We take a look at how brands and licensees are harnessing the power of the celebrity.
However surreptitiously we cast a glance at the cover of OK magazine at the supermarket checkout, it is almost impossible to avoid the cumulative clamour for nuggets of news about the celebrity scene.
Music icons, TV celebs, fashionistas, actors and even simply the wealthy hold an increasing fascination over their fans, not least due to the rise in social media. Hero worship is not an invention of the current generation, but the fact that we can now get an insight into our hero’s home life, wardrobe, marriage and family with tweets, posts and well-timed selfies, all means the allure is being amplified.
With the rise of celebrity persona, a symbiotic industry has formed in tandem – a marketing machine that attempts to harness this power to influence.
A quick Google search will affirm a whole wealth of agencies promising successful celebrity seeding campaigns – in other words getting products into the hands of complementary celebs and ultimately seeking to get that ‘money shot’ of their products in the press or online thereby disseminating their brand message to the celeb’s adoring fans.
“Consumers are fascinated with what their favourite celebrities are doing, wearing, eating and using and the affinity consumers have to these celebrities can greatly influence their purchase choices,” comments Charlotte Newcombe who is responsible for celebrity seeding at leading licensing public relations company, LicensetoPR (which counts eOne, Turner, 20th Century Fox and ITV among its clients).
She elaborates that celebrities are recognised as powerful influencers and having them pictured with a licensed product or seeing it featured on their respective social media channels can serve as a powerful endorsement for new, emerging and established brands.
As Charlotte adds: “A celebrity endorsement can quickly take a relatively unknown brand into the mainstream and place it at the front of consumers’ minds as a complimentary tweet or Instagram post from a celebrity generates instant credibility which is especially beneficial for smaller brands trying to cut through.”
Smiley is one brand that takes the power of celebrity seeding very seriously indeed. Why? ”Because it gives brands massive global audience reach from some of the world’s most influential tastemakers,” says ceo Nicolas Loufrani simply.
“It is also an endorsement that your brand is cool and credible in their eyes, which makes it more appealing to a mass consumer.”
Although the term celebrity seeding would suggest a scatter, random approach, according to licensing PR agency MiPR Global it is far more targeted than you might think.
“We do our own research by brainstorming as a team and looking at who’s on trend, who’s in the news, who meets the product criteria so if its an ASOS Frozen range from Icon Live we want to target both celeb mums and fashionistas,” director Kirsty Barr explains.
“We pull together our hit list and get direct contacts for the celebrities – doing our best to bypass agents or those who represent celebrities for product placement fees in return. We either send product direct to a radio station rather than an agent; if we have a private address we’ll send it there or we make contact via blogs or Twitter.”
One of LicensetoPR’s earliest successes with celebrity seeding was with X Factor winners JLS. “Back then, they were such fresh faced newcomers they used to email us directly to tell us that they would be wearing our clients’ tees on the This Morning programme,” Charlotte Newcombe recalls.
While not all seeds will ultimately germinate in publicity, fortunately the licensing industry will continue to nurture this fertile ground. A-listers (and even those further down the alphabet) will no doubt be receiving more freebies from those in the trade.
How Smiley gains those column inches:
According to Smiley World’s boss Nicolas Loufrani, getting its products worn and seen with celebrities doesn’t happen simply as a happy accident. He gives us a lowdown on how it gains those celeb column inches:
• Prestigious brand collaborations – “This year alone Smiley has had collaborations in the market with five of the most influential and relevant fashion and accessory luxury brands in the world today – Ami Paris, Anya Hindmarch, Fendi, Joshua Sanders and Moschino. Through these collaborations Smiley products were seeded onto world famous celebrities such as Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora, Robert Downey Jnr, Nicki Minaj, Skrillex among many others.”
• Seeding agencies – “At Smiley we work with six PR agencies based in London, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Madrid and Shanghai that all have celebrity seeding as part of their remit. This allows us to ensure that we cover off local artists as well, who on a micro level are as important as the global celebrities in ensuring we remain on point for all local markets.”
• Organic seeding – “Our longstanding, deep rooted and credible links to music ensures an emotional connection between Smiley and music artists and DJs throughout the world. Not only this, but as a brand that champions happiness and positivity these core values really create an organic demand for Smiley among celebrities the world over. This year alone, just by chance Pharrell Williams wore Smiley regularly, Chris Martin wears it all the time and we even had Lewis Hamilton Instagram a picture of the two of them backstage at Glastonbury with Chris wearing a Smiley hat, Idris Elba and Seth Troxler were spotted DJing at big shows in Ibiza rocking Smiley. In that way we are a completely unique brand for celebrity seeding.”
• Bespoke outfitting – “We also create bespoke products for leading celebrities. This year we produced an exclusive outfit with Moschino for Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour and the outfitting extended to her entire dance crew, with the stage effectively became a walking Smiley X Moschino billboard for one of 2015s biggest grossing tours…this gave massive exposure and visibility. In previous years we created a dress made entirely of Swarovski crystals for Paris Hilton with partner Disaya.”
• Our contact book – “Finally, we have an amazing network within the film, music and media industries, which we regularly leverage to send product out to celebrities, tastemakers and other leading industry figures.”
This feature originally appeared in the Spring 2016 edition of The Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
