Click Once for Anna Kournikova's Favorite Miami Spots
Tennis star Anna Kournikova's favorite places appear on a map at Windows Live Local
(Www.celebfavorites.com)
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Saturday, May 6, 2006
Marketing executives inside some of the biggest technology companies can tell you that a tech gadget or service is not really "cool" until a celebrity is using and promoting it.
Rapper Snoop Dogg has been featured in commercials for XM Satellite Radio. Paris Hilton pushed an awareness of the T-Mobile "Sidekick" with her jeweled version of the wireless device. Even Apple, which was already headed for stardom with its iPod, put together a U2 version of the popular portable music device.
Now, Microsoft Corp. is tapping Hollywood in hopes that the general interest in the lives of well-known people will push consumers to the company's new mapping Web site, called Windows Live Local.
If you've ever wondered where tennis star Anna Kournikova likes to get a pedicure when she's in Miami or asked yourself where New York Yankee Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez goes for Italian food in Manhattan, Microsoft has those answers.
The company yesterday launched a promotional Web site ( http:/
Click on the map for actress Eva Longoria, for example, and you'll see that she loves dining at Mi Tierra Cafe and Bakery, a 24-hour restaurant in San Antonio, and shopping at the River Center Mall.
For now, only a handful of celebrities are featured on the site but Angela Morrow, product manager for Windows Live Local, said the company is in negotiations with several more celebrities and plans to keep the site up for the next month or two to gauge its success in driving traffic to Windows Live Local, a rival to Google Maps.
Microsoft noted that it did not pay the celebrities for their participation in the site but instead donated a total of $200,000 to their favorite charities.
Microsoft said putting the stars' favorite hangouts serves as a demonstration of a tool that everyday users can find useful. Instead of using maps for driving directions, users can place a virtual "pushpin" on a map of a restaurant or hotel and then e-mail it to a friend.
"What better way to show users an example?" Morrow said.
