Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Oprah Effect


We all know that it's all about the O, but have you ever realized just how strong Oprah's influence is? Your product appears on her show or in O Magazine and suddenly you're a millionaire. It doesn't matter if five minutes ago your business was in the tank and no one had heard of your book.

One of the courses I'm teaching this semester is argumentative writing, which includes the analysis of advertising strategies, and there is no greater product endorsement than Ms. Oprah Winfrey. It is seriously amazing just how quickly Oprah's touch turns everything into gold - or make that platinum, multimillion-dollar metal.

If you have 42 minutes to spare, or even just five, check out this CNBC Original documentary (season 1, episode 26) titled, "The Oprah Effect" (the link takes you to hulu.com).

I guarantee you'll be blown away (or maybe just slightly amazed) by one woman's influence. And if you're like me, you too will quickly be thinking about how you can get the Oprah Effect to work for you.

4 comments:

Joshua McCune said...

It helps to have Satan on your side ;) -- j/j, sort of... I do think there is something inconspicuously evil about the woman... though, yeah, I wish I could have 1/1,000,000 of her influence.

Stephanie Thornton said...

It is totally mind boggling that one woman could have such an influence. But hurray for the people she helps out, be they authors or others.

While I have to say that I typically stay away from the books she recommends I know I'd do a little happy dance if she ever gave my book a plug. Pretty hypocritical, eh?

Stephanie Damore said...

Bane, while I don't think it's evil, I definitely think there's something there =) I mean, all people have the same general abilities, how is it that this ONE woman has so much influence? Crazy!

Stephanie Damore said...

Steph, I agree. I don't even watch Oprah, but you bet I'd be counting my blessings if she liked my book (and mentioned it on her show/magazine). Best Sellers list here I come!