Securing a celebrity partner can be a major hurdle for any brand. But for a startup, the task can seem insurmountable. Though it is true that there are many nuances to facilitating a successful and mutually beneficial celebrity partnership, especially for a startup, it is obtainable.
As the Founder and Chairwoman of LMS, celebrity matchmaking is my daily bread. It is the foundation on which I built my career and ultimately, my marketing agency. At LMS, we’ve coordinated many successful partnerships for our clients including Beyoncé with beverage startup WTRMLN WTR, Serena Williams & Gwyneth Paltrow with frozen smoothie company Daily Harvest, and Ellie Goulding with Core Water. Over the years, I have crafted a particular method to ensure the most effective partnerships. I was recently invited to Harvard Business School’s “Moving Beyond DTC” Short Intensive Program as a guest lecturer to speak on this unique skill. Given the reception of the talk, it was apparent that this is a topic of great interest that often carries many misconceptions, and not a lot of transparency. I want to take the time to share my experience and knowledge beyond the halls of Harvard Business School. In this 3-part series, we will delve into how to best build celebrity partnerships that are successful and effectively navigate the selection, negotiation, execution processes.
A celebrity partnership can be extremely alluring for a business, and for good reason. Their star power can bring awareness, amplification and validation to a brand with a single mention. For a celebrity, partnering with a startup brings great opportunity outside of their primary income streams. A well-designed partnership can give a celebrity the ability to showcase their unique impact on a company’s growth, exercise their talents in creativity or business acumen, gain respect as a boss and leader, and offer the potential to earn outsized wealth. For the consumer, seeing celebrities representing small startups is refreshing, genuine, and validating. Traditional celebrity endorsements have lost their luster as consumers smartened up enough to see the big paychecks looming behind every billboard. Instead, they are valuing authenticity and discovery. In fact, a 2019 study by IMPACT found that 78% of Generation Z consumers view authenticity as a key quality in the brands they choose. As a startup, this plays into your hand well. While you may not have deep pockets, you have big upside, and that’s something that both celebrity and consumer can appreciate.
But how does a celebrity partnership happen and how does a startup navigate those deals?
Generally, celebrity partnerships generally follow these three steps:
- Selection – Research, identify and connect with the celebrity.
- Negotiation – Build, negotiate and finalize an offer.
- Execution – Implement the agreed upon services and deliverables.
In this article, we will focus on step one: Selection.
Selection is often mistaken as the hardest part of securing a celebrity partnership. This is not only inaccurate but could lead to one of the most severe mistakes: reciprocal liking. If you think it will be hard to get a celebrity to consider your business, you could easily fall victim to partnering with someone just because they were the first to “like you.” This is called reciprocal liking. If you truly have a great product, getting in front of the right celebrity will not be as hard as you presume. One of your first steps should be building an archetype of the celebrity that is the best fit for your company and the goals you wish to achieve.
But before you begin dreaming up your ideal celebrity partner, focus on your ideal customer. Compile an analysis of the demographics & psychographics of your target customer. What influences their purchasing decisions? Where do they discover new brands? How do they interact with brands on- and offline? Consider this through a lens of pop culture, as well. Who are their favorite celebrities? Where do they follow them? To which media outlets are they most attune? Where and how to reach your target customer, as well as where the celebrity already produces content, will be extremely important as you begin to build out your list of deliverables. For example, if your target customer is an eco-conscious female millennial, a partnership with outspoken environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio may be a great fit, but don’t include deliverables on the quirky GenZ-focused app, TikTok, just because it is the new cool social platform.
Next, consider the value exchange with which you are comfortable. What are you willing to offer to get this celebrity to partner with your brand? How much equity? How much control?
You may need to be honest about having a champagne taste on a beer budget – even when it comes to equity. If you are only willing to give up a minimal percentage of your business in year 1, an A-list celebrity like Jennifer Lopez is likely unrealistic. Rather, a reality star or influencer-turned-celebrity would be a better choice.
Now for the fun part: brainstorming potential celebrity partners. This can be a great exercise to do with your team, friends and family. Cast a wide net and come up with an initial list of 100 names. Then, put each name through the following exercise.
- Is this choice emotional or rational? Do I want this celebrity because I’m a fan or does this celebrity really have the ability to impact my target customer?
- Does this celebrity reach the target consumer? On which marketing channels would this celebrity be most effective? Where do they already share their life and exert their influence? Do these channels align with your target customer and brand goals?
- What is the realistic benefit? Will we both benefit? When my company exits, would this celebrity make life changing money for them based on the amount of equity I’m willing to give up?
This exercise is equal parts art to science. You won’t have enough accurate information to be 100% precise, but taken as a data set it will help you identify the top celebrities you should target for your brand, as well as a celebrity archetype for you to measure against.
Now that you have your list, it’s time to take action and get in touch with the celebrity. This is where brands presume their efforts will dead end. But contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be über-connected to get your product in a celebrity’s hands. In fact, the contact information for about 95% of celebrity teams lives online on platforms anyone can access for a small fee. Some examples of these are Who Represents, IMDBPro and The Handbook. Through these types of sites, you’ll be able to access agents and managers and, if navigated well, those contacts may allow you to reach the celebrity. However, if that route proves difficult, there is a subset of gatekeepers that could be your secret to success. Assistants, hairdressers, stylists, best friends, family…these people offer a backdoor into the celebrity’s circle and direct access to their ear.
Once you’ve got the celebrity’s attention, it’s up to your brand and product to prove its worth. If you’ve effectively navigated the selection process and your product or service is one that the celebrity will truly enjoy and want to support, then hopefully it will soon be time to move on to the second step: Negotiation.
In the second and third installments of this series I will detail my most effective practices for the Negotiation and Execution stages of celebrity partnerships. Don’t miss out! Head to wearelms.com/blog to sign up for our blog notifications to get access to influencer and celebrity marketing information directly to your inbox.