American Idol Finds New Facebook Gimmick to Reinforce Its Brand

American Idol, which started its tenth year in January, has long been the king of reality television shows. But even Idol can get old — so its producers have come up with a way to add a little fun to the brand. Starting tomorrow, the ten finalists on the show will be used in a unique way on Facebook. Each of them will be filmed by Cameo Stars, a company that embeds video of celebrities into a Facebook profile page so it appears the celebrities are speaking directly to the Facebook user.

Cameo Stars, which launched last August, has worked with celebrities as Lindsay Lohan, Carmen Electra and Kim Kardashian (above) to offer up video holiday greetings. During the January football playoff season, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, and other professional football players appeared, either free or for Facebook credits, to pump up their fan base.

Now Facebook users will be able to have American Idol contestants deliver a birthday greeting from one Facebook user to another at a cost of $1 each.Continue reading...