How to hire a celebrity spokesperson
Because I’ve worked with a pretty wide range of celebrities – from Ralph Nader to Bode Miller -people sometimes call to find out how much it would cost for a celebrity to attend their event, endorse their product or contribute to their non-profit cause. No matter HOW GREAT your product is, or how important your cause, stars generally don’t do anything for free unless its for their own foundation (or for George Clooney). The good news is that almost any celebrity can be booked if you have enough money. Here are a few tips for figuring out how to find someone, how much they cost and what the process might be like.
First, find out who reps the star. The easiest way is to buy a subscription to Who Represents an online listing of virtually every celebrity’s agent, publicist and manager. Although some people like to go through managers first, I always call the agent. Agents are usually straightforward, no BS types who will give you prices and explain the ins and outs of back-end deals and endorsements.
Have a good idea of how much you have to spend before you make the call. Do your homework or you’ll get blown off pretty quickly. Don’t call asking for Brooke Shields if you’ve got $5000. Stars not only require fees, they also require first class airfare, accommodations and drivers. I priced former Vice President Al Gore once…he was $300,000 for two hours. The client assumed with such a hefty fee that Mr. Gore would stay for dinner after his appearance. Not so. Like any celebrity, Mr. Gore was only going to show up for his scheduled appearance. Expect to pay anywhere from $5000 for a local celebrity to $25,000 and up for a two hour appearance from a B-lister, like a reality TV star or athlete from a niche sport. For A-listers, expect prices to start well into six figures for an appearance and for endorsements be ready to talk about upfront fees, and a portion of the back end.
Make sure your product, service or event is a good fit for the celebrity. Their personal brand image is just as important as your product brand image. I pitched a deal recently for a company that needed a senior spokesperson with credibility and a trustworthy image. No offense, Warren Beatty, but we’re going to look at folks like Bob Newhart and Betty White.
When you call an agent, GET TO THE POINT QUICKLY. Don’t spend a lot of time introducing your company or product. Be quick about it. A few years ago I got Mark Ervin at IMG on the phone to find out how much Shaun White would cost for an autograph signing. Although I expected to get Mr. Ervin’s assistant rather than the legendary agent himself, I made sure I was to the point. I got all the information I needed. (By the way, thank you for your graciousness, Mr. Ervin)
I got comedian Kathy Griffin’s agent on the phone once and because I wasn’t wasting his time with unnecessary information, this agent actually spent 30 minutes explaining how typical back-end and licensing deals worked for stars like Ms. Griffin. He also helped me get to some celebrities that were closer to my client’s price range and when I dropped his name I got immediate attention!
After you get someone in your sights, be patient with the contract process and make sure you understand everything. Most agents are also attorneys and can and should take time to explain every clause thoroughly . It may take some time and you’ll have to work out details that can seem very nit-picky and even annoying. But remember, if at any time a celebrity rep feels you won’t be treating this person like royalty, you’re done. Accommodate any requests as much as you can and it will make a world of difference. Don’t haggle over something that may cost a couple hundred extra dollars.
Once the contract is finalized, remember that a happy celeb will do a much better job for you. I investigate hotel rooms, plan secure exits, find out the celeb’s meal preferences, and make sure their favorite brand of water is readily available. I’ve done anything from making sure the New York Times is in their room every day (and we were in Iowa) to finding out what their favorite M&M’s were, and leaving a stash in their room. You’ve got to have every step of a celebrity’s experience planned out and managed to perfection. It’s always a good idea to hire an experienced publicist or talent coordinator to make sure everything runs smoothly. (If you’re not sure who to use, call a local publisher. They’ll know who the best folks are.)
A quick note – athletes are a bit easier to engage during their off-season and often don’t have as much going on as actors or other entertainers. Sports agents like Lowell Taub at CAA can find out pricing on any athlete at any agency and those deals can work fairly easily.
Finally, don’t assume you can do as much PR as you want. Have the interviews and any possible media worked out ahead of time. There’s nothing worse than having a reporter show up that doesn’t get a chance to sit down with the star. Again, this is why an experienced publicist can be so helpful and worth every penny.
Getting the right celebrity can be a huge boost for your product or service but be aware of how much time and money you’ll spend to make it work. I would love comments about celebrity appearances YOU’VE hosted – nightmare stories are always fun but we can always learn more from what you did right!
Tags: Bonnie Harris, booking TV reality stars, Branding, celebrity, celebrity appearance, celebrity events, cost of celebrity, George Clooney, Public Relations, ralph nader, shaun white, TV stars
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:58 am
Interesting article, I really like your writing style, keep up the good work
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:32 am
though it wont be cheap
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:19 pm
A great article. Keep up the great work.Real good writing style
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:14 pm
MOney Talks!
February 24th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Amazing article! Thanks for writing this. It really gives me an idea as to how much star appearance really costs. With that hefty amounts, small companies would have to make even bigger investment for their product. But it’ll be great having stars in a product launch, isn’t it?
February 24th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I worked with a small ski shop that used their entire year’s marketing budget to bring in Bode Miller for an autograph signing to celebrate the opening. Was a huge gamble but it worked.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Good article. In the past we have thought about hiring a spokesperson but as of yet have not. YOu have given us a lot to think about.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:48 am
I really enjoyed your article, and I really like your writing style.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:36 pm
[...] Harris writes for the Wax Marketing blog on marketing and PR. The following is one of her [...]
March 15th, 2010 at 1:07 am
hi It really gives me an idea as to how much star appearance really costs. thanks for sharing.
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May 19th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
WOW!! $300,000 for two hours, that is absolutely amazing. I know he was the VP of the unites states, but that is almost an unfathomable amount of money for 2 hours. When you say $5000 dollars for a local celebrity, would that be like a local newscaster or talk radio host?
May 20th, 2010 at 6:15 am
Yeah, $300K PLUS first class expenses for his advance staff, and for his traveling staff. It was pricey! Local celebs could be sports athletes (not the huge ones of course), models or actors who live in town, it could be talk show hosts but I have a feeling they would work for less and could have conflicts with their own stations. Chefs, motivational speakers, etc could all be local and of use to you as a spokesperson.
May 23rd, 2010 at 8:17 pm
That really is unbelievable. I would imagine the only places that could afford that would be a major corporation or something. Although, if I was a shareholder in a corporation that paid that much form someone to show up for an appearance or something I think I would be pretty upset, they would really have to justify the cost/benefit.
June 19th, 2010 at 10:07 am
nice post..thanks for the great sharing.
July 3rd, 2010 at 3:12 am
Wow! Those prices you mentioned are way higher than I would have expected.
July 13th, 2010 at 1:39 am
nice article – this would be really helpful to people who want to hire an effective agent to sell or promote a product and the like.