Star Power and Social Media

A friend of mine who is a lawyer in NYC recently complained to me that he had to work on an endorsement contract between popular reality TV stars and one of his clients. Based on the business his client was in and the reputation or perception the reality stars in question, he could not understand why his client was willing to fork over so much in terms of compensation and other “perks” to the TV stars.  His client pointed out that the reality stars had millions of followers on their social media pages and that hiring them was a natural way for him to reach that market.  Makes sense given the article below by Jacqui Moore, VP of Production at MTV Networks.

Star Power and Social Media: Will They Can Help or Hinder You?

A week or so ago I attended a screening of Silver Linings Playbook, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director, David O Russell and leading male Bradley Cooper (sporting long scruffy hair, a backwards baseball cap and carrying a soda the size of which I thought Mayor Bloomberg had banned in the state of New York … but anyway, I digress).

David O Russell mentioned that Jennifer Lawrence had been cast as the leading female after auditioning for him via Skype. Although this was a new way of casting for Russell, it’s not the first time that video calls have been used to assist  when casting features. Abbie Cornish and Emma Roberts were cast in movies after their Skype auditions with Madonna and Wes Craven respectively, and I’m sure there are many more that I’m not aware of. But beyond utilizing technology to connect people who can’t physically be in the same place at the same time, the Internet – and in particular social media, is proving furtive ground for those making casting decisions.

Rumor has it that Peter Berg’s decision to cast Rihanna in Battleship may have been influenced by her having almost 27 million Twitter followers. This could also have been a consideration when Oprah Winfrey interviewed Rihanna on Oprah’s Next Chapter. The program was OWN’s second highest rated broadcast ever and won its slot in the coveted female demographic across ad-supported cable. Women engage more with social media than men, so this result may be more than co-incidence.

You only need to look at the success of Sean Comb’s (aka P.Diddy) endorsement deal with Diageo to see how much of an influence social media can have on a product’s success. P.Diddy (whose Twitter handle is @iamdiddy) has over 9 million Twitter followers. Last year sales of Ciroc vodka reached 13.5 million bottles, a staggering 250% increase since Diddy signed with the brand in 2007. Not only sweet nectar for Diageo, but sweet music for Combs who takes 50% of the drink’s profit. So with these numbers alone, one would assume that all you have to do is to cast someone with a large social media presence and ‘abracadabra’ you’re on to a winner. Wrong!

A HP Labs Research project (Influence and Passivity In Social Media, 2010) showed that the correlation between popularity and influence is weaker than expected. This, along with the insights that I gained from attending a recent Digital Hollywood conference, got me thinking about my professional experience in this area. Some with successful outcomes, some not so much. So, if you are thinking of harvesting the power of social media to bring more viewers to your show, here are three tips that I’d like to share:

1. Have A Complete Social Media Strategy. Tweets and Status Updates are Ephemeral. There are over 340 million tweets a day and the average Twitter user follows more than 100 people. So this, in combination with the fact that only a few tweets are visible on a screen at a time, means your strategy needs to involve getting the celebrity to tweet regularly- perhaps even several times a day. Seemingly not a day goes by in @iamdiddy world that doesn’t involve a visual or verbal mention of Ciroc, or one of Comb’s other ventures.  If you don’t have a strategy beyond getting the celeb to tweet a few times before show day, then you’ll quickly discover that your casting decision will bomb. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way.

2. Be Smart In Your Messaging. Encourage Engagement and Offer a Value Proposition. Social Media users are savvy – they know when they’re being sold to, and while Millennials may not mind, the same is not true for other populations. HP Research Labs’ study notes that individuals need to actively engage with your content in order for your message to cut through the noise. 71% of tweets are simply ignored, so your celeb needs to know how to drive engagement. A simple ‘go watch my movie’ or ‘Ciroc is the best vodka on the planet’ is generally not going to cut it. More importantly it’s unlikely to get re-tweeted. However, ‘RT now for a chance to win VIP Access to the Ciroc After-party’ may just do the trick. Through creating a value proposition, and answering the ever present “what’s in it for me?’’ question, your message may well have a chance of being passed along, which could result in another butt being placed on your movie theater’s seat … or a few more dollars in Diddy’s pocket.

3. Beware of Celebrities Who Lack Credibility. Two words … Donald Trump. It’s perhaps best to avoid the celebs that are on a self-fulfilling prophecy … and there are a few out there. Be warned, a large following does not necessarily mean a large fan base. The followers may be nothing more than spectators – the type of person who slows down to gawp while driving past a motor vehicle pile up.

For the record, I follow both @iamdiddy and @realDonaldTrump. I’ve never bought a bottle of Ciroc (or even tasted it) and have no interest in seeing President Obama’s birth certificate. Oh, and I’ve tagged so many celebs in this post that the readership should theoretically go off the scale. However, I suspect the reality may be very different … keep watching, I’ll keep you posted.