What’s the Big Buzz about Widgets?
By Liz H. Kelly
If you surf the net today, you cannot escape widgets. They’re the little boxes that appear all over web pages, and they’re the hottest brand advertising tool online. A widget can be used to promote a new movie, provide the latest sports scores and/or ask you to do something (enter a contest, play a game). Based on the Digital LA panel on Widgets and Apps in Entertainment last night, it will be interesting to see where these advertising tools go from here.
Advertisers are watching what you do with widgets very closely. They want to know who clicked on their widget, who embeds it onto their page (viral marketing), who interacts with the content (ex. enters a contest) and where you clicked (on Yahoo, Facebook, MSN, etc). As TV and computers eventually merge onto box, you’ll start seeing more widgets and apps on your big flat screen. Direct TV is already working on their widget strategy.
Some of my east coast friends were asking me today on Facebook, what’s a widget? In case you’ve never worked for MySpace, a movie studio or a media agency, here are the big buzz words, their translations and a few entertainment widget examples:
Widget Buzz Words
Engaging content
= make it sound interesting, get creative, be unique, provide timely info (sports scores), offer a prize, offer a fun game, give them bragging rights
Relevant content
= make it interesting to your target audience, hit on a hot trend
Call to Action
= asks you to do something, enter a contest, write your favorite flirty line
Social listening
= find out where the fans go online, read the fan comments, comments are even more important than the number of impressions
Ghost blogging
= someone blogging to build buzz around a brand in disguise, part of seeding that builds buzz prior to a launch
Entertainment Widget Examples
The Digital LA panel also shared some fun examples of widgets that their teams built for entertainment promotions. You’ve probably seen some of these movie promotions.
Wally - Joystick Interactive got an interactive marketing award for an embedded wallpaper widget for this movie.
I Love You Beth Cooper- Earthbound Media Group created a widget with heavy Twitter integration as part of the advertising campaign.
Hangover - Clearspring did a content syndication for this movie widget to get the content on many social media platforms at once to promote this movie.
For a feature film, an agency will start brainstorming the widget content 3-9 months in advance. While some members of the panel advocate breaking the intellectual property rules, the brand’s Legal Department can hold things up in their approval process. It’s best to partner with the lawyers to find solutions.
Widgets are huge business for entertainment, social media and advertising agencies. Get ready for more widgets that sell things or include pre-roll ads from sponsors (aka “monetization”). While someone in tech might change their name, the advertising concepts will stay the same. What type of compelling content can you put in your advertising widget?
If you want help with your Social Media PR, you can contact us by calling 310-795-1485 or email, info@sunriseroadmedia.com to set up a free initial consultation and/or follow us on Twitter @lizhkelly.
Happy Promoting!
(c) Liz H. Kelly, Sunrise Road Media - Smart Integrated Marketing, http://www.sunriseroadmedia.com, 2009
Press Release 101 Tips & Example
by Liz H. Kelly
The media is always looking for great content, and a press release is a great way to reach many reporters fast. If you include relevant and fun content, the viral marketing impact and media exposure can be huge. Below are the five main things that go into a great press release -plus an example release written by Sunrise Road Media.
PRESS RELEASE 101 - 5 MUST-HAVES:
1. Catchy and Timely Headline - The headline will determine if they read your release. Write something fun that a news anchor could used to entice viewers to watch your TV segment or read an article. If you were driving down the road, what would your billboard say?
2. Fun Summary with Key Points - The summary is like your elevator pitch. If you had 30 seconds to explain the story, what would you say? Your summary needs to be 2-3 sentences, and entice the producer to read more.
3. Body with Bullets - The press release body should tell the story in about 500 words. And since the media is always working on warp speed, bullets make it much easier to digest. Your bullets can also be the talking points for an interview or story, which is a huge help to reporters.
4. Bio and Contact - Your bio tells the reporter your background, and gives them contact info. The producers want to know what makes you the expert and your media experience.
5. Graphics and website link - Reporters are looking for graphics to include in their stories. If you attach your photo and logo to a press release, the media can include them in an article or TV segment more easily (and making their life easy is a key to your press release and PR success).
Below is an example of a press release that was sent out by Sunrise Road Communications that shows these five Press Release Must-Haves. If you want help with your press release and/or PR campaign, feel free to contact us by calling 310-795-1485 or email, info@sunriseroadmedia.com
PRESS RELEASE EXAMPLE
1. Headline
Great Love Reviews Launch with Hollywood Summer Movie Season
2. Summary
Just in time for June’s Summer Romance Movie Season kick-off, Relationship Expert and Author, Liz H. Kelly, announces new Great Love Reviews with love lessons from Hollywood, a new Great Life Great Love website, and featured reviews on the Ultimate Movie Site. From “I Love You Man” to the upcoming release of “My Life in Ruins,” Kelly shares love insights to help singles build a Great Life and attract Great Love.
3. Body
(PRWEB) June 2, 2009 — Get ready for Summer Love on and off screen with Relationship Expert and Author Liz Kelly’s new Great Love Reviews that share love lessons from Hollywood Movies. From “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” to “Marley and Me,” these movie reviews are helping singles attract and build great relationships. Using big screen examples, Kelly shares a light-hearted look from an entertainment insider on her new website, Great Life Great Love (http://www.greatlifegreatlove.com).
To reach a bigger audience, Kelly is contributing to Ultimate Movie Site, where her Reviewer Profile (http://www.ultimatemoviesite.com/members/profile/121/Liz-Kelly) includes a variety of films such as “Casablanca” (Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman), “Spread” (Ashton Kutcher) and “He’s Just Not That Into You” (Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck). Andrew Sachs, President of Ultimate Movie Site, says, “We are excited to work with Liz Kelly, whose reviews provide a unique perspective on movies and love.”
Along with her dating expertise, Kelly uses her Marketing and entertainment experience at Paramount Pictures and Fox Interactive Media/ MySpace to help singles bring out their best to attract Great Love. Kelly explains, “People can often see themselves in romantic movie relationships, and these reviews provide some comic relief and love lessons.” For a fun interview about summer romance films, here’s the new release schedule and Great Love insights that can be shared.
Bullets
New Summer Romance Releases & Great Love Insights
June 5 - “My Life in Ruins”: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” screenwriter and star Nia Vardalos returns to her Greek roots to find her mojo. (Kelly’s Confidence Boosters can help you bring out your wild side.)
June 19 - “The Proposal”: Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds give new meaning to the term “workplace romance” with marriage as a job requirement. (Kelly can share Office Romance tips)
July 24 - “The Ugly Truth”: Katherine Heigl is a romantically challenged morning show producer who gets love advice from shock jock (Gerard Butler) (Kelly has a Bachelor Survey that tells all.)
July 31 - “Adam”: Love is complicated in this Sundance discovery about a schoolteacher (Rose Byrne from FX’s “Damages”) who falls for Adam, her autistic neighbor (Hugh Dancy).
(Kelly cried when she saw this heart-warming film at Sundance in Park City).
August 7 - “When in Rome”: A cynical New Yorker (Kristen Bell) jets to Rome for her sister’s wedding and is pursued by seven suitors tossing a coin into a fountain that supposedly ensures marriage. (Kelly can share tips for how to attract Great Love in Rome.)
Along with writing Great Love Movie Reviews, Kelly provides Life Script Coaching to help singles build a Great Life and naturally attract Great Love. Her new ebook: “How to Attract Great Love” provides singles with 7 Steps for Building Your Love Power Package with movie examples and real life success stories. Kelly explains, “Never settle for a Bad Lover or Good Lover - go for Great Love!” Everyone can be a star in their own romantic movie called life. And thanks to Hollywood, the love lessons from the big screen are endless.
4. BIO:
Liz H. Kelly is a relationship expert, coach, entertainment executive and author of Smart Man Hunting who puts a new spin on relationships with love lessons from Hollywood Movies and Happy Hearts in her new Great Life, Great Love series. Her book and work have been featured in hundreds of interviews, including FOX News, CNN Pipeline, USA’s Before and After’noon Movie, Lifetime, USA TODAY, Glamour, The Chicago Tribune, ABCNews.com, BBC Radio’s WM Late Show, and has been regularly featured in Cosmopolitan magazine and Yahoo! Personals advice columns. For more info, visit, http://www.greatlifegreatlove.com.
Contact:
310-795-1485
CA, available as a last minute guest
5. Graphics
To view this full release on PR Web, click on this headline to see the graphics attached
Great Love Reviews Launch with Hollywood Summer Movie Season
You can use different distribution systems for sending out your press release, along with having your PR team contact their list of reporters and producers. We’re happy to help you get your PR campaign up and running with great press releases and messages. Feel free to email us feel free to contact us by calling 310-795-1485 or email, info@sunriseroadmedia.com to set up a free initial call.
Happy Promoting!
(c) Liz H. Kelly, Sunrise Road Media - Smart Integrated Marketing, http://www.sunriseroadmedia.com, 2009