Harnessing the power of celebrity

Stars are successfully transforming fans into loyal consumers, beating big brands at their own game

What do Bad Girl Rihanna and yoga teacher Baba Ramdev have in common with the ethical, sustainable Honest Company whose baby-care products are big hits in sunny Los Angeles? Before anyone takes offence, let me lay it out — Rihanna, Baba Ramdev and Jessica Alba, the Hollywood star behind The Honest Company, have all launched branded product ranges which have demonstrated real business success in the marketplace.
 
But the similarity is not the popularity of Rihanna’s recent launch of a new edition of beauty products or that Patanjali Consumer Products is today the second largest FMCG company in India. The significance of all three brands is that they were created by ‘branding’ the celebrity of the founders in a way that goes beyond conventional marketing strategies.
 
Rihanna’s star power transcends her chartbusting hit songs. Baba Ramdev personifies a brand of nationalism that celebrates the Bharatiya heritage and takes pride in traditional know-how. And Alba uses her stardom to project her mission as a concerned mother who wants the best for her child, into the purpose of a commercial company.
 
The role of different media channels in facilitating the transformation of celebrity equity to brand equity cannot be underscored enough. After all, Patanjali would not have managed to short-circuit the long journey from unknown name to top-of-mind salience, had TV screens in India not beamed his yoga classes to millions of homes for years. Rihanna’s 56 million Instagram followers are what marketers would brand a ‘captive market’.
 

Image: istock

But the sense of proximity that social media affords the fan/follower, or the power of mass media in a country like India as a multiplier of a star’s reach, are enablers of this phenomenon, not drivers.

The real pull comes from both the celebrity who wants to leverage his/her star power far more comprehensively than just in his/her domain and the consumer who seeks a connection to something other than a faceless, nameless corporation.
 
This has given rise to an entire eco-system where talent/popularity/fame is sought to be monetised by professionals in ways more lasting than just the life of a TV show or movie deal or hit single.

This is the ultimate expression of the business principle of franchising — when an individual permits the use of his/her name, persona and star power to sell a range of products according to a set of specifications. Like any franchise business, success lies in how authentic and consistent is the alignment between the brand values of the star and the goods and services.
 
The other critical element is the ‘connect’ between the aspirations of the shopper and the celebrity. Add to it, the X Factor of trust — if the fan trusts the celebrity in some sphere, that trust is a powerful
 
headstart to the brand in a related category! The fascinating paradox is that consumers who can come close to Rihanna on Instagram only, or gape at Gwyneth Paltrow’s elitist salad recipes, believe that the stars can be authentic as long as their branded script is consistent with their image.
 
And all of this brings me to the final point… for all the technology, for all the metrics we have today, the most invaluable tool is still the ability to understand emotions and motivations of people, not just treat them as consumers and shoppers.
 

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The author is a London-based brand strategist with Healthy Marketing