THE ‘THIRD WAVE’ OF CELEBRITY COLLABORATION WITH BRANDS IS UNDERWAY. IT’S NO LONGER JUST ABOUT THE NAME BUT THE POWER AND BREADTH OF THEIR PERSONAL SOCIAL NETWORKS. PAUL MCINTYRE AND WENLEI MA REPORT.
ASHTON KUTCHER is a clever chap for a pretty boy. Last November, he quietly flew into Sydney to dine with 40 influencers to promote a new dotcom start-up he’s invested in – Airbnb. They all left with a smartphone preloaded with the new venture which matches budget-conscious travellers with people around the world willing to rent spare bedrooms.
It’s one of probably a dozen such investments the actor has made on the basis he can use his massive social media following to plug start-ups. Locally, a bunch of celebrities are doing similar things, either for themselves or for brands. The magic lies in these high-profile people leveraging their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram fans to promote and push their commercial ties.
Even politicians are getting in on the act – Kevin Rudd did it last year for Twinings, spruiking his own Twinings tea blend to his 1.1 million Twitter followers.
“We’ve gone from a face that you pay a bill for to stars being collaborators, like Diet Coke just appointing Marc Jacobs as its creative director, to the third phase where celebrities become owners of brands or brand partners because of their social networks,” Simon Bookalil, chief executive of Sydney agency Bashful, says.
A co-founder of Fashion Week, Bookalil says the latest iteration of brand-celebrity tie-ups is nipping around the edges of traditional media outlets. “A celebrity with a million followers is really influential, possibly more influential than most magazines or media houses,” he says. “Celebrities and their networks are powerful. This is a really big emerging space for us.” Bookalil has just launched a complete overhaul of the Jag brand with Ruby Rose in a two-pronged plan to overhaul the brand to “rock chic” and use her social media following to get the message out (see breakout).
“We’re using Ruby Rose not only as the face for Jag but the media play for the brand because she has a network of 250,000 people,” Bookalil says. “The emergence of the social world has created great networks to share content and get an army behind a brand. We’re doing it not only for client brands but celebrities themselves.”
Lara Bingle is another that Bashful is working with alongside Wholebrands for a new range of lingerie.
“That’s the difference between engaging with a brand ambassador now as opposed to three or four years ago,” MaxMediaLab chief executive Lynette Phillips says. “You didn’t have the strength of the social channels or the ability to cross-promote between each channel. Now your celebrity has the ability to cross-promote between Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as well as steer followers to a brand’s channels, too.
“With so many brands fighting for audience attention online, they need to do something to stand out. Brands need to optimise an ambassador’s presence by finding new and innovative ways to associate the personality with the brand. ‘So-and-so uses X brand’ just doesn’t cut it anymore. We’re seeing brands using celebrities and personalities as guest bloggers, guest pinners on Pinterest and Instagram-ing on behalf of the brand.”
According to an industry insider, who did not wish to be named, it’s only going to get bigger. “A celebrity’s social media footprint is increasingly becoming part of the discussion in the consideration and contract stages,” she says. “Social media requirements and participation on the part of the celebrity have started to creep into contracts. They’re not in the majority yet but there are indications it may well be down the track.
PR guru, Sally Burleigh of SBPR, says: “What a celebrity’s following is like is definitely a factor in this day and age and part of the discussion now with clients is how many followers they have.”
She says brands are far more amenable to celebrities who are active on social media than ones who aren’t. Phillips agrees. “Social media following absolutely comes into play when we are considering celebrities for brand ambassadors,” she says. “It’s at the forefront of their selling proposition if you consider that one person might be reaching a few million people each day on the combined strength of their social following. The ability to influence with those numbers is astounding.”
But for brands and celebrities collaborating, there are potential pitfalls in the mutually lucrative venture. Last year, the South Australian Tourism Commission found itself in a mini storm when it was revealed the tourism body had paid high-profile personalities $750 to tweet positively about Kangaroo Island. Celebrity chef Matt Moran and singer Shannon Noll were among those who took the cash. A debate about transparency, accountability and authenticity ensued.
Many commentators agreed transparency can be harder to achieve online, especially when you’re hampered by 140 characters, but people don’t want to feel later on that they’ve been ‘duped’. The SATC episode saw no local laws broken but three years ago, Kim Kardashian was fined US$11,000 by the US Federal Trade Commission for tweeting about restaurant chain Carl’s Jr. for a fee.
“It’s important that if a brand teams up with a celebrity that the connection is authentic and real first and foremost. Online users are a savvy bunch and can detect artificiality a mile away,” Phillips says. “For example, for Lara Bingle, who recently starting pursuing a healthy lifestyle, it would make sense for her to Instagram a pair of Nikes before or during a run. But if she constantly posted pictures of Nike products, that would be out of step with her social media habits, and audiences are very savvy to this kind of product placement. Brands need to pick celebrities with the right target audience and find ways to integrate them carefully, not bombard the audience.”
Ruby’s social network rocks
Troubled fashion brand Jag wants to reclaim its place in the retail pantheon with an ambitious rebrand using celebrity social networks. After an account review last year, Sydney incumbent Bashful retained the business and proposed a radical overhaul of Jag’s product range, design aesthetic and branding.
Bashful signed up Ruby Rose to spin Jag’s positioning younger and to a style it defines as “rock chic”. With a blond hairpiece, hot pics and a re-cut by Paul Mac of Blondie’s track ‘One Way or Another’, Jag is using Rose’s social networks as a media channel to launch the music video and woo a new consumer. Rose has 119,038 followers on Twitter and 64,664 fans on Facebook and her social media presence far dwarfs the brand’s, whose Twitter followers last week stood at just 56.
The campaign will also run across print, out-of-home and branded content. Bashful chief executive Simon Bookalil says the Jag tie-up with Rose is part of the bigger trend. “We didn’t just buy Ruby for her face, we bought her for the network,” he says.
Jag marketing manager Ty Robinson says: “We felt it was time Jag got back to its roots, combining the energy and inspiration of the label’s inception in the 1970s with the experience and extensive credentials as a denim-based brand over the last 40 years. Ruby Rose is a perfect fit. Ruby embodies Jag’s cutting-edge rock-chic denim positioning.”
This article first appeared in the 8 March 2013 edition of AdNews.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.