Spot the celebrity90

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SPOT THE CELEBRITY

When someone famous chooses your brand, you can tell the press or you can choose to keep quiet. It depends on the person. Some famous people go out looking for publicity, and others are happy to get on with their lives quietly without much fuss. We see one of the “Strictly Come Dancing” stars at our local butcher’s shop, but no-one kicks up a stir about it. There’s an Oscar winning actor who goes to our Waitrose, but they don’t take his picture and send it to the gossip mags.

On the other hand, celebrities – people who make a career out of being famous for being famous – often expect to get their shopping for nothing in exchange for press coverage, on the grounds that their admirers will want what they want, and will come in to buy it. They consider their recommendation to be good enough to increase sales, and sometimes it is. The Duchess of Cambridge can sell out a dress in a day, but she does pay her own way.

The idea Magazines which feature the lives of the rich and famous are always looking for stories about celebrities, so press offi ces will give them information to help them fi ll their columns in exchange for a mention of the brand.

It’s a good way of getting into the media, as long as you’re happy to be associated with the celebrities concerned. Many shops don’t court the celeb circuit, but they’re delighted when someone famous

turns up and buys something of their own accord. But they’ll immediately send out a press release with the list of everything on the shopping list.

You risk driving famous people away if they know they are going to be used to sell your products. Some prefer to be able to shop in peace and to be treated with discretion.

On the other hand, there are celebs available for hire through their agents. They will show up at press launches for a fee, so you can take photographs of them with your brand and send them to the gossip columns. Decide whether or not this would help or hinder your brand values. Some brand owners get stars in their eyes and make the wrong decision.

In practice • If you’re fortunate enough to have a famous customer, you could use the publicity to attract people who admire their style, but if you want to keep their business it would be better to ask their permission fi rst. It all depends whether you rather have them recommend their friends, or attract their fans. • You might be able to come to a reasonable arrangement where you give a discount or free products in exchange for associating them with your brand name. Unless you are a charitable organisation or a social enterprise, you’ll probably have to pay for the privilege of featuring famous people in your publicity. • If you align your brand with a celebrity, choose carefully; like everyone else, they can be unpredictable.