Celebrities - tips on how to use them to boost your media coverage

Using celebrities to front your PR and marketing campaigns can increase your media coverage immensely and can get you into the leading newspapers, websites, radio and even on TV. But there can be some pitfalls. This article explains the great benefits. What can happen when things go wrong. And also what to look out for when hiring a celebrity.

One of the best and most professional people I've worked was Gordon Ramsay. He was incredibly professional and enthusiastic about the job we hired him for. He used our key messages in the interviews we set up for him, he worked overtime to do an interview for Channel 4 news and he had everyone who worked with him eating out of his hand because of his graciousness. And he got us hundreds of positive articles in the media all over the UK. He was well worth the money that we invested in him to boost our brand and campaign.

But hiring celebrities does not always give you positive results. You have to be very careful when choosing the right one. Celebrities who are late, demanding, go off message and generally upset your company can cause incredible damage to your and your company's reputation. This damage can take a long time to resolve. So it's important to try and prevent a huge mistake before it happens.

Would I hire Gordon Ramsay today? Probably not. His brand is currently generating a lot of negative media. So he would not be the ideal person to front a campaign. He would become the story, rather than the product. (I strongly believe that Gordon Ramsay will be able to rebuild his reputation over time. This is because his brand does not involve him being a "good boy" so it will be much easier for him to make a comeback.)

So my top tips for using celebrities for campaigns include:

1. Does the celebrity fit the campaign e.g. use a celebrity chef to front a food campaign.


2. Is his/her reputation currently good? Make sure you do your research on the celebrity.


3. Is he/she relevant in the current market.


4. Do your target audiences like this person? Would they buy something from them? Is he an opinion leader?


5. Produce a contract with the celebrity's agent detailing exactly what you expect the celebrity to do and for how long. Make sure that the agent is clear that you will expect something in return if the celebrity does not complete his contract.


6. Brief the celebrity on exactly what you need them to say and do. Ensure they understand your key messages. Continue to monitor the situation throughout the contract period.

Remember you are hiring them to do a job so you need to ensure that they boost your company's reputation not hurt it.