Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media

Celebrities are a vital part of the modern world. They are admired, followed and featured in almost every part of our lives. We can’t go a day without seeing a famous face plastered somewhere, so it makes sense that companies are using them to endorse their products. With Adverts costing millions (Beyoncé’s Pepsi endorsement cost $50 million) are no longer the only way for brands to get their products out there, social media is a useful Public Relations tool to utilize to advertise a product to millions with less effort than traditional mediums of PR.

Beyonce with her Pepsi Campaign 

Since the launch of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram celebrities have been showing off their lives to their millions of followers. Kim Kardashian has over 27 million followers on Instagram alone, is the most followed person on it and is reportedly paid over $8000 a tweet when promoting companies. 

Pregnancy lips.... @EOS to the rescue! LOL http://t.co/1da6CWjOW9
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 28, 2013

Social media is a vital part of the 21^st century, and companies are using it to help sell their products by using celebrity’s status to advertise products.

One way is by sending free samples of the products to celebrities in the hopes that they will feature them in a tweet or image, or even be spotted on the street wearing their item which fans will then circulate on social media. An example of someone who advertises products sent to them by companies is Zoella, one of the biggest YouTubers in the world. With nearly 8 million subscribers to her YouTube channel she is able to advertise products in both her videos and on social media where she also has millions of followers. 

So if a company can get her to advertise their product for free they have gained free publicity, and expect their sales to go up. 

For a price companies can get celebrities to advertise their products. This can cost thousands but it is still a cheaper alternative to traditional advertising campaigns. Vine star Ben Phillips get's paid around £12000 per vine to advertise companies brands. He is given free rein on how to present the products (to his 1.3 million followers) and with the videos being shared around other social media sites it makes this is a durable, accessible public relations tool. The rise of social media celebrities is at an all-time high, and companies love to use them to advertise their products!

 Celebrities are also encouraged to approach companies for endorsment with the guarantee that they will give the company publicity. When the singer Sophie Ellis Bextor, wanted a new hot tub she contacted Danz Spas, a relatively unknown East Midlands business. Building a business relationship with her meant that she endorsed and promoted the company while getting a substantial discount for a new hot tub herself. 

Sophie Ellis Bextor with one of the endorsed spas

She posted pictures on social media and she also filmed a promotional video for the Danz Spas website.
Having celebrity endorsement promoted the company  and helped them see their annual turnover go above £1 million.

This shows just how much influence celebrities have on the public, which is why having them advertise companies and products over social media is great PR for both the celebrity and the companies. 

Celeb and The Social Media

Celebrities utilise social media sites for multiple reasons and you can guarantee a reaction will occur, even from one tweet, picture or status!  Public Relations plays a big part with celebrities gaining social media presence, with PR stunts, endorsement etc   

Media trends are something that took social media platforms by storm in 2014, from 'Nek nominate', 'no makeup selfie' and the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' everyone was taking part and celebrities also did their part, some for the good of the cause…and others pleasing their fans. Christiano Renaldo pleased his female fans with a topless Ice Bucket Challenge that received over 3 million views!!

Phooorr, Renaldo doing his part for charity

In relation to trends lets take a look at how Kim Kardasian ‘broke the internet’ - one of the biggest PR stunts of 2014! 

Last year in November 2014, Kim K paired up with Magazine Paper and featured on their front cover with some very revealing images.

Paper exclaimed that their aim was to ‘break the internet’ in their monthly issue.

They knew they wanted to use Kim to succeed in this aim by saying

‘Kim is what makes the web tick’ 

How did Kim get to be this social media phenomenon? Was it through such revealing images, even before the breaking of the internet?

Well Kim reveals

‘I think we really evolved with social media’

In relation to her and the family of Kardasians after their hit MTV show Keeping Up With The Kardasians

Did the stunt really ‘break the internet’ ??

Well it certainly caused some laughter amongst social media, with plenty of parodies

Multiple parodies took to social media after Kim's front cover was revealed 

I will now reveal how some celebs have acquired their crazy amount of followers on their social media pages.

Can some celebs be seen as addicted to social media? Do they really have to post that sort of photo to please their fans?

Lets take a look at notorious pop singer Rihanna…

Twitter followers: 23.8 million

Facebook fans: 59.6 million

The 24-year-old makes good use of social media, tweeting often and controversially.

She curses and posts photos of herself partying in places like strip clubs.

Is she taking it too far??

In April 2014 she posted photos that looked like she was using drugs, can this be seen as being so addicted, that sometimes you forgot the damage a simple post can cause??

RiRi lighting two giant spliffs 

Miley Cyrus is another celeb that causes some controversy on social media but can she also be classed as ‘addicted’?

She recently hit out against social media, describing Instagram, Facebook and Googling yourself as worse than drugs.

She goes on to say that Googling yourself can mess with your brain because of the abusive language used on the social media sites.

This was said after the singer posted a photo of herself smoking marijuana, yet believes the comments on social media are worse for your brain.

Hmmm I think most of us would have to disagree with you there Miley. She still carries on with her social media posts to:

Twitter: 19.3 million

Facebook: over 50 million

Miley, posting semi-nude photos on her Instagram

So I’ll end this blog post with a quick recap…

Social media trends are MASSIVE, everyone loves to take part, especially when its for a good cause and I recommend watching Renaldos topless Ice Bucket Challenge. Taking part is one effective PR technique that can get audiences involved and talking, being physically or virtually. 

Did Kim K really ‘break the internet’? Even if it was through others creating parodies of her revealing photos?

Can RiRi and Cyrus be classed as ‘addicated’ to their social media sites, even if claiming they could be worse than drugs?

I’ll leave you with those questions, sleep tight, tweet right x

Is celebrity privacy still private?

Ever wondered how so much information on celebrities gets out and why they would even dream of sharing it with the world?

Public relations management of Privacy in the celebrity world can be a difficult thing to do, with celebrities constantly being in the public eye and in a world where everything is online & your movements can be traced. Its not just a matter of keeping out of the way of paparazzi anymore. 

There have been:

-Nude photo leaks of a number of celebrities from having their personal iClouds 
hacked. Leaking onto Imgur & other photo/file hosting sites.

- Phone hacking scandals (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14151678) 

- Even medical records were being inappropriately accessed for the sake of press. 

Hugh Grant

Some celebs such as Hugh Grant are now campaigning for less rights of access to personal celebrity info. (He has a campaign called 'Hacked off' which is to raise awareness of the privacy, the phone hacking scandal and to look into it. He also wants to develop a better guideline for press to work by -  http://hackinginquiry.org/ )

Some argue that 'celebrities deserve no private life as this is the lifestyle they have chose and they know the consequences' but then on the other hand some people are born into celebrity with no choice in the matter and they are still human beings like anyone else, with entitlements to privacy.  You can imagine how unnerving it would be to have your most personal details shared, tracked and broadcast to the world. Its understandable why a lot of celebrities have PR managers that manage their social network profiles for them, to ensure the wrong things don't come out. 

Some blame press guidelines and as Hugh Grants campaign is working toward, wants the system improved and to have more legal protection with what the press can and cant access. As the press regulatory body IPSO (Independent press standards Organisation) is seen as not a strong enough power to control this. Are the laws strong enough to ensure PR managers can feel their clients are kept safe? It might even make their job harder and have to become more personal to celebrity lives themselves (but that may even risk personal information being leaked by Managers!) 

Public relations management may need to evolve and try keep even more on top of information and invent more preventative measures to keep their client safe. 
As the barrier between celebrities & their audiences narrow, with contact becoming more spontaneous and personal with social networks available at a click of a button. It can be hard for celebrities and even their PR managers to keep a balance between work & personal life. What do you think about celebrity privacy? Please comment below and let us know what you think. 



More info on privacy - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14151678

New breed of celebrities

Once upon a time, the term celebrity was associated with individuals who possessed a talent and used their talent in order to hold a career, whether that be singing, acting or even modelling!

However, now there’s a new breed of celebrities.

PR mediums, newspapers, magazines and the internet are no longer filled with stories of Hollywood stars or the achievements of individuals. But instead they are replaced with stories and updates of reality TV stars, blogger’s/Vloggers, and YouTubers. These kind of celebrity status are built upon their fame and public attention in the media making them some of the most famous and richest celebrities in the world!

The Kardashian Klan are worth an eye popping $80m!
and as a family have a following of 115.2 million Instagram followers

Likewise, 24 year old blogger Zoe Sugg or better known as Zoella originally from a quiet village in Wiltshire, has become a cyberspace superstar with a whopping 7,544,284 million YouTube subscribers, and 4million Instagram followers!!

Zoella began creating blog posts and Vlogs surrounding the themes of beauty and fashion. 

However Zoella as a brand has quickly advanced. 

She now tackles more serious issues and is often referred to as a role model since being appointed as an ambassador for the mental health charity Mind.

It is clear Zoella has found a new way of empowering the minds of young people.

And, Zoella’s power hasn't gone unnoticed.    

 In 2014 Zoella:

• Won the BBC Radio 1 - Teen Awards 2014: Best British Vlogger
• Wrote her own novel “Girl Online” which was published through penguin books.
• And even bought her own 1 million pound house in Sussex!! (pretty good going for a 24 year old!)

However Online Girl was only the brink of Zoella’s celebrity status and success.

 The celebrity comic relief Great British Bake Off! 

Since, Zoella has interviewed celebrities, such as: One-Direction and made several appearances on national television:

- Good Morning Britain
- Loose Women
- This Morning

Nevertheless there is no doubt Zoella or the Kardashians would not be where they are today without the power of social media. They both are key examples of how social media plays a key role in launching this new breed of celebrities.

Social media apps such as: Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook create digital multi-media platforms for anyone and everyone! And have the power to be accessed anywhere in the world! Allowing celebrities to connect to different age groups and different people all over the world just by a click of a button! 

Ultimately, social media apps give new and upcoming stars the ability of free publicity!
Free publicity which is designed purely by them and only them! Goodbye to the formal days of PR teams and hello to the new age of the PR one man band letting individuals decide by themselves how they and their image is portrayed to the public!

Another example of a social media star who has achieved fame and success through their usage of social media is 21 year old Ben Phillips. 

Read the article below and tell us what you think of Ben Phillips' success and the power of the new breed of celebrities! 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/11049015/Britains-social-media-stars-making-2000-a-second.html