While a lot of the blogosphere debates the nature of marketing, public relations and blogging – particularly the PR bloggers – here comes an ingenious campaign that melds marketing and blogging, and is fully transparent (you know, the big requirement in blogging that not enough corporations get).
The Dukes Of Hazzard Need A Blogger!
Click For The Full Image!!
murdok Editor’s note:
CALLING ALL BLOGGERS! Well… bloggers that are fans of the Dukes of Hazzard television show as well.
The reason for the announcement is because CMT has a job opening for a full-time Dukes of Hazzard blogger. How would you like to get paid to watch the Duke Boy’s TV show and then blog about it?
The job title is Vice President of Hazzard Institute, however there has been no word on whether or not you actually get to meet Catherine Bach…
Discuss you thoughts at WebProWorld.
CMT has put together a job: get paid $100K to daily blog about the Dukes of Hazzard.
Through the CMT Dukes of Hazzard Institute, the Vice President position will be responsible for spreading the gospel of all that is Dukes by watching and then blogging about the show on CMT.
This seemed too good to be true, so I spoke with both Amanda Murphy, a very charming CMT publicist and Andy Holeman, a very fun director of consumer marketing.
And, well, there is no catch. CMT is looking for a Dukes aficionado – or someone willing and able to to become a Dukes aficionado – who has a commitment to learning to what really is a well-paid dream job. What does that mean? You’re a Dukes evangelist. There will be appearances at Dukefest and some travel, but it’s mainly a blogging job. Watch the show, make appearances and blog about the show.
How cool is that?
Now, this to me is a smart PR, smart marketing, smart blogging. It was a collective CMT / Great! idea that came up during a brainstorming session.
As noted by CMT, “The Dukes of Hazzard is such a big show, and it’s a big piece of great television, and it deserved its own dedicated professional to oversee it. CMT considers itself the place for Dukes, and the campaign around the CMT Duke Institute is a way to tie a great opportunity into something exceptional.”
According to Ms. Murphy, there already were a ton of calls coming in, with a lot of radio interviews and TV calls. CMT did both a video news release and full multimedia press release (where I got the fun photo above) – a great strategy for something so visual. While Ms. Murphy was doing her publicist thing – smile and dial – she had the tools that she needed to be able to get the news out. She had the photos, she had video, she had executives available to speak – which is why I was able to speak with Andy.
Other pieces of information that I got from CMT: Part of the dream job is the pay, and watching TV. It’s the perfect job for a television fan. You become an expert of all things Duke, and, yes, there is a possibility that you can drive General Lee.
And, not only is Cooter the president of the CMT Dukes Institute, but he is deeply involved in the process for choosing the Vice President.
This should be fun and exciting for one Dukes of Hazzard fan. Or, for one blogger that can learn to become a Dukes of Hazzard fan. The application is on the CMT Website, and is pretty funny.And, someone coming out of college couldn’t do worse highlighting their blogging skills – catch the hint, Auburn students? – which could also lead to a nice portfolio piece.
As for a PR campaign, this melds all the best of new communications and mainstream media. CMT is reaching out to bloggers for a well-paid job – because, let’s be honest, how many people are making $100K to blog – and is getting massive buzz in the mainstream press. If this campaign goes as well as I think it will, I hope that Great! does a case study on how marketing can work within the blogosphere in a smart way.
Jeremy Pepper is the CEO and founder of POP! Public Relations, a public relations firm based in Arizona, USA.
He authors the popular Musings from POP! Public Relations blog which offers Jeremy’s opinions and views – on public relations, publicity and other things.
