Star Wars: The Jedi Masters of Entertainment PR

Last week, Walt Disney Studios released the first teaser trailer for the much anticipated film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise.  As the fifth highest-grossing movie franchise in history, the series is synonymous with entertainment for decades. With these films, writer and director George Lucas, effectively changed the way the movie industry publicized films.

You can watch the teaser here.

Marvel may have blockbuster films and widespread products, but Star Wars did it first. Series like The Hunger Games may be hyping up a film a year in advance, but Star Wars beat them to it by about 40 years. The series made its silver screen debut in 1977 and has been dominating pop culture ever since. After its release, the films became cultural phenomenon spawning collectibles, video games and even pajamas. The franchise brought a whole new element to the film industry- merchandising on a massive scale.

Before its release, Lucas had the idea to begin building up anticipation for the film months in advance. That promotional tactic of using teaser trailers with long lead time seemed ridiculous at the time, but has now become the new model for publicizing films.

(source: Mashable)

Rumors of the latest Star Wars installation began back in 2013 when a photo of Lucas and Hollywood sci-fi director J.J. Abrams was “leaked” before the director announcement was made. Since then, the studio was silent, allowing the public to generate their own speculation. Like Lucas’ long-lead teaser trailer tactic, studio generated hype has been dominating in film publicity.

Lucas must have had the right idea. Since the teaser trailer was released last week, Star Wars has been a hot topic on social media, trending on Twitter for days. The film doesn't hit theaters until December 2015 but the trailer certainly leaves plenty for fans to discuss in the meantime, continuing to build hype. Hopefully, the film can deliver. 

Entertainers In Need of A PR Representative

Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, or individual in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, and customers. Well, the entertainers I am going to name display little to no goodwill at all in the public eye anymore. Once seen as bright young stars, are now seen as problems in the entertainment industry. Can these entertainers rejuvenate their images? Only if they reach into their wallets and hire a public relations representative.

Chris Brown

Chris Brown seems to live in the news. It’s almost like he enjoys seeing his name in the headlines saying, "Breezy Strikes Again.” Brown, infamously known for the brutal beating of ex girlfriend and pop superstar Rihanna, has not yet learned his lesson. Seriously, everyone deserves a second chance, but not a million. From throwing bottles in the club with Drake, to decorating his LA mansion in flamboyant colors, to fighting Frank Ocean in the studio; the list goes on. People think he is spoiled, irresponsible, disrespectful and shows no remorse for his actions. Sorry Chris, I think its time to get a public relations representative.

Miley Cyrus

Miley Miley Miley. What happened? From innocent Hannah Montana to pop star badass, Miley Cyrus is on track to become one of the most talked about celebrities in the entertainment business. Cyrus took the world by storm at the VMA's last year with her "twerking" performance. She surprisingly topped this the following month by lighting a joint on stage at the EMA's. Most of the public thinks these acts are tasteless while only her fans think otherwise.  Miley Cyrus is foreshadowed to be the next one hit wonder if she does not clean up her act. Miley Cyrus, you need a public relations representative.

Kanye West

Kanye West is definitely one of a kind. From interrupting pop princess, Taylor Swift, to going on random rants, to stealing every guys dream girl, Kim Kardashian; it is no surprise that Yeezy isn't the most popular rapper in the world. While people still respect him lyrically, socially the public is very hesitant of Kanye West. Kanye, you need a public relations representative.

What other public figures do you think could use a little PR assistance? Let us know!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Ransford Whaumbush.

            

The End of New Music Promotion?

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, December 12th, Beyoncé dropped her fifth album, “Beyoncé,” completely unannounced. On iTunes, 14 songs and 17 videos suddenly appeared with no prior promotion. Earlier that same week, when asked about what’s to come in 2014, the Chairman of Columbia Records, Rob Stringer said, “Obviously, at some point, Beyoncé will put a record out.” Little did anyone know that “at some point” meant later that week.

As of Wednesday, December 18th, “Beyoncé” has reached #1 on the Billboard Charts, set a new iTunes record and sold 828,773 copies worldwide. In a press release published after the album went on sale, Beyoncé said, “I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it. I’m bored with that.”

Six months ago on Friday, June 14th,“Yeezus,” Kanye West’s sixth solo album leaked to the public without any singles being released prior. This is highly unusual for a rap artist in today’s day and age. Most rap artists, such as Drake, 2 Chainz and even Jay Z, always release radio singles before releasing the album. In regards to releasing a single, Kanye said, “We ain’t got no single to radio. We ain’t got no big NBA campaign or nothing like that….When I listen to the radio, that ain’t where I want to be no more.” Now, Kanye’s album “Yeezus” is still being discussed, as well making its rounds on many of the “Best Albums of 2013” lists.

With world-renowned musicians such as Beyoncé and Kanye releasing their albums with little promotion or no singles, this begins to beg the question: Once one attains a certain level of celebrity, is marketing and promotion no longer needed? Typically, recording artists carefully craft promotion plans that begin advertising the release of a new album months in advance. These plans are meant to hone in on the image that the artist is looking to promote with their new album, release singles, give interviews and even perform parts of the album.

Many artists would be unable to get their new music off the ground without the help of marketing and public relations and it seems that only the elite few are able to successfully release their music without doing this. As this trend seems to be continuing, it’s up to public relations professionals to keep an eye on this, especially as some of us may be working for celebrities one day.

What do you think about Beyoncé dropping her new album unannounced – is this an effective approach that could be applied to other celebrities, or does it only work for artists such as herself and Kanye?

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Rachel Draghi

Industry Introduction

One of the perks of working in PR is having so many different industries to work in. While every industry uses media relations, special events, public speaking, community relations and the works, individual industries specialize in whatever your interests are! Let’s take a look at three general subcategories of PR:

Entertainment PR: Entertainment PR can be classified as a music PR firm, film PR firm, or communications department within a company. Names like VH1, NBC, and MTV have a Communications Directors or Director of PR to work in house. These are also considered entertainment PR positions. Working in entertainment PR requires a large time commitment. It’s one thing to be passionate about PR, but entertainment PR professionals must also be passionate and knowledgeable about the entertainment world. You need to know the latest trends in order to know how to market your own company and clients accordingly.

Fashion PR: Fashion PR can easily be misconstrued for the luxurious lifestyles of fashion PR professionals portrayed on TV, but that is not the reality. Fashion PR executes all of the general PR strategies within a designer name. Just like entertainment PR, it’s very important to be passionate about the brand you are working for. With passion, a fashion PR professional adjusts all projects to the themes of the designer. For example, Burberry uses its plaid print almost as a logo. Like any aspect of the fashion industry, you have to be thick-skinned. Be prepared to hear criticism, constructive or not, on projects you may have thought were the next best thing.

Lifestyle PR: Lifestyle PR is all about promoting living well. Lifestyle PR professionals work hard to convince their audience that their client has something to offer that will enable them to live better. One struggle within lifestyle PR is that what one consumer considers right, another consumer could consider wrong. Like any other PR professional, lifestyle PR experts know that it’s all about how the product or service appears to the consumer.

These are only three subcategories within the PR world. Many others exist, including non-profit, tourism, and political/government. The world is always changing, so who knows what industry you’ll land your feet in.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Alyssa Guckin.

Sports: best on the sidelines or in front of the TV?

I’ve never understood the pull of sports PR for individuals. There are so many people and players to have to worry about and at any moment your whole team can go down the drain. The Penn State and Syracuse scandals in one year are enough for anyone. Maybe you’re hoping to set up a press conference for Michael Vick so he can invite you to a huge mansion party. You never know, you may get a Christmas present from Ryan Howard too! All right, maybe you aren’t in it to hang out with a player and become his BFF, but the glamorous invite of the sports industry can cause daydreaming that is difficult to keep at bay.

But before we start inviting anyone to dinner, ehow.com offers some solid beginning tips:

• Write to all your area teams; college, NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.

• Volunteer to work on game days. Working on game days is the best way to get your foot in the door with a sports team and get your first public relations experience on your resume.

• Get a long-term internship with the team or college you've been working with.

• Colleges in particular have a lot of work that needs to be done, as most have several sports, some with 20 or even 30+ teams that need to be covered. College PR departments tend to be underfunded, so they will generally allow interns to cover one of their lower-end sports to gain experience and save money on staff.

Like many entertainment PR fields, the most important step is putting your foot in the door and making a name for yourself. Trying out the college level and professional level positions could help hone you in on what kind of sports PR you really want to do. It is rumored that college level is more rewarding than professional, but this all depends on the person. If this particular field interests you start Googling, start writing, and start introducing yourself.

Why do you think sports PR is so popular? Or is there a more popular field in PR? Let us know!

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Katherine Carpenter.