Had a huge event this weekend we ran for a client – and I happened to speak to Mark Birnbaum, a friend and the mogul behind EMM Group, one of New York’s most successful hospitality, lifestyle and management companies and he had some great advice I wanted to share that anyone should know when running an event.

• Plan ahead and don’t leave anything for the last second

• As Mark Birnbaum says with your blackberry you have to “live life practically through this thing.”

• Be prepared physically – even if it looks easy, it isnt “…business is long hours, late hours. We have to maintain our health. Boxing is a great part of our lives. We [train and spar] three or four times a week. “

• Make sure the music is right – music sets the tone for many things – including an event.  Plan ahead.

As GQ says Mark Birnbaum of EMM Group is the “new king of nightlife” – and “…if you’re at one of their spots, chances are, you’re having the time of your life.”

Running an event is always a ton of work – and for more, follow Mark Birnbaum on Twitter at: twitter.com/markbirnbaumemm

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Part 2 of 2 – Part 1 at: http://ronntorossian.com/audemars-piguet-akin-to-legends-pr-marketing-win-part-1-of-2

This is a book excerpt from Ronn Torossian’s book: “For Immediate Release”:

Some saw it as risky when Audemars Piguet partnered with celebrities to make limited-edition watches, such as the 20-piece Offshore Chronograph Jay-Z Special Edition Platinum watch (Which costs around $70,000, if you can find one) and the Royal Oak Offshore Shaquille O’Neal Chronograph (which costs about $30,000), or hire them as ambassadors for the line, such as motor racing pro Michael Schumacher.

Celebrity involvement in branding does present challenges because people are people, and human nature means anyone can screw up and cause embarrassment for a brand. In this case, however, it’s been a brilliant move. Among a sophisticated, watch-wealthy audience, making a celebrity association with these fashion-forward but luxurious timepieces was right on point. A watch is the only jewelry many men wear, so seeing certain handpicked celebrities wearing the watches resonates with many core consumers. The company doesn’t have to sell a lot of watches to make a lasting impression on a certain group of ultra wealthy consumers. In fact, nearly all of its watches increase in value.

John Mayer, the musician, wanted to buy a specific limited-edition Royal Oak I own. He approached me one night in a nightclub (we didn’t know each other at the time) and offered me $10,000 more than its original price. I declined, but we ended up having a lengthy discussion about the Audemars Piguet brand and watches. Each time he sees me now, he asks about the watch. That’s what I would call a well-honed secret language—one spoken and understood by the few people who love, appreciate, and can afford these watches. Audemars Piguet speaks this language brilliantly and it’s been great PR. Its watches don’t look that expensive. If you don’t know the brand you wouldn’t necessarily see or understand the cost or value of one of its timepieces immediately.

All part of a strategic secret language the company uses for the brand. It’s a very clever way to market to a select group of people. Many people know, for example, that Rolex is a luxury brand and recognize it as such, even though Rolex watches cost, in most cases, a fraction of an AP timepiece. AP doesn’t need a huge audience or broad public awareness—just to talk to the consumer who can afford one. In the process, the company has managed to reinvent itself as a brand that not only appeals to old Europe but to the young, wealthy, and hip as well – (or the young at heart, yet wealthy).

It has also maintained and expanded its original authenticity with great dexterity.

For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations may be purchased at:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-immediate-release-ronn-torossian/1102047620

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

One’s 40^th birthday is a big deal – but could one imagine an International expensive blow-out for a watch? Well, leave it to Audemars Piguet to throw a blow-out bash to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak – simply the worlds’ most amazing watch brand.

Was interesting for a uber-luxury brand to host an event which is open to the public – and was held at a very unique building – the Park Avenue Armory (which spans an entire city block and even this lifelong NY’er had never before been inside).

Once inside the simply amazing space, one felt they were transported to a mansion from hundreds of years ago, and as the designer said the space felt he wanted to “immerse every visitor deep in the Vallée de Joux, the birth place of Haute Horlogerie in Switzerland.”  He succeeded – and I think the event was a major success from a marketing standpoint. Many of the watches were displayed, and as the opening line in their exhibition booklet said about Audemars Piguet “Some stories are akin to legends.” This event in NYC was the continuation of that legend.

The event will travel now to stops in key worldwide cities, including Milan, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Dubai.

I discuss Audemars Piguet at length in my book, in a section called: The Secret Language of Luxury:

Established in 1875, the upscale watch brand Audemars Piguet (nickname: AP) has been around for quite some time. Throughout its first hundred years, the company traditionally marketed its wares primarily to European aristocrats. In 1972 it introduced the Royal Oak, its first high-end sports watch, which was daring at the time. Timepieces now start in the low- to mid-five figures and go into the six figures for limited-edition styles. This brand’s success requires downplaying overt marketing and instead strategically placing products or services within specific communities and subcultures that make for an organic fit. Audemars Piguet has perfected this strategy. In the HBO series Entourage, character Ari Gold receives an Audemars Piguet watch as a gift from John Ellis, the fictional chairman of his company’s parent company. Ellis describes it as “perhaps the finest timepiece in the world.”

The brand makes only 26,000 pieces per year, and each one is made by hand. The brand, like many other luxury brands, uses ambassadors to spread the word about the product. These are normally high-profile people who are already established fans and customers. In 1993 the company introduced the Royal Oak Offshore line, stretching the boundaries of how large a watch could be—some versions are 48 millimeters, or nearly two inches across. The brand took off and the company continues to innovate in terms of size and design.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

If there was to be a publicity hall of fame for greatest stunts ever, Sacha Baron Cohen would absolutely have a place for some of his various shticks.  This weekend, at the medal ceremony at the Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait, Cohen’s version of the national anthem (from Borat) played – instead of the real one.  Naturally, Kazakhstan officials (where Borat was banned) were very upset, and the foreign ministry said that the incident “is, of course, a scandal and demands a thorough investigation, which we intend to conduct.”

I’d imagine that someone checked Google for the national anthem and this came up and they didn’t bother to check if it was real (and how many would know what the real anthem sounds like anyway?). The clip is hilarious (and looks like a scene that would appear in Borat), with the Kazaki medal winner listening to lyrics like: “Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world/All other countries are run by little girls….Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, you very nice place, from plains of tarashenk to northern fence of jewtown.”

Of course with Cohen and his gimmicks you never know if he was somehow behind this, and with his new movie, The Dictator taking place in the Middle East, maybe this was another one of his shticks. This PR agency owner says Cohen is a genius.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

As published this morning at: http://popdemonium.com/2010/07/challenges-celebrity-pr/

One of the most challenging parts of working in celebrity publicity is re-shaping an image which the world already thinks they know. Constant public scrutiny, the demand of hundreds of media outlets calling non-stop, and the immediacy of today’s media make this even harder. The latest news from Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods and other shining stars, makes one wonder about the differences between a celebrity and a “normal” human being.

After years of work with corporations and celebrities, I realize that the media often decides a story angle before they actually hear the facts. In “Bias” – probably the century’s most significant media-criticism book – Bernard Goldberg, ex-CBS producer, states that a lie in media terms is not really a lie, “they would pass the polygraph test… they honestly believe what they’re saying. And that’s the biggest problem of all”. Just last week, in an unprecedented rule in England, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt won their case over privacy against a gossip outlet that reported an upcoming divorce. The damages will be accounted for by the paper and offered to the intruded couple. And, all this because drama sells paper, whether it’s true, false or exaggerated. I mean consider how many headlines were written on Tiger Woods, but what do we really know other than that he cheated on his wife?

The media simply feels compelled to respond to massive public interest, and human fascination. Celebrity representatives often can’t respond quick enough to damaging news – and this lack of response, or failure to fix the issue, can often shape the story. In contrast to a company, brand or product, the “celebrity brand” stands alone. If something is perceived to go wrong you can’t accuse production lines, ‘industry trends’ or forces of nature, like BP has tried to do. Instead, the individual celebrity is the only one who can break, or fix, his or her “brand.”

In today’s new media world, information is excessive. It has inflated the online market, and questionable stories and their sources are all around. The media and its key players – reporters, producers and editors – find themselves competing hard for your attention, click, and ‘retweet.’ This struggle makes it more challenging to proof-check every single story as the cycle is a 24-hour “news” cycle where everything and anything can happen anytime. Unfortunately, this also allows some to promote their own goals and stockholders’ interests by bullying people along the way. Perhaps the cure will come with online, fee-based content, which will charge readers for access but in exchange make a commitment to value and quality for the reader. It’s rumored that the New York Times and Apple will adapt such a model.

I have commented extensively in the media regarding Woods, Lohan and Gibson, and I believe in today’s America, with strategic planning and a PR plan, all of these figures can make a return to some degree and repair their image. They too are human beings, and for them too life shall go on.

Recently we have seen a return of sorts of Rev. Ted Haggard, who was forced to resign nearly four years ago as president of the politically powerful National Association of Evangelicals and to step down from the mega church he founded, after admitting that he had bought methamphetamine from and had a sexual interaction with a male prostitute. Haggard confessed in a tortured letter, calling himself “a deceiver and a liar” who had long wrestled with desires he described as “repulsive and dark.” Now, in his comeback, the energetic and positive Haggard says he is back to doing what he was born to do. “Tiger Woods needs to golf. Michael Vick needs to be playing football. Mr. Haggard needs to be leading a church.”

Celebrities, too, are human beings, not lab rats. They make mistakes, like human beings, but their image can be harder to manage. They possess a “brand personality” that’s constantly up for scrutiny.

There is logic in a celebrity stating “this is what I do best, let me do my job.” Some can and will recover a blunder with the media, while others will not stand the test. Celebrities are individuals with red blood. They’re individuals with a wide public awareness and they represent something – bad or good. Working closely over the years with some of America’s most famous people, I wont allow my children to worship someone who can dunk a ball, golf the best, win an Oscar; look up to people you know, not people on TV or movies.

Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5WPR, one of the 15 largest PR firms in the US. Named to the “Ad Age” and “PR Week” 40 under 40 lists, he was a semi-finalist for the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. His agency represents leading brands in all spaces, and has worked with celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Pamela Anderson and Nick Cannon.