While celebrity endorsement was once upon a time just for companies with deep pockets, now it's not just Hollywood divas putting their names and faces to luxury brand names. There's a new pack of celebrities in town and they're the kings and queens of the Internet able to command huge fees by selling the good life and all the things that come with it.
These new brand ambassadors are making millions from the millions of people who are following them on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Often referred to as 'influencers' the Internet royalty are gold for companies who recognise the value of word-of-mouth and peer endorsements. Influencers are paid to post fun and funky vlogs (these are video blogs) and pictures that promote the products and sell the lifestyle.
Not only are they peddling the brand names associated with 'a good life' but they are also using their celebrity following to build their own e-commerce business.
Hollywood's biggest stars are all doing it and it's a growing phenomenon for female celebrities who realise their movie-making days are more limited as they age. These stars are starting young, many in their early 20s while some in their mid-forties have been doing it for considerable time. Some of the biggest names from Reese Witherspoon to Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica all reinventing themselves as lifestyle goddesses and beacons of attainable style. It's only a matter of time before our new Internet sensations will follow bringing their influencer crowd with them.
Let's look at Reese Witherspoon as a classic example of how Hollywood stars have been able to redefine their personal brand. Reese has been a household name for playing the good girl in some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. Now she's taken the household to heart with her online business Draper James selling a carefully curated list of homewares. Reese has selected each piece that features on her site bringing the shopper closer than ever to her southern belle charm. Her warm and groomed Southern persona can sell cardigans and tea sets just as well as it can sell Hollywood flicks.
Reese isn't the only star who's able to front these new lifestyle brands as an extension of themselves.
As Blake Lively, the Gossip Girl, says: "Acting is for-hire, it's transactional. This, whether good or bad, is something I shaped." Lively, who has her own e-commerce site called Preserve is now a bigger star for the lifestyle products she's pushing than for Hollywood movie making. She she's savvy, she realises that what she's creating is her own audience and one that will follow her no matter what movie she now makes.
These Hollywood stars are sharing their favourite things with us and are redefining and reinforcing their personal profile. While they have always been a go-to for sponsorship and endorsements, now they face new competition from the steadily growing number of influencers who are wielding a new breed of star power. Of course there'll be enough to go around for now. Big businesses have realised they need to go where the audiences are online and this is where they are spending their dollars. The next question will be how many likes is enough for these new brand ambassadors and how many lifestyle experts can we handle?
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