With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives ofcelebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at Celebrity ProductPlacement, describe three common approaches, and outline what steps can be takento guarantee results.
The term "Celebrity Product Placement" is used to describe several relatedtechniques, but its definition applies to each: free products are distributed tocelebrities in expectation of a promotional benefit. Unlike the more overt, paid-forendorsement, it offers a distinct advantage. It can appear like a product choicemade on individual preference.
Most marketers are unaware of their options in this category (one form featurescontracts with celebrities, guaranteeing performance and allowing marketers toactively leverage celebrity patrons in the media) and therefore many overlook a verypowerful influencer-marketing technique.
In this article, I will describe each of the three main approaches and discuss theirrelative merits by listing their pros and cons. I also hope to quash anymisconception that Celebrity Product Placement has to be a gamble, and show youhow best to secure a return on investment (R.O.I.).
But first, a little history...
Celebrity Product Placement (sometimes called "Celebrity Seeding") has been with ussince the dawn of marketing. Centuries before Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped intohis first Hummer, an 18th century potter named Josiah Wedgwood began supplyinghis wares to England's Queen Charlotte. Being given the title "Potter to Her Majesty"led to a huge amount of publicity for Wedgwood which he took advantage of usingthe term "Queen's Ware" wherever he could.
It wasn't until the 20th century that marketers keyed-in on America's "royalty":Hollywood. But more often than not they met with disappointing results. Somecompanies responded only to occasional requests for products ("gifting"), whileothers made half-hearted attempts to distribute them without first devising a meansto guarantee results ("seeding"). In the end, most companies seeded product "to thewind" and failed to grow anything of value.
Those efforts that did succeed, however, were so successful that independentspecialists emerged to help companies achieve better results. But the services theyoffer vary and so do the results.
What's It All About?
Marketers have long known the power of celebrity to influence consumer- purchasing decisions. The term "borrowed equity" has been used to describe how acelebrity endorsement can bestow upon a product special attributes and cache itmight not otherwise have.
The same concept applies to Celebrity Product Placement. But unlike celebrityendorsements, where a highly compensated personality appears in commercialadvertising, Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers a more subtle and highlyeffective means of reaching the public - via the media they consume by choice.
Indeed, Celebrity Product Placement is as much about placing products withcelebrities as it is about getting stories about those relationships into the press.Regardless of the approach, Celebrity Product Placement strategies have a commonaim: to tie celebrities (thought-leaders, influencers) with consumer products in thepublic consciousness.
Three different techniques offer three different levels of control over that placement:gifting-the-talent (this usually involves supplying products for gift bags at liveevents); product seeding (products are distributed more widely in hopes of securinga promotional benefit and kicking off a trend); and, barter relationships (individualcelebrities agree to participate in custom programs in exchange for valuableproducts).
Let's take a look at each one in greater detail.
GIFTING-THE-TALENT
"Everybody" knows that celebrities own all the coolest stuff, and well beforeeverybody else. Celebrities travel the world and every minute detail of their dailylives pervades the media. As style-leaders, they are perhaps our most powerfulinfluencers. It's no wonder then that companies are lining up to give them the latestgifts and gadgets for free.
One method to do this is called "Gifting-The-Talent." This generally involvessupplying free product for insertion into "goody bags" which are handed out as'thank you' gifts to celebrity presenters and award nominees at the now-countlessawards shows and charity benefits that dot the entertainment landscape.
At last year's Academy Awards, for example, one of two Best Actress gift-bagsfeatured Gucci sunglasses, a Sprint PCS phone, Christian Tse 18-carat gold Irisearrings, and more. The Best Actor bag featured Gucci eyewear, a Maurice LacroixSwiss watch and assorted other goodies. According to news reports, the retail valueof one such group of bags at the Oscars exceeded $110,000 each!
But how effective is this practice? If the goal of Celebrity Product Placement is to getpress coverage, can we measure the value of gift-bag placements? What types ofproducts are suitable and which are not? And what level of control does this strategyoffer marketers both in terms of demographics and reach?
There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and byextension, the celebrities who populate them. On the plus side, they offer a rareopportunity to get close to the biggest stars in the world. On the minus side, themarketer has no control in matching up celebrities who hold sway over theirparticular demographic. They have to play the cards they are dealt.
Gifting-the-talent at award shows virtually guarantees mentions in the celebritypress at the time of the event; but without permission to associate the celebrity'sname and likeness with the product, marketers don't have the leeway to trulyleverage those relationships in their own press activities.
Gifting-the-talent in this way has other limitations: first-movers snap-up desirablecategories and, of course, not all products are deemed appropriate. You won't findan energy drink in these bags.
PRODUCT SEEDING
Product Seeding offers marketers more control over whom to place products withbut, conversely, less control over how (or if) those products get used. And, whilevirtually any product - from bottled water to consumer electronics - can be seededwith celebrities, marketers are playing the odds here. But the payoff can be huge ifthe seeding is supported by a creative strategy.
Product Seeding is the oldest form of Celebrity Product Placement. Products aredistributed more widely. They can be aimed at celebrities who are most compellingto your demographic. And they can be delivered directly to the celebrity without thefilters imposed by events. Of course, working with a specialist who can get yourproduct directly to celebrities becomes paramount here. Film and television productplacement agencies are NOT set up for this practice.
Taken by itself, Product Seeding is a gamble. If you send enough freebies toHollywood but you don't have a creative strategy, a celebrity might be photographedusing your product or evangelizing it on a talk show. But if one looks at ProductSeeding as one tactic in a larger Celebrity Product Placement effort, it can pay bigdividends - particularly in identifying celebrities who have a true affinity for yourproduct.
Energy Brands, makers of the Glaceau Vitamin Water line, discovered this in 2004.As a result of its long-time strategy to "home deliver" the vitamin-enhanced drinkto celebrities (including Sean "Puffy" Combs and Tom Cruise), the company gained afan in 50 Cent. Having mentioned his preference for the product in a series ofinterviews, the Hip Hop star - who is well known for his fitness-centered lifestyle -became an obvious choice for brand spokesperson.
Speaking to Ad Age magazine, Energy Brands' VP of marketing, Rohan Oza, said"We've seen that when 50 Cent incorporates [Vitamin Water] into his daily routine ...the brand gets on the airwaves and we create a lot of trial." Making vitamin water avisible part of the rapper's healthy lifestyle worked so well the company launched anew "Formula 50" variety named for the artist.
Such "organic" relationships can grow from Product Seeding. Not only can marketersbenefit from press mentions, but the process can be used to uncover promotionalopportunities and, in some cases, identify the most ideal product endorsers.
Product Seeding remains a gamble but, if executed properly, one well worth taking.Relatively speaking, it is a very low-cost marketing program. And the return oninvestment - though difficult to forecast compared to barter relationships discussedbelow - can be big. But what if your goal is limited to getting press mentions? Can apublicist hedge his or her bets in this category?
One of the great things about Product Seeding is how creative you can get. ForTrident White chewing gum, the company commissioned a Harris poll asking thepublic to vote on the best "celebrity smiles." My company, which specializes incelebrity product placement, delivered gift baskets of the product to the Top 6winners, allowing Trident to plug the celebrities in their press materials.
On another occasion, Electrolux - maker of a new high-end, super-quiet vacuumcleaner - wanted to align their product with celebrities. We identified 6 celebritymoms who had recently given birth and - touting the fact that these vacuums wouldnot wake a sleeping baby - made gifts of the product to each. Here again, thecompany was able to use celebrities to draw press coverage for its product. Andthey were able to reference these celebrities because they were stating facts (a giftwas made to...).
But what if you want tighter integration with celebrities? Suppose you need toforecast a return on investment in order to get approval for a Celebrity ProductPlacement campaign? And what if you want celebrities to provide feedback aboutyour product and authorize use of their names and likenesses as part of your presscampaign?
BARTER RELATIONSHIPS
Barter is, perhaps, the only way to guarantee performance on the part of thecelebrity. Unlike other forms of gifting, this is a quid pro quo relationship wherebythe celebrity agrees in advance to participate in the marketer's promotional activities- in exchange for valuable product.
Celebrity Product Placement campaigns of this type work best for big-ticket itemssuch as consumer electronics and (the loan of) cars. But with creative approaches,special product questionnaires and generous "Right of Publicity" agreements,marketers can use the celebrity's name, likeness and opinion as part of their publicrelations campaigns.
Celebrity Product Placement - via barter agreements - is also among the mostaffordable ways to use celebrities. For the price of a few products, and sometimes atoken honorarium, companies can integrate testimonials into their PR materials andcreate customized celebrity content for their websites.
They can involve numerous stars in a press campaign for less than the cost of asingle paid celebrity spokesperson. It is one of the most under-exploited tacticsavailable to marketers today.
A Case Study: Sony Electronics
The Sony CD Mavica - at the time, the only digital camera offering a built-in CD- Rom - had failed to penetrate the increasingly crowded market for digital imagingproducts. This was troubling for Sony because the CD Mavica offered clearadvantages over its competitors; namely, freedom from wires. But that message hadfailed to reach the public.
Sony wanted to involve celebrities with their products and for that involvement toinfluence the public in a meaningful way. They wanted a high-profile event -preferably benefiting charity - upon which to launch a yearlong press campaign intime for the Christmas shopping season. The focus: to promote the simplicity ofCD-based photography.
The budget was limited. But, having learned that the latest Sony products could bemade available to gift the talent, The Hollywood-Madison Group proposed aCelebrity Product Placement campaign. Each celebrity would be asked to take apicture of what "Freedom" means to them, and those photos would be auctioned offfor charity.
Such an artistic challenge, coupled with the prospect of receiving free Sony product,not only served to induce celebrities to participate, but offered us an extraordinaryopportunity: to frame these pictures and mount an exhibition which raised moneyfor charity. Indeed, the charity component attracted higher-caliber celebrities andprovided the "hook" to draw media attention.
We successfully placed the Sony CD Mavica digital camera with fifteen top starsincluding Eric McCormack, Alyssa Milano and Dennis Hopper. The photographs werethen offered for sale on eBay as part of Wired magazine's annual charity auction,and put on display at a star-studded event in Los Angeles.
Fifteen top celebrities demonstrated the practical use of Sony's product andauthorized the use of their names, likenesses and opinions about the product forpress and marketing purposes (for one year). Sony received free advertising for itsproduct in print and online for three months (worth an estimated $100,000), as wellas 3.6 million webpage impressions (auction as a whole) and national presscoverage including Entertainment Tonight.
You can read more about this project on our website>celebrity_projects>influencercampaigns.
Conclusion
Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers an exciting way to influenceconsumer-purchasing decisions. Properly executed, it can be a low-cost, high- return proposition. As such, it should be part of every consumer-marketingprogram.
Three different approaches offer three different results: gifting-the-talent (narrowfocus); product seeding (broad focus) and, barter relationships (one-on-one focus).But, as we have seen, a tightly integrated celebrity product placement campaign,combining elements of each, can improve results and deliver an impressive returnon investment.
Jonathan Holiff is president and CEO of The Hollywood-Madison Group - the leadingrecruiter of celebrities for endorsements, appearances and press campaigns. Visitthe website at http://www.Hollywood-Madison.com |
