Brands have been using celebrities to endorse and promote their products for decades. But this approach has become even more significant in the digital age because of the wealth of content that can be created around the association and then delivered to fan clusters via portals like FaceBook and Twitter.
Brand ambassadors
Procter & Gamble-owned make up brand Max Factor, for example, has just signed up pop stars Eliza Doolittle and Marina Diamondis as brand ambassadors for its Colour Effect range. The plan is to use the two across a range of platforms such as TV, posters, digital media and live events. An added bonus will be the amount of coverage that the partnerships will generate in the print media (both newspapers and fashion magazines).
The two young stars are regarded as the perfect fit for Colour Effect’s new Big Night Out strategy, which is about encouraging girls to be braver with colour. On Doolittle, Max Factor said: "Eliza is a great new Max Colour Effect girl – she’s got a colourful identity and stage presence and is one of the girls. Eliza’s the perfect fit to front such a vibrant make-up collection."
And Diamondis –who has been on board for a couple of months already - seems more than happy to play her part too. In a recent interview she said: “Big Night Out kicked off with me having my own amazing new make-up look created by Caroline Barnes, Max Factor’s make-up artist, for an exclusive Max Colour Effect gig – which I absolutely loved plus I picked up some fab tips. Over the next few months you’ll see more cool looks created for me by Caroline, so keep your eyes peeled! We’re on a mission to inspire girls to embrace make-up colour when getting ready for fun nights out – or if like me, anytime, a la my pink neon lips! Life would be boring if we didn’t have a collection like Max Colour Effect – all girls should try hot red lips and aqua eyes one night to bronze lips and golden eyes the next, in the spirit of celebrating individual style.”
Authentic, not manufactured
As the above comment (along with the rest of the interview) demonstrates, however, the big challenge for both brand and artist is making the relationship seem authentic. For some fans, the language used above may raise suspicions about whether it was really Diamondis responding, or a copywriter employed by Max Factor. Increasingly, fans recognise manufactured comments and voice their dissatisfaction via online forums.
Feisty
The good news for Max Factor is that Diamondis is clearly feisty and individualistic enough to fight her own battles. Responding to an undercurrent of criticism about the link up, she made this statement: “Make up is one of the tools of my trade. I will ALWAYS favour and support nature and natural beauty in place of cosmetic and synthetic beauty. But it would be hypocritical of me to condemn it and refuse to support make up when it is one of the tools of my trade. It is something I use every day, in my music videos, photoshoots, live shows (UV) and TVs. I believe that as long as what you are endorsing is something that you are in genuine support of/like, you are free to represent who you want. My fans don’t and will never know what I have refused re endorsements, support tours, collaborations etc. If I were to be led “astray”, I would have done so by now. I am a hyper aware individual and think over things carefully and deeply.”
Now that is clearly an authentic statement and immediately makes Diamondis seem more engaging and passionate. The challenge for Ketchum Pleon (the agency behind the digital activation of Big Night Out) will be to make sure this voice is recognisable within any advice that is doled out to consumers.
Charity auction make up art
One interesting PR event conjured up by Max Factor was Make Up Art, which saw the brand ask celebrities, designers and artists (including Pixie Lott and Eliza Doolittle), to create one-off pieces of art drawn with make-up. Each piece, drawn with one of Max Factor’s Lipfinity Lip Tints, is being auctioned to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The auction went live on eBay’s charity site www.ebay.co.uk/ebayforcharity on March 28 for one week. More info at www.facebook.com/MaxFactorUK.