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.
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.
