – but this time, I intended to market a video of it. And I knew that if I wanted to have a chance of doing that successfully, I needed a “name.”
Luckily, I knew how to reach almost any celebrity in film or television. In fact, I was able to secure the services of someone who was a household name and a heartthrob for millions of teenage girls some years ago… and still gets his name and pictures in the media. I’m talking about Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady in The Brady Bunch. While he’s not currently a star, his appearance in my production helped me get the attention of several major video distributors.
If you want to attract attention to an event you are holding – or to a product or service you are selling – having a celebrity attached to it gives you a huge marketing advantage. And it’s not hard to reach them if you know how. Virtually every celebrity has an agent and/or a manager.
IMDB.com has a program that is only about $10 a month and can be cancelled at any time. Once you sign on as a member, you can search for any celebrity and find a listing with their agent and/or manager, including phone numbers and sometimes even an e-mail address. If you contact the celebrity’s representative in a professional way, your offer will be taken seriously and passed along.
[Ed. Note: Getting a celebrity to "back" your product or event is a great way to get prospective customers' attention. For 12 other proven marketing strategies, pick up a copy of Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby's Amazon.com best-seller, Changing the Channel.
Paul Lawrence is a screenwriter/producer with several feature-length film credits. For more information on his "Breaking Into Hollywood" course, click here.]
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