Behind the Boom in Celebrity Brands

There was a time when consumer goods companies paid musicians, athletes, and actors for endorsements, or to license their name and likeness. But in recent years, there's been an explosion of celebrities getting into business directly, selling everything from shapewear to tequila. Ayelet Israeli, professor at Harvard Business School, says the growth of social media and online, direct-to-consumer retail accelerated this trend, but notes that not all celebrity brands are a success. She explains what works and doesn't, and outlines lessons for non-famous entrepreneurs and established companies. Israeli is coauthor of the HBR article "What Makes a Successful Celebrity Brand?"

Share Podcast

[HBR IdeaCast podcast series]

HBR IdeaCast
Episode 966

Behind the Boom in Celebrity Brands

Listen | Podcast loading...

###

Lessons from Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds and more on a major consumer goods trend.

• Subscribe:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

All episodes

Details

Transcript

May 07, 2024

There was a time when consumer goods companies paid musicians, athletes, and actors for endorsements, or to license their name and likeness. But in recent years, there’s been an explosion of celebrities getting into business directly, selling everything from shapewear to tequila. Ayelet Israeli, professor at Harvard Business School, says the growth of social media and online, direct-to-consumer retail accelerated this trend, but notes that not all celebrity brands are a success. She explains what works and doesn’t, and outlines lessons for non-famous entrepreneurs and established companies. Israeli is coauthor of the HBR article “What Makes a Successful Celebrity Brand?”

• Subscribe On:

Apple

Spotify

RSS

Latest in this series

All episodes

This article is about MARKETING

** Follow this topic

** Following

Related Topics:

• Social media

• Social marketing

• Entrepreneurship

• Brand management

• Sales and marketing

Original source