When You Don't Land on Oprah's Favorite Things

Without question it must be really nice to be Oprah Winfrey. After all who truly reach the heights to have an annual show appearance that becomes the holiday season biggest rave and be able to give away millions of dollars in prizes to the audience? This year's Oprah's Favorite Things show for 2007 give away over 2 million dollars in prizes to the audience, awarding over 300 audience members prizes worth over $7,247.33 a person.

Oprah typically selects 20 companies and products to feature during her favorite things show. What about the other hundreds of millions of other companies and products out there? They can generally wait another hundred million years to make the list or turn the hype from Oprah's Favorite Things show into their own publicity campaign. This theory proves to be a sure bet for success as Oprah even selected her very own book to appear on Oprah's Favorite Things as her #19 pick - O's Guide To Life. No wonders how this will impact her book sales?

The first thing is to understand the hype surrounding Oprah and the power her name carries in the media. Oprah's Favorite Things show is an instant boost to the economy and for the lucky 20 companies selected a mega revenue surge. Just knowing this information you would think that most companies would kick down doors to be apart of this publicity. However, few take advantage of this golden opportunity to increase brand awareness or revenue earnings.

Publicity tips to capitalize from the hype of Oprah's Favorite Things:

1. Item Category - Review Oprah's Favorite Things and search for a product that is in your same category. Highlight features and benefits that make your product standout.

2. Promote Category Selection - Prepare a media release about Oprah's Favorite Things selecting your product category. Tell what makes your product's features and benefits standout. If possible reveal customer testimonials, experiences etc.

Here is how a good sample header would appear:

Oprah's Favorite Things Wows Audience With Body Butter

XYZ Company offers a wide selection of body butter including the same scent selected on Oprah's Favorite Things list with all 100% pure and natural elements.

3. Next Year's Campaign - Now is an excellent time to start campaigning to make Oprah's Favorite Things list for 2008. Pitch Oprah's producers on how you started your business, if you borrowed a loan from your father-in-law or took on a second job stress those points. Let them know about your struggles to success. Tell them why your product should be featured on Oprah's Favorite Things for 2008. Don't forget to include product samples and customer testimonials.

4. Target Similar Lists - There are thousands of other media resources that are searching for holiday products to highlight. Often many of them trend themselves after Oprah's Favorite Things and looking for similar products or bigger better ideas to top Oprah's list. A good start would be to target holiday gift guides, magazines, newspapers, etc. Contact your local area newspapers, radio stations, talk shows etc. Often times you can create a local buzz and turn it into national news.

5. Christmas In July - July is the ultimate time to target publications for December, which Christmas features most often need six months plus. Present your pitch why your product is a favorite things holiday gift idea.

Utilizing the publicity power of Oprah's Favorite Things is a great strategy to increase brand awareness. This is the golden opportunity to take rejection and turn it into something positive. The power of the O factor is limitless.