THREE TOP TIPS FOR PICKING THE PERFECT TALENT

Is your talent a super star or a death star? We’ll guide you through a galaxy of booking do’s and don’ts

By Lauren Coffey

There’s a subtle art to pitching and booking media interviews. Creating strong pitches is just one step in the right direction. Cultivating long-lasting and friendly relationships with producers is another important factor in securing a big booking list.

But not every station can be booked from a friendly phone call. Many times producers will ask “What makes this news worthy?” or “How is this relevant to us and our city?” Often, stories we’re asked to pitch have no local tie-ins, or maybe the story is stale and has been run a hundred times. In both cases, we’ll get a “thanks, but no thanks” from producers.

Fortunately, there is something that can be a game-changer for these wary producers: good talent. Before choosing a spokesperson, there are several questions marketing and PR teams should ask themselves.

What makes a talent bookable?

I’ve worked on plenty of projects where the talent is a physician, or dietitian or pet specialist. This type of spokesperson may be well-versed in their field and have plenty of knowledge to share with viewers, but they don’t always sway the stations to book. The problem is, stations love having local information, and that means local experts.  

Most markets have an array of local doctors, experts and nutritionists to choose from. More often than not, if a producer has the option to bring in a local spokesperson in-studio, they will do that, instead of booking a satellite tour with a national talent. If it’s not in your budget to choose a more well-known (aka, celebrity) expert, the best way to book a lesser-known spokesperson is to fill the interview with local statistics or extremely relevant information.

 Who is the best talent for your particular topic?

From my experience, to garner the strongest bookings possible, using a celebrity as the main talent or one of the talents, is the best solution. Now, we all know getting someone huge is probably never going to happen; I can’t really see Brad Pitt or George Clooney talking about a new medicine that helps with outie belly button syndrome. 

But if you have the budget, springing for the celebrity name is worth the cost. Producers will be more likely to book a story they rejected previously if there’s a celebrity spokesperson attached to it.

Choosing a celebrity does have its occasional downsides. For instance, if you have the top-billed actor from an NBC show, stations from other network affiliates may balk rather than book. Also, I’ve had a hard time placing stories where the talent is an older celebrity or a lesser-known cooking or home improvement star. If using a chef, pick someone who’s had a TV show for many years; someone who’s talked about in all forums. Before her fall from grace, we used Paula Dean’s sons Bobby and Jamie, and they booked fairly well, all because they were associated with their larger-than-life mama.

Avoid using a former contestant from season 2 of a show that’s now in its 145^th year, because that person is no longer relevant, and unfortunately, was probably never that famous in the first place. If the name of the talent does not resonate with younger producers, then chances are, money is being wasted.

What should we look for in celebrity SMT talent?

The most important quality in a celebrity SMT talent is relevance. On several occasions, I’ve had to pitch a celebrity who’s been off the market for many years. At one point, maybe 10-15 years ago, they were wildly popular, but over the course of time, chances are that fading star has fallen into the black hole of popularity. Now, I personally am a TV junkie, so if a star appeared in a TV show throughout the 90’s or new millennium, I know who they are. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the world does. 

I’ve seen first-hand how well the “flavor of the month” can book. If a reality star on the hottest show is pitched on the same day as a less-relevant but more talented actor, chances are the producer is going to choose the reality star.

One of the most successful tours I ever worked on was with a reality TV star, Miss Kay from Duck Dynasty. Producers went crazy over her, not because she was some award-winning actress, or a well-known activist, but because she happened to be the mom on of the country’s most popular TV shows at that time. News is current and late breaking, and the same thing applies to talent.

Recently, we did a project with Nina Dobrev of The Vampire Diaries, who booked tremendously well, especially on CW outlets (the network which airs the program). Since Nina was popular, young, and not associated with any one of the major TV networks, she was quite bookable. 

      

Bottom line - media outlets always want the newest and hottest celeb or athlete. In fact, attaching a top celebrity to the worst story, will improve its bookability. Creating a non-profit pitch with a popular star as the spokesperson, is a great way to hit media gold.  And of course, remembering my top 3 tips -- and keeping up with the latest celebrity trends – will go a long way toward making your project a success.