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