Sunday’s NY Times piece about Sharon Stone’s recent comments on the earthquake that hit China made me remember a very high-powered, ultra-nervous CEO we worked with who vowed to never, ever under any circumstances use celebrities for fear of what their (mis)actions might do to his brand.

Sharon Stone, best known for her role in Basic Instinct (certainly sexy and risqué), has made some very controversial comments.  She reinforces the need for brands to be strategic and targeted when working with celebrities, as well as cognizant of the risks.

All too often, our firm will receive a call from a celebrity agent on behalf of an A-list celebrity who wants an endorsement deal from a client we represent because “he or she is looking to get into the space.” However, if we inquire about price, it’s the same as the usual going rate.  I always caution clients: don’t get excited when you get a similar call.  More often than not, it’s an agent making a cold call trying to get a check.

There’s plenty of upside in choosing the right celebrity endorser for consumer brands, but the decision needs to be strategic and focused –  not just after a star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Forwarded from a friend… and a great inspiration with which to start the week… There are those who do it, and those who watch it done…

Responsibility is not a burden. It is the key that enables you to exercise control over your own destiny. Only by taking responsibility are you able to move life in the direction of your own dreams and visions. Responsibility fully engages the best of who you are.

Responsibility can be difficult, time-consuming, unfair, inconvenient and uncomfortable. Yet it also brings you to a level of empowerment that cannot be reached in any other way. At the heart of true achievement is responsibility.

No matter what has happened, or who is to blame, or how it all came to be, choose to take full responsibility for your life. For that is the first step in making it great.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

An inspirational daily message I get forwarded from a colleague/friend… and I wanted to share this one:

With your imagination, you can create whole worlds that have never existed before.

What’s even more amazing is the creations of your imagination are not confined to being just that. There are absolutely no limits and much of what you think of in your mind works its way into the rest of your life.

You can completely control it simply by choosing to do so. Imagine the very best for your world in rich detail and intensity, and they will begin to grow in the reality of your life.

For your imagination reaches beyond your thoughts and your mind. Its transforming power comes from the fact that it is connected to all you are.

Life becomes the way you most sincerely and consistently visualize it to be. What do you dare to imagine?

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

While 5W Public Relations received a tremendous amount of attention for certain type of work, I feel we often aren’t recognized for the amazing community and non-profit work we do for clients – We have been hired to coordinate the celebrity program and participation for the Fannie Mae Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Walkathon, taking place on Saturday, November 17, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

5W lead Fannie Mae’s celebrity program in 2006, securing Jewel as the event’s honorary chair. Jewel’s connection to homelessness was the perfect match for the event, raising the awareness surrounding the walkathon and the foundation’s mission statement. In 1988, Fannie Mae created the Help the Homeless Program to respond to the growing needs of homeless people in the Washington metropolitan area. The program — a fund-raising and awareness-raising effort — culminates each year in the Help the Homeless Walkathon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Saturday before Thanksgiving. In 2007, the Help the Homeless Program, which has become the largest funding collaborative focused on homelessness in the nation, marks its 20th year. To date, the effort has raised more than $62.5 million for local nonprofit organizations that serve homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless.

This high profile assignment follows 5W’s tremendously successful work surrounding the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., for the groundbreaking and gala in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on Monday, November 13, 2006.

It’s a program we are really excited about and honored to be working on.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

As a small business owner, it’s difficult to like politicians or governments of any sort as they seem to impede business progress rather than encourage it.

Today’s pet peeve is no mail service – How, after a long weekend can mail not be delivered ?

Bills to pay, invoices waiting on, client deliverables expected… but no mail because a President died ? As important as that may be (and it is), how is there any correlation between showing homage to a President and mail not being delivered ?

I fail to make the connection… and find it frankly absurd. Business can’t stop functioning because a President died.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

I am especially proud that we are deeply involved with one of the most important historical events of the decade, handling all media for the Groundbreaking Ceremony on the National Mall in Washington DC for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Project Foundation on November 13, 2006.

Distinguished guests and speakers (of whom we are working with for media and film crews) include the President of the United States, former President Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Maya Angelou, Senator Obama, Andy Young, Jack Valenti, Diane Sawyer, Bebe Winans, Tommy Hilfiger, Russell Simmons – among many others named individuals, truly there are too many to list. We are also handling the Gala Foundation Dream Dinner the night of the event with Gladys Knight and dozens of major corporate donors including GM, Toyota, Wal-Mart, PepsiCo and many more who have collectively raised over $65 MM of $100 MM needed to complete the project. 5W also secured performances from Ashanti and Brian McKnight, as well as the host of the evening, our own Nick Cannon.

The Los Angeles office is handling the account for the MLK Memorial Foundation — and working on the media and VIP coordination that includes every major network and media outlet pre-event, on site and post. There will be nearly 200 media in attendance the day of the event, which begins for the 5W team at 2:30 AM assigning crews prior to 5:00 AM, and into the evening for the Gala.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is the only non-President awarded a 4 acre Memorial plot on the National Mall and this is a prestigious honor for the agency to be selected to handle the media and honorable VIPs. We hope you will have a moment to tune in on Monday morning (to pretty much all major networks, but suggest CNN or GMA) even for just a moment to check out this incredible event.

Congrats to the team who is working on this event, they have been a gleaming example of 5W at its finest. Its really a proud moment for me as the owner of 5W Public Relations.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR