I’m the first to admit that I like Oprah. For all the crazy she’s brought into the world, she’s brought as much good.
In the crazy column: Dr. Phil; Rachel Ray; Oprah’s favorite things; Big Give; Stedman and Gayle; “a new car”; a magazine with every cover featuring her; the Oprah Store; Oxygen; OWN; and the ability to name everything after herself.
In the good: her ability to get a swath of people previously only addicted to TV to become addicted to Oprah’s Book Club; her slapdown with James Frey (though the blessing from heaven to come of that whole mess was the South Park episode); Barbara Walters’ affair; the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy (and she managed the bad press around the headmistress scandal well); Eckhart Tolle’s book sales.
But, the good and crazy aside, it’s hard to forgive Oprah for what she’s done to PR. It seems that the holy grail for every client these days is landing on the Big O. Increasingly, the first question we get asked is “how do I get on Oprah?” The response is eerily straightforward:
First of all, no one gets on Oprah, she gets on you. (We even pitched her the most sought after speaker on the planet and her producers barely feigned interest…)
Secondly, to get the Oprah blessing you must have a product, person, or cause that realllllyyy appeals to Oprah’s “ah-ha” sensibilities. Or it must be a “flytothemoonmakingnonfatwonderfoodssavingtheearthreclaimingwaterchangingtheworldproduct” that Oprah’s billions viewers are worthy of.
And, no matter the media contacts, the “rolodex”, or the connections, it seems landing the O is much more about destiny than art.
How do we counteract this approach to the media over which we have no control? As the flacks of this world, it’s time to band together and give the O the Big No. In this YouTubeIt age there are as many other outlets as there are Oprah viewers. And while the faithful may still consider the O placement as the hallmark of their offering, what really sells is reaching those committed people who you actually want to have your product.
How can the queen of all media have no regard for us, the gentle souls who keep the media machines moving? And better yet, do we need her?
Does Oprah still move products and create buzz or is it YouTube and the thousands of micro-persuasion sites that we need to start reaching?
My vote is in the O No column—it’s time to band together and focus clients and stories to the places that matter. Those small yet powerful new opportunities are ours to seize. And if Oprah picks up on it, all the better.
In the crazy column: Dr. Phil; Rachel Ray; Oprah’s favorite things; Big Give; Stedman and Gayle; “a new car”; a magazine with every cover featuring her; the Oprah Store; Oxygen; OWN; and the ability to name everything after herself.
In the good: her ability to get a swath of people previously only addicted to TV to become addicted to Oprah’s Book Club; her slapdown with James Frey (though the blessing from heaven to come of that whole mess was the South Park episode); Barbara Walters’ affair; the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy (and she managed the bad press around the headmistress scandal well); Eckhart Tolle’s book sales.
But, the good and crazy aside, it’s hard to forgive Oprah for what she’s done to PR. It seems that the holy grail for every client these days is landing on the Big O. Increasingly, the first question we get asked is “how do I get on Oprah?” The response is eerily straightforward:
First of all, no one gets on Oprah, she gets on you. (We even pitched her the most sought after speaker on the planet and her producers barely feigned interest…)
Secondly, to get the Oprah blessing you must have a product, person, or cause that realllllyyy appeals to Oprah’s “ah-ha” sensibilities. Or it must be a “flytothemoonmakingnonfatwonderfoodssavingtheearthreclaimingwaterchangingtheworldproduct” that Oprah’s billions viewers are worthy of.
And, no matter the media contacts, the “rolodex”, or the connections, it seems landing the O is much more about destiny than art.
How do we counteract this approach to the media over which we have no control? As the flacks of this world, it’s time to band together and give the O the Big No. In this YouTubeIt age there are as many other outlets as there are Oprah viewers. And while the faithful may still consider the O placement as the hallmark of their offering, what really sells is reaching those committed people who you actually want to have your product.
How can the queen of all media have no regard for us, the gentle souls who keep the media machines moving? And better yet, do we need her?
Does Oprah still move products and create buzz or is it YouTube and the thousands of micro-persuasion sites that we need to start reaching?
My vote is in the O No column—it’s time to band together and focus clients and stories to the places that matter. Those small yet powerful new opportunities are ours to seize. And if Oprah picks up on it, all the better.
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4 comments:
I love your commentary on the "Big O" (I love typing that on so many levels) and can't agree any more. While I understand most brands secret (or not-so-secret) desire to be on the "Big O's" program, little do they realize that it, more-often-than-not, means satisfying internal needs/wants versus the needs/wants of their actual consumers. Don't get me wrong, a placement/endorsement by Oprah can definitely move the needle...but it certainly doesn't make a brand.
my other favorite thing about the "wanna be on oprah" phenomenon is when you are joking with a client or prospective client about how cliche it is that every client thinks they should be on oprah, and then that client laughs and agress that it's crazy. and then they say, something like "but really what would it take to get us on oprah?"
From what I can tell, all it takes is writing a really really good self-help book.
From what I can tell, all it takes is writing a really really good self-help book.
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