Oscar ads use celebrities, social media to create buzz

By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY

It's time to create an Academy Awards category with some real buzz: best use of social media to cajole folks into chatting about Oscar advertisers.

• 

  By Warwick Saint

  Procter & Gamble has tapped red-carpet favorite Jennifer Lopez to star in an Oscar ad for Gillette's Venus women's shaver.

By Warwick Saint

Procter & Gamble has tapped red-carpet favorite Jennifer Lopez to star in an Oscar ad for Gillette's Venus women's shaver.

Pre-Oscar hype by marketers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is frantic. Big-name advertisers ? from P&G to Best Buy? are embracing Hollywood stars including Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber as celebrity social-media vehicles to coax consumers into the one thing advertisers want most: online engagement.

Marketers are paying $1.75 million for each 30-second slot on ABC's Sunday night telecast, making the social-media platform even more critical.

"They've got a captive audience that's open to interact with big brands and feel like they're being listened to," says social-media coach Janet Fouts. "With TV and radio, you can't do that."

Here's how some are mixing celebrities and social media for Oscar buzz:

?Procter & Gamble. The Hollywood link to its Venus women's shaver line is Jennifer Lopez, who will star in an Oscar spot. Since it signed Lopez one month ago, its Facebook membership has grown 25%, says Kevin Hochman, marketing chief for the brand.

?Unilever. Its new Dove VisibleCare Body Wash line is kicking off a social-media campaign to entice consumers to get as close to Dancing With the Starsfame as they can get: a contest to dance in a Dove ad that will air during a break on DWTS.

The winner will learn steps from actress and former DWTS contestant Jennie Garth, says Rob Candelino, marketing director.

?Best Buy. The chain engineered an online vote to let folks pick an alternate ending to the Justin Bieber ad that it aired on the Super Bowl. The new ending will air on the Oscars.

"Our goal was to use social media as a way that connected (Facebook) fans to our Buy Back Program, and gave them a voice in how we talk about it," says spokeswoman Paula Baldwin.

?J.C. Penney. To launch its new tagline and logo, Penney will air seven spots (one with Cindy Crawford) and offer five separate digital components. "The consumer is the marketer," says marketing chief Michael Boylson. "What customers say about you is more important than what you say about yourself."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

Kelly Clarkson Luján Fernández Adrianne Palicki Shanna Moakler Roselyn Sanchez