Celebrity Spokespersons
How to hire a celebrity to be your spokesperson and brand endorser
Celebrity Spokespersons have been used for literally centuries as a form of marketing and to give your brand a head start or better perception in the marketplace.
With the right celebrity it can be a rocket ride, but before you proceed further you should keep the following in mind.
LESSON ONE- Don't just consider A-listers
When people first start thinking about hiring a celebrity, they usually tend to start with A-listers, celebrities that are household names. And yes, if you have the money we can get a Kardashian for you, in fact we can get just about anyone. But you will probably have to add either one, two, or three zeros onto whatever number you were thinking, because A-listers don't come cheap for anything. And unless you are a big enough brand that has all your outlets and distribution channels well established, that A-lister will not give you the same return on investment as two or three B-listers with followings that match your target demographic more closely.
LESSON TWO- Know your demographics
The demographic match between the following of your celebrity and your brand must be as close as possible. Its okay if the celebrity represents something that your customers only aspire to, we aren't saying that you have to have a blue collar celebrity if your customers are all blue collar, but blue collar customers would have to like and follow this celebrity on social media, and of course attend appearances.
LESSON THREE - Apply a little Science
The third lesson is to apply some science to your choice of celebrity spokespersons. Big brands do surveys, polling, and focus groups to hone in on which celebrity makes the most sense for their brand. Smaller brands don't have the budgets for some of this, but there is a ton of data on the internet made primarily for advertisers. It is possible to find the demographics and similar demographics to a proposed celebrity's followers quite easily on many advertising platforms today, and even smaller brands can take advantage of this "big data".
Take advantage of this and make sure the person you thought of makes sense, and be open to alternates or even more than one.
LESSON FOUR - Do your homework and due diligence
The fourth lesson is to do your homework on the particular celebrity, if he or she is available and the costs and fees are agreeable to you. The celebrity is relying on your skill and honesty as a businessperson, their reputation is on the line.
You are relying on the celebrities personal life and career being on a stable track. Its not possible to know everything, but at least some basic internet research as part of your due diligence should be in the picture.
You can find more information on the legal requirements and contracts here.
LESSON FIVE - Consider the schedules and your rollout timetable
How busy your particular celebrity is and their schedule plays a big factor, as well. We can usually get a basic schedule of appearances, events, and what projects they are currently doing, and this may or may not match your projected schedule if you want to make an infomercial, commercials, etc.
Scripts, sets, and filming crews need a professional hand in them to set up and you should be well prepared to execute. It goes without saying that your product rollout and the celebrities schedule have to mesh. This is why sometimes using several B-listers actually works out better than waiting around for one A-lister.
LESSON SIX- Sharpen your pencil, know your numbers, and choose the right framework for your endorsement/spokesperson contract
There are many different types of spokesperson deals out there and each celebrity is different in how they approach these deals. Here are some of the main ones:
*Voiceover only (for a flat fee)
*Commercial or Infomercial Video and Appearance (for a Flat Fee or Fee plus percentage of sales or equity )
*Full Equity Partner in the brand/project
*Using or not using their name and likeness in future promotions, online and offline
Forget about paying on a CPA basis, there is always some cost up front. No real celebrity is going to work for free and hope that something comes out of it, they usually have plenty of other better opportunities on the table. This is not to say that you can't have an incentive for the celebrity to go above and beyond and get rewarded for it, the George Forman Grill is a great case study in this regard.
Some celebrities are a bit inflexible but their agent usually knows the basic framework that they usually deal in, which is at least a starting point for negotiations. If you do not have the money lined up please do not start this process, because if you do you will ruin your future chances with that celebrity and many others as the industry grapevine is very real. If you do sign a contract, you will have to usually wire funds within a certain time before everything starts.
Celebrities can add a great deal to your business, but just make sure that the deal makes sense to you from a business perspective, and that the numbers won't put an undue strain on the business. If endorsements didn't ROI companies wouldn't continue to do them, but that does not mean every endorsement is successful out of the gate.
Additional resources:
Business Events set up and advice
Social Media promotions
Legal & Contracts
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