Motorola calls on PMK to reach the stars

LOS ANGELES: Seeking to undercut Nokia’s current status as cell

phone to the stars, Motorola has launched a multimillion-dollar

marketing and publicity push to court Hollywood’s elite.

The dollars 29 billion wireless company announced last week that it has

hired PMK Public Relations, the powerhouse publicity firm representing

such stars as Tom Cruise. PMK will lead Motorola’s celebrity outreach

efforts, working alongside Harrison & Shriftman, which concentrates on

the lifestyle and fashion press. In addition, UPP Entertainment

Marketing, which has worked with Motorola for more than 10 years, will

continue to handle product placement on shows such as Felicity and

Frasier.

Newly appointed director of entertainment marketing David Pinsky called

the total investment ’significant - in the millions.’ Some of the

marketing dollars will be channeled into Motorola’s soon-to-open Sunset

Boulevard office, which the company envisions as a funky environment in

which celebs and industry luminaries can play with new products.

The Motorola deal signifies a new direction for PMK, which has until

recently concentrated on publicity (proactive as well as defensive) for

its stable of A-list stars. ’We see it as simply an extension of the

work we already do,’ said Pat Kingsley, pointing out that her firm has

handled projects for non-entertainment clients such as the Hard Rock

Hotel in Las Vegas.

Motorola kicked off the campaign with a star-studded party earlier this

month, with stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio showing up for the free

hi-tech goodies like pagers.

This article was first published on PR Week USA