Celebrity influence is a powerful force in the world we live in. Long gone are the days when it was just about fame or talent – it’s now all about how celebrities live their lifestyles, and how they manage to turn their personal brands into profitable businesses. Some launch their own beauty lines, others promote luxury drinks, but the idea is to use their influence, public image, and massive following to generate millions.
But how do celebrities pull it off? What makes personal branding so effective? How is it possible for celebrities to generate millions by using their personal brands? In this article, we’ll talk about the strategies they use, and the lessons you can learn from them.
Why Celebrities Use Their Personal Brands
Before we get into how they do it, let’s first discuss why celebrities launch personal brands. It’s simple: famous personalities know that their public image is worth millions, so they capitalize on it.
It’s important to point out, however, that this concept isn’t limited to just Hollywood or A-list music stars. It also extends to other fields, especially with so many ‘social media celebrities’ being active. For instance, online games such as Dragonara roulette and regional variations like the Australian version of Roulette77 have embraced celebrity endorsements to boost visibility and build trust among players. They use their:
- Built-In Trust: Celebs have built-in trust in their audiences, and people trust people they admire. So, when a star endorses or launches a product, their fans are more likely to trust it because ‘they did it’ – which means it must be good.
- Massive Reach: With millions of followers on social media, celebrities have an enormous and active audience that will follow them in whatever they do.
- Emotional Connection: This is the untalked part: fans feel connected to their favourite celebrities. And being emotionally connected to someone makes people more likely to buy products associated with them.
Personal branding is all about turning recognition into revenue. The massive reach is just one part of the story, but the emotional connection and trust play a big part in it too.
Real-Life Examples of Celebrities Using Personal Branding
Let’s look at some real-life examples of how celebrities have used the personal branding strategy successfully.
Rihanna and Fenty Beauty
A great example of an A-lister singer using their personal brand to grow a business is Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty. She managed to grow a makeup brand into a cultural phenomenon that’s recognized in many parts of the world. She launched Fenty Beauty to be an inclusive brand that would offer a wide range of foundation shades to match different skin tones, and she used her personal brand – known for authenticity, diversity, and boldness – to grow Fenty Beauty.
The majority of her loyal fans trusted that Rihanna would create a brand that would align with her values, and the results speak for themselves. Fenty Beauty is now worth $2.8 billion, and it made over $100 million in its first weeks after launching.
Kylie Jenner and Kylie Cosmetics
Kylie Jenner used her enormous social media fame and family name to build a billion-dollar empire with Kylie Cosmetics. She has a massive Instagram following of almost 400 million, and she used it and her status as a beauty trendsetter to create demand for her lip kits. Her personal brand is all about the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle – which matches her business perfectly.
George Clooney and Casamigos Tequila
‘The Ocean’s Eleven’ and ‘Gravity’ star George Clooney co-founded his brand Casamigos Tequila with some of his friends as a ‘premium Tequila brand’. It was initially planned for Casamigos to be just a private label for personal use, but this is a great example of how his personal brand helped him grow the business. People have always recognised his charm and reputation for sophistication, which helped him and his partners grow the brand rapidly. In 2017, the Casamigos Tequila brand sold for a whopping $1 billion.
Why Personal Branding Works So Well
It has been proven that personal branding works wonders, but why is it so effective? We’ll look at the key reasons why this strategy pays off:
- Authenticity Sells: People want authenticity. For a product to work, it needs to align with the celebrity’s public persona to feel genuine.
- Trust Equals Sales: Fans trust their idols, and the trust can be the deciding factor for them to make purchases.
- Built-In Marketing Power: Their enormous following means that a celebrity has free (and highly effective, for that matter!) marketing via their own social media channels.
To Wrap It Up
Celebrities have mastered the art of personal branding, and many have turned their personal fame and following into business success. However, not all stories have a happy ending. Many celebrities have tried to launch their own businesses and failed massively. That’s why it’s important to execute the personal branding strategy properly and build trust into the brand by using authenticity and direct connection with fans.
