Cause celeb – adding star quality to campaigning
24th August 2023 by Rachael Bruce
THE power of celebrity is much more than drawing crowds to theatres and cinemas or helping to market a product.
Big names in film, TV, music and sport are using their star status for good.
From free school meals to animal rights and gender equality, with a celebrity championing your cause you can reach the masses.
Often, the famous faces are simply lending their name to a grassroots campaign that resonates with their personal values and sharing content to help inspire others.
This free publicity is worth much more than the price of a sponsored or boosted post to those causes as it helps them reach those they wouldn’t otherwise and at little or no cost to either party.
Last year, Marcus Rashford’s campaign for free school meals was named the campaign of the decade.
The UN has long embraced the power of celebrity to support its campaigns. Former Harry Potter star Emma Watson advocates gender equality and fronted the UN’s HeForShe campaign.
In December, after more than 20 years in the role, actress Angelina Jolie stepped down from working with the UN Refugee Agency to work with organisations led by people most directly affected by conflict.
Joanna Lumley has lent her name to various causes including helping Gurkhas who retired before 1997 win the right to settle in the UK and calling for a stop to the clearance of unexploded ordnance damaging marine life.
Camp Beagle is the longest running animal rights protest camp in history and has embraced the power of celebrity at various levels. Last year, singer Will Young joined their campaign when he chained himself to the gates of a breeding facility, while more recently protestors were joined by Babe Station stars wearing bikinis.
But it’s the recent backing of actor Tom Hardy that’s made a significant difference to their fight for animal rights.
Within 24 hours of him sharing a link on Instagram to a petition to end animals being used or toxicity testing around 20,000 signatures were added. The star continued to push the message out to his nine million Instagram followers, thanking them for their supporting and encouraging more people to sign, even after the 100,000 target was reached.
This week saw the launch of Equity’s “Green Rider” campaign to cut the environmental impact of celebrity riders. Dubbed the ‘no jet’ set by the Guardian, it’s received the backing of more than 100 actors, including Gemma Arterton, David Harewood and Bill Nighy. The idea is that instead of asking for single colour sweets or a private jet, contracts should focus on “positive influence” and “not climate-damaging perks”.
For brands, unless a star uses their product, receiving a celebrity endorsement free of charge is unlikely. As with personal appearance fees, the cost of a sponsored post is likely to increase with the star’s status.
Influencers or micro-influencers are a great lower cost alternative to the traditional icons when it comes to promoting your business. Better still, your genuine customers who have real life experience of your product or service, are perfectly placed to spread the word.
If your marketing campaign is in need of some star treatment, contact us .
