Banking on Big Brands/Celebs for the Web featured Amber Lawson from AOL, David Tochterman from Innovative Artists, Paul Kontonis from Digitas, plus celebrities Rick Fox and Kevin Pollak.
What do you think about celebrities endorsing brands in social media? When a movie star or musician tweets about a brand, does that influence you?
From a brand perspective, Kontonis says his clients are looking for quality content from quality celebrities that will scale. Social-savvy celebrities have built up significant online profiles and friend networks that are primed for organizations looking to get their message out there.
On the celebrity side, Kevin talked about the creative freedom moving from traditional entertainment to the web.
Lawson says the difference between a television commercial and new media experience is that a celebrity is involved with the beginning, middle and future of the experience.
The talent doesn’t just show up and say their lines. At this point, they reflect the brand. And those brands want to tap into the essence of the talent.
Tochterman, as a talent agent, talked about brokering deals between brands and talent so that messaging is intact while maintaining a celebrity’s personal brand. Often “gently” urging talent to stay on message.
Unfortunately, the speakers focused too much on packaged content pushed through social content channels (e.g., a webisode sponsorship, preroll or product integration) rather than celebrity endorsements via social media.
Also, research shows these tactics don’t work as well as more genuine, grassroots strategies that develop longterm relationships. You know – the social in social media.
We use celebrity endorsements for clients on a regular basis, and I believe in their power to reach audiences. However, I wish they had an antagonist on the panel to improve the conversation on the future of this marketing approach.
Unfortunately the focus on traditional video program sponsorship and product placement just reinforces the notion that the celebrity industry is still in legacy mode and trend-based. I’d love to see more thought leadership in this area. Maybe next year…