Why celebrities are important to brand success
Why has there been such a huge growth in celebrity partnerships in the past 10 years? You can't escape the power of the celebrity, from advertising, social media, reality TV and magazines and newspapers. In fact, American researchers have found that at least 25% of all television advertisements now feature celebrities. We're devouring information about the lives of celebrities at a runaway pace, whether it's to admire them or revile them. Yet, while celebrities have been endorsing products since the 1940s, headline-hitting deals and photo opportunities are now a daily occurrence in our media.
"The UK, along with North America, is one of the world's most enigmatic celebrity cultures," says Ciaran Coyle, president, Europe & Asia Pacific, at global brand agency Beanstalk. "With publications such as Grazia, *Hello* and Heat feeding the appetite for celebrity gossip and news, consumers are becoming more eager to buy into the lifestyles of the celebrities they admire, and endorsements and partnerships offer ways for brands to leverage this."
Reality TV has been a byproduct of our celebrity obsession and has helped fuel it: "With the increase in reality TV, celebrities were created from everyday people," says Sophie Morris, director of Millharbour Marketing. "This creates an increased level of engagement for fans, because they were once like them."
"The growth has been fuelled by the development of new mediums such as social media platforms Twitter and Instagram, which allow celebrities to talk and share with an engaged audience," says Emily Keogh, MD of food and drink agency Palm. "Not only can they do this in their own voice directly, but the instant nature of these platforms allow food and drink brands to generate immediate results, impacting sales or consumer engagement."
Many consumers, whether it's conscious or not, strive to emulate the celebrity's lifestyle, so they purchase products associated with them. So if you consume the same products the A-list hunk or actress does, then you're led to believe that you will also emulate their other desirable traits. Even if you don't want to copy them per se, you're still more likely to buy the products in a subconscious attempt to attract desirable people into your life. This claim is backed up by a 2012 Taiwanese study that found consumers were quicker to recall a product a celebrity is involved with, whether they're a fan or not. And if you were a fan, you're more likely to place value on the product the celebrity is endorsing.
So, what are the key points of a successful celebrity branding campaign? Here are the building blocks ...
- Foundation: A clear vision of your key target markets. While you may have a dream target market, you have to be realistic about who the actual purchasers are and how best to attract them.
- Building Block No 1: Build on existing celebrity fans who are already engaged with your product and are genuinely passionate about it, such as Alexandra Burke with immune-boosting flavoured spring water Mune and her I'm in tune with Mune campaign.
- Building Block No 2: The fit between the brand and therefore the credibility of the match. "Consumers are getting more savvy about how celebrities are used to promote products," says Emily Keogh. "Brands need to get more clever about how they use celebrities so that it's as natural and believable as possible."
- Building Block No 3: Timing. This hinges on the continuing popularity of the celebrity, said Tony Nunan, MD of Visuality, an integrated research and design agency.
- Building Block No 4: Make the celebrity part of your brand. "Drink endorsements can be tricky," says Morris. "Don't just deliver crates of your product to them. Ensure they understand the company history and ethos and make sure your contract states they must be seen drinking your brand."
Campaigns that have hit the jackpot
- Professor Green and Relentless. "Professor Green fits well with Relentless' brand positioning as an energy drink targeted at young, predominantly urban drinkers," says Rebecca Grant, consumer MD at Cohn & Wolfe. "The association with live music and nightlife also enables Relentless to expand the brand's appeal, enabling it to compete as a non-alcoholic alternative."
- P Diddy and Ciroc. When Ciroc Vodka signed rapper P Diddy in 2007, they not only made him head of marketing, it also gave him a 50% stake," says Morris. "He is now invested in the success of the brand, so he has more motivation to not only endorse, but to protect and promote the brand."
- Johnny Vegas and PG Tips. This is an enduring partnership that has lasted more than 10 years. "He's the perfect match," says Tony Nunan. "Vegas is daft as a character and this allows the character to become a hero; someone that everyone knows and loves."
The leap from celebrity endorsements to equity partnerships
While there seems to be no sign of the growth of celebrity endorsements and campaigns slowing, in the past five years there's been an emerging trend of celebrity equity partnerships, in which a celebrity takes a stake in the brand."Equity partnerships are intelligent models for brands that don't just want a short-term fix, but want to invest in people who will really support and grow their company," says Emily Keogh. "It gives them the time to really dedicate themselves to the brand and to create an extra revenue stream for themselves."
"With the growing number of celebrity endorsement deals, brands are increasingly feeling the need to go one step further," says Tony Nunan. "What better way could there be of proving a genuine partnership than working with a celebrity who believes in the brand so much that they are willing to obtain a share in the company?"
One of the biggest celebrity windfalls in equity partnerships was 50 Cent's stroke of genius to invest in Glaceau Vitaminwater back in 2004. The health-conscious star was a genuine fan of the brand before being approached. In return for 10% of the company, he would become one of their brand messiahs. When Coca-Cola bought the brand less than three years later, 50 Cent walked away with $100m.
James Rubin, 50 Cent's agent, reveals: "When an artist collaborates with a high-profile brand, it only pushes them further into the mainstream and creates more awareness about the artist. These days there are so many different avenues besides music to help artists expand their personal brand, especially if the timing is perfect, and the synergy created is priceless. It's definitely become a lot more important in the past few years for artists to acknowledge these alternative revenue streams. It's important that the artist and the brand have the same creative vision if the partnership is to be successful."
How it worked for Mune's Derek Sanders and Alexandra Burke
The owner, Derek Sanders: "My partner Lucie and I were initially inspired by a home remedy to develop a product range to naturally support immune defence when our first child started pre-school in 2008. Mune is centred on healthy, nourishing choices and a natural preventative approach to health. From the outset, we realised the importance of celebrity branding and have always been interested to work with someone who was health-aware and whose approach to natural health was aligned with Mune."From the first time we met Alexandra earlier this summer and explained our vision to create the Im-mune-ity Community, we instinctively knew that we'd found a great partner. Both parties are committed to an integrated strategy to achieve mutually beneficial success.
"I think equity partnerships are a better method than simply using a celebrity to front a media campaign. That approach is quite shallow and the majority of people see through it. The biggest lesson I learnt in the negotiation process was patience. The key is finding a partner truly aligned with your brand, and that both the artist and their management are fully onboard."
The celebrity manager Jojo Brim says: "In today's music industry, brands have become important because they extend the opportunities for someone like Alexandra to have an additional media push and additional income streams, as well as give fans an insight into the celebrity's lifestyle. Also, cause-driven and aspirational marketing has skyrocketed in recent years. The success all boils down to having the same vision – without that, it simply won't work.
"Mune approached us earlier this year because they knew Alexandra likes to work out and staying healthy is very important to her. The more I learned about them, the more I was totally convinced we were a good match. It was the perfect timing for Alexandra with her new album, New Rules, coming out, so there'd be a synergistic effect between the promotional activity for that and Mune. It's all about creating a win-win."
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