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CELEBRITY MARKETING VALUABLE DEAD OR ALIVE
CELEBRITY MARKETINGVALUABLE DEAD OR ALIVE
Marketing Celebrities is Big Business
The “Cult of Celebrity” has gained real power in the US for many reasons Accessibility, reality TV, information available
on the web, and the need to escape everyday life
Valuable Dead or Alive Corbis, a digital imaging company founded
by Bill Gates, owns the rights to images of: Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein Steve McQueen
CMG Worldwide owns the images of: Marilyn Monroe Babe Ruth Jean Harlow Rosa Parks
Forbes Top-Earning Dead Celebrities
The estates of celebrities on the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list collectively earned $247 million in 2006
A star needed to make at least $7 million to be on this list
Kurt Cobain Elvis Presley Charles M. Schulz John Lennon Albert Einstein Andy Warhol Dr. Seuss (Theodor
Geisel)
Ray Charles Marilyn Monroe Johnny Cash J.R.R. Tolkien George Harrison Bob Marley
News and Specialty Sites Cash in On Celebrity Death
The Death of Michael Jackson News, good or bad, is an opportunity
Pepsi changed current marketing to tie to Michael’s death Fellow artists trying to capitalize on Michael’s death
Other Businesses Tried to Benefit Directly Rhapsody and Amazon both set up sites where customers can buy tracks and albums
of all of Michael’s music Bing Travel Team established a travel guide called ”Remembering
a Thriller: Places to Pay Tribute to the King of Pop” encouraging people to travel to these locations
Do Celebrity Events Get Attention?
News of Michael Jackson’s death caused severe internet traffic Servers and systems on some sites pushed to
their limits causing multiple sites to go offline Google describes the traffic as "volcanic.“
Contrary to some reports the internet did not reach the highest traffic levels ever The total load on the internet was about half
that of Obama’s election win
Top 10 Yahoo Searches of 2008 Britney Spears World Wrestling Entertainment Barak Obama Miley Cyrus RuneScape Jessica Alba Naruto Lindsay Lohan Angelina Jolie American Idol
Long Live the King of
References http://www.market-research-report.com/
datamonitor/DMCM4607.htm http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/c
elebrity-branded-wines-thrive-in-us-market-3747/
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1330351
http://www.venturerepublic.com/resources/Branding_celebrities_brand_endorsements_brand_leadership.asp
• http://www.theinsider.com/galleries/2304844_Farrah_Fawcett_1947_to_2009
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31571590/ns/business-us_business/
• http://www.mediabankers.com/PDF/DeSilva%20+%20Phillips_Celebrity%20Media_%20White%20Paper%203_09%20--%20by%20Ken%20Sonenclar.pdf
