The Celebrity Endorsement Series is written by Billy Bones, founder of Booking Agent Info and Moda Database. This is part 3. Read parts 1 and 2.
Now that you’ve identified the celebrity you want to endorse your product and the kind of deal you want to offer them, there’s one more step. Unfortunately, you can’t just call the celebrity and ask if they’re interested (unless you happen to know them, in which case, go for it) – you need to work with their representatives. In your case, that likely means their agent and their manager.
In a nutshell, agents are solely responsible for finding work for their clients and for negotiating the contract. Managers, on the other hand, provide their clients with career guidance, which means they can either make or break a potential deal with a celebrity. Managers can best be described as the CEO’s of their clients’ businesses, so you’ll need their buy-in on any potential partnership with the celebrity you’re targeting.
Depending on whether you’re reaching out to the agent or the manager, you’ll need to tailor your message according to what’s most important to the specific representative. With agents, that’s pretty straightforward: you’re offering a potential deal that will make their client (and the agent themselves) money.
With managers, you’ll need to demonstrate how you know their client is the ideal fit (on both sides) for a potential partnership. You need to convince the manager that the potential endorsement deal is a great opportunity for their client’s brand.
When you reach out, the most important thing is to be concise – agents and managers are busy, so you need to provide as many specifics as you can in as short an email as possible. Keep it to the key details using the “Who/What/When/Where/Why” format:
Also make sure your email includes some sort of call to action – you’re more likely to get a response if you leave the reader feeling as though some sort of action on their part is required.
Unless you have an unlimited budget, odds are you’ll want to save money however you can. So when reaching out to celebrity representatives, don’t make your first offer your best one. Instead, set a limit on how much you can spend, then take 10% off that number and make that your first offer.
By slightly lowering your opening offer, you’ll leave yourself some room to negotiate if the agent of manager counters with a higher figure. And if the counter offer is way out of your price range and it seems like you’re not going to reach an acceptable number for both sides, don’t be afraid to walk away. For most smaller or start-up brands, the profit margin for endorsement campaigns may be thin, so it’s important to save money wherever you can – even if that means passing on the celebrity endorser of your dreams.
Partnering with the right celebrity on an endorsement campaign is one of the most effective tools you can use to boost brand awareness and drive sales.
Celebrity endorsement deals are pretty easy to navigate once you get the hang out it. If you want to set your brand apart from your competitors, a well-planning endorsement from the right celebrity is a huge step in the right direction.
About Billy
Billy Bones is the founder of Booking Agent Info and Moda Database. Moda Database is a celebrity stylist contact list that provides businesses with the contact information for celebrity stylists, and their celebrity clients. Booking Agent Info provides you with the contact information for the official agents, managers, and publicists of celebrities.
