Mediated: Final Project_Oprah Winfrey

Watching television has always been on the top of my hobby list. Watching someone that looked like me on television has always been an inspiration of motivation. Mrs. Oprah Winfrey's career has been evolving throughout my entire life. I have had the honor to watch her empire flourish. She has ventured from a news anchor to a television network owner. The different techniques and strategies that shape her brand work together flawlessly to create extraordinary productions.
A principle that has generated positive outcomes for Mrs. Winfrey is the Justin's Helmet Principle. This principle according to Zengotita (2005) states that “People may be stressed to the gills but, by and large, they’re all for it” ( p. 178) . Mrs. Winfrey’s strong production team is excited to work because they are rewarded heavily for their efforts. The HARPO Inc. team works hard as if work is fun and fulfilling. This strategy nurtures the employees and helps them to grow. Mrs. Winfrey has mastered the concept that work appreciates you, and in exchange, you do a whole lot more of it.
My personal take on Mrs. Winfrey and her production team involves a spirit of hard work and deducation. Mrs. Winfrey takes the time to go through her work with a fine tooth comb. She also gives some of her employees positions that require many responsibilities. The responsibilities that they are given provide them with opportunities to rise to the challenge or fail miserably. The teamwork aspect of Mrs. Winfrey’s empire also plays a major role in the success of her brand. Every employee is held accountable for their work, and are required to present grade A material.
Zengotita (2005) found that “It’s the drift factor. Because, after a certain point, you start to feel like a little hunk of junk washing around in the eddies of some endless stream” (p. 182). With this concept in mind, Mrs. Winfrey’s multiple companies provide the opportunity for her employees to step up their personal career goals, expectations, and lives. Mrs. Winfrey has choosen to take her personal success and use it to help advance her brand, her employees, and the lives of everyone who comes in contact with her productions. Her media strategy uses the skills and talents of her employees and her own personal vision to create productions that uplift and elevate the spirits, moral, and overall well being of her viewers.
Creating a campaign for Mrs. Winfrey and her brand is not an easy task. The magnitude of talent, skill, and hard work generated from the Harpo productions team is not easily paralleled to any other company. Creating a campaign for Mrs. Winfrey would include a specific message, choosing the audience, decide on the media choice, establishing a budget, and creating a schedule and working the plan. Beginning with the message, I would speak with Mrs. Winfrey and come up with a message she is comfortable with. Hypothetically speaking we conclude that the message will involve the supporting of the recently built African School for Girls.
Mrs. Winfrey has already established a world renowned television presence so using the television medium to push this campaign would be brilliant. If we keep the prime time spot that The Oprah Winfrey talk show holds, we can use it to persuade the audience to support the cause that is backed by Mrs. Oprah Winfrey. The budget that Mrs. Winfrey is willing to accomidate is in the millions. Harpo productions also had a fundraiser that raised $500,000. This sets the budget on the higher end of productions. Mrs. Winfrey has a reputation that produces only the best, and this campaign will uphold the same gold standard.
Mrs. Winfrey is a brand. Her production company, television network, and personal success is paralleled to none. Her new media strategy involves Justin’s Helmet Principle, and different concepts that keep her production company and television network thriving. She is well aware of the affects that her company has on its viewers, and the affects the media plays on her demographic audience. Mrs. Winfrey is a media mogul, and her media productions are shaping the world in a major way.



Works Cited


Zengotita, Thomas. (2005). Mediated: how themedia shapes your world and the way you live in it. New York: Bloomsbury.