Elvis "Gift" Appears on Facebook

No doubt the King of Rock 'n' Roll loved his gaudy jewels, and the women loved him all the more for wearing them.

So it would be only fitting that a large, gold, bejeweled ring would be the centerpiece of a new “gift” that Facebookers can send to each other. The gift is part of a major marketing campaign that Graceland has launched to bring visitors to the former home of Elvis Presley.

Elvis has two Facebook pages, one with 500,000 fans, says Scott Williams, vice president of marketing for Elvis Presley Enterprises.

The social networking aspect of marketing is a fairly new component in the plan to bring in fresh admirers.

“It's all about introducing new people to our brand,” he says.

The ring is one of a series of gifts, or icons users can send to one another, that go live this month, including music sheets, gold records, shoes and sunglasses.

But the TCB ring is the showpiece. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, which is what Elvis called his band. Elvis' TCB ring was one of his most famous pieces of custom jewelry. The emblem was also used in a necklace and several other items.

The campaign also involves the usual suspects — print, outdoor and 30-second spots.

“Elvis was a very unique combination of someone who was physically attractive, who wanted to be really successful and worked hard at what he was doing,” Williams says.