Billionaire entrepreneur Donald Trump is thriving at what he does best -- selling himself -- -- with his hit NBC reality television series, The Apprentice, spearheading the assault, experts say.
The real estate mogul may have built his empire with an eye on "location, location, location," but the Trump battle cry now appears to be, "synergy, synergy, synergy," as he rides a monster wave of publicity fueled by the TV show, even as some of his business interests are in a free-fall.
The master of self-promotion is using his TV show to plug his businesses, his new book to plug his TV show and hopes to use a phrase from the show to launch new businesses.
"Donald Trump is nothing if not an opportunist, so what has been handed to him is an enormous opportunity that I'm sure he will milk," Vanity Fair media columnist Michael Wolff said in admiration. "This is what the man does.
"This man is only tangentially a businessman. What he does is exploit himself."
Magazines have rushed to profile Trump, who also parlayed The Apprentice into a hosting role recently on the Saturday Night Live comedy show and will twice be featured this week on the news magazine program Dateline NBC -- two shows on the same network as his reality show, that concludes on Thursday.
SYNERGY OVERLOAD?
Ken Auletta, an author and media columnist for The New Yorker, said he wondered whether, "NBC is overdoing the synergy bit. There is a fine line between synergy and shilling.
"In some cases here, it would appear that they've crossed it."
Auletta, however, said promoting their own shows has become fairly standard for the networks and acknowledged, "The public right now can't get enough of Donald Trump."
Trouble in Trump paradise regarding the slumping fortunes of his Atlantic City casinos, where auditors say his company is in deep trouble without a massive cash infusion, hasn't slowed down the traffic in all things Trump.
"The Donald," as he is dubbed by tabloids, has been featured in magazines such as Fortune, People and Newsweek. One of the chapters in his new book, Trump: How to Get Rich, is entitled Think Big and Live Large.
And so he does.
Trump had a 23m2 banner with his picture and catch phrase "You're Fired" plastered on it hung at the Fifth Avenue entrance to his Trump Tower building.
Facing fines up to US$10,000 for violating rules on the size of signs on the famed avenue, Trump said New York should be grateful for the attention his show brings the Big Apple.
`YOU'RE FIRED'
The 57-year-old Trump, after all, is reaping the rewards of all the attention.
He has put his face on a spring water product "Trump Ice," sealed new real estate deals in Chicago and Toronto and in the spirit of the old adage, "There's no such thing as bad publicity," hasn't quelled the hot debate over his carefully coiffed, bouffant-style hairdo that has inspired widespread speculation over whether he wears a hairpiece.
"You're Fired," is the line Trump delivers when he gives the boot to one of the young wannabe tycoons competing in the weekly war of attrition on his TV show. The mogul wants to add "You're Fired," to his list of holdings by applying for a copyright on it.
Trump, who has plans to use the trademark phrase on clothing and casino equipment, has already used the show to personal advantage in a wide variety of ways.
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