You Ask, We Answer
Question: As a huge ONE LIFE TO LIVE fan, I have always adored Hillary B. Smith (Nora) and admired her graceful beauty. As far as makeup and skincare go, what are her secrets? She always looks like she’s wearing nothing, yet her skin is so smooth! Please help! – Jane Dimtrow, San Antonio, TX
Answer: When Soaps In Depth recently chatted with the lovely Smith, we posed just that question, Jane, and she was happy to oblige. “For makeup, I use Cat Cosmetics [co-star Catherine Hickland’s (Lindsay) makeup line] and Laura Mercier,” states Smith. “I have my oil-free tinted moisturizer and I have my duel Cat Cosmetics pencil, eye pencil and lip liner – one on each end.” As far as skincare goes, Smith likes to keep it simple. “I use Estee Lauder primarily. I use a dermabrasion sometimes to just buff up the skin and exfoliate a little bit, but mostly I use an Olay Regenerist cleanser and I use my Estee Lauder eye [cream].” And, adds Smith. “Everything’s oil free. I don’t put any oil on my face. I use water-based [products].”
Soaps In Depth
June 19, 2007
By: Denise Balcarcel
As we speed through June and as Hillary approaches the six-month mark in her new contract term, fans are yearning for a long awaited, front-burner storyline that has yet to kick into gear. While we are grateful for every moment that Hillary graces our screens, we know her immense talent and full potential are not being utilized. Fans are also aware that vets as a whole have been minimized on the daytime canvas, so this is an uphill and widespread battle indeed. However, I still hold the opinion that fans possess the power to create change. We are the ones who patronize products that sponsors advertise. We are the ones who represent a viewing share that keeps OLTL on the air. We are also the ones fighting for Hillary and Nora’s character, and as such, the ball is strictly in our court. I will concede that our efforts are growing more labored and complex as the daytime landscape evolves. Yet just as times have changed, so must our approach. I believe that we must modify our outreach efforts to effectively impact a genre that is becoming more political and corporate with each passing year. In this respect, I wish to offer some suggestions for tweaking outreach strategies so as to keep pace with the changing medium.
Contact the Sponsors
Sometimes, you have to take your fight to the people with the bargaining power. This is one of those times. Advertisers are the entities that possess serious clout with the network, because without them, there would be no show. Companies spend millions of dollars with hopes we will patronize their products, and I can assure you that the last thing these reps want to contend with are scores of soap fans writing on behalf of their daytime favorites. I recently updated a sponsor list for the C.H.E.R.I. Initiative, and I will happily turn it over to anyone outside the project who requests it. The list encompasses nearly one hundred companies that advertise during OLTL on both ABC and SOAPnet, so please email me if you would like a copy. If it seems like contacting this many advertisers is an impossible and monumental task, you would be surprised at how quickly you can work through the list by taking a handful of companies each week over the course of the summer. I submit that hundreds of postcards sent on behalf of Hillary’s fans with her name handwritten or typed on them will pack a powerful punch.
Write the Disney Board
Please remember that the network is simply one component of
the Walt Disney empire. Disney’s assets include everything
from television to its theme parks to merchandise to
cutting-edge multimedia. The President & CEO and Disney Board
of Directors represent the highest chain of command within the
corporation. Often times, you need to jump to the top of the
chain when you aren’t reaping the desired results. Network
executives are ultimately held responsible by the Disney
Board, its Chairman, and its President. Does this mean we
should stop writing the network contacts on behalf of
Hillary? Absolutely not! However, desperate times call for
drastic measures, so here is what I recommend. If you have
the time to reach out to the Disney Board, please email me and
I will also happily provide their contact information for
you. At the very least, it would be advisable to copy
Disney’s CEO and the Board Chairman on letters you are sending
out to network execs on behalf of Hillary. You simply can’t
go any higher within the chain of command than these
individuals, and the more people who receive our message en
masse, the better.
Widen Your Approach
I truly believe that broadening the scope of correspondence greatly strengthens our case. This includes working angles and details into our outreach that may seem trite or irrelevant. The fact that Hillary is an Emmy-winning actor with a resume that would stop traffic is highly significant. I often incorporate aspects of her professional biography into my personal correspondence to illustrate her worth to the network and reinforce how greatly she impacts the canvas. The fact that Hillary originated a character which remains daytime’s longest-running Jewish character matters greatly. Though Nora’s history and heritage have taken a beating over the years, what Nora represents in the way of her Jewish faith is truly unique. The fact that Hillary drove ratings for x number of years on OLTL and continues to pack scores of viewers into meet-and-greet fan events sends a powerful message. These are the kinds of details that may be lost on the network hierarchy, but are golden to sponsors who are eager to sell products and secure a captive audience.
Utilize Available Resources
There is a wealth of available data, in addition to Hillary’s professional information, which can transform opinion into fact. This includes ratings numbers, the nature of goods and services that are being advertised during OLTL, and provable trends. Household and demo numbers are posted on every major forum and can be used to make your case. While the network is purely interested in key demo groups, I submit that sponsors are deeply interested in household numbers and subsequent viewing trends. Why? If you examine the majority of products that are advertised during OLTL, they are targeted at a middle-aged and more mature viewing audience. Further, if OLTL reflects a drop in household numbers, thousands fewer per week translate into hundreds of thousands of viewers less on a monthly basis that are exposed to advertisers’ products. Also, look for patterns and work those into your outreach. Hillary is not the only vet on OLTL sitting on the back-burner. Those of you who watch AMC and GH can also spot consistent patterns that involve the network’s veteran actors on a widespread scale. These trends are provable and can certainly be woven into correspondence to make your case in support of Hillary. Knowing your audience is also crucial. If you are part of key demo groups that the network is desperately courting, use your age to your advantage. The same holds true if you are in the target age range for sponsors’ goods and services. The more data we can utilize to illustrate Hillary’s appeal, value and irreplaceability, the better.
Mix It Up
The general consensus maintains that snail mail constitutes the most effective form of outreach. While I concur with this viewpoint, I’m a huge advocate of variety and balance. Each of us is attempting to squeeze twenty-five hours into a twenty-four hour day, and some form of outreach is better than none. The ebb and flow of correspondence is also such that I believe a balance of snail mail, email and telephone communication truly packs the most comprehensive punch. Postcards are the most inexpensive and expedient form of outreach and can be customized accordingly. Some people say that handwritten correspondence weighs more than typed letters; others contend that media reps only count actors’ names on postcards and letters, versus reading content. My advice is simply to mix things up, and alternate your correspondence based upon time, tone, and preference. The more frequently those in charge see Hillary’s name come across their desks, the better. So in order to keep your sanity and continue plugging away in support of her, do what works best and that which meets your needs.
While these strategies are far from rocket science, and while most of us have been employing them for years, the mindset and approach fueling them has shifted. What worked five, ten or fifteen years ago no longer works today. If we feel that our viewpoints don’t weigh heavily or that they have yet to instigate change, perhaps it is because our strategies must also change to keep pace with the times and evolving medium. While the challenge often seems insurmountable, and as our efforts often appear futile, the fact that Hillary committed another four years of her life to the fans, the character and the show speaks volumes. Our cries were heard last December and I wholeheartedly believe they will not go unanswered this second time around. The key to fostering change is targeting the right entities, using all available resources and mixing up our methods of outreach. We hold more power than we often give ourselves credit for, and it pays to work every available avenue and target those individuals who are capable of turning this around. If we can keep the right mindset, employ creative strategies and continually find ways to think outside the box, change will inevitably follow.
