Parallelogram: Edition 5

Hi there 👋🏽!

Like any good LA Millennial/Gen Z cusp I’m what the trend analysts would call “sober-curious.” So when Tom Holland released his new non-alcoholic beer Bero, I was, well… curious. Unlike many other NA brands more broadly positioned for the fitness-focused consumer or as a weekday option for the weekend drinker, Holland says he created Bero to “help [sober] people like [him] reintegrate into that social environment where they might feel like they're not necessarily welcome." His passion for the product is believable, considering his openness about his struggle with alcohol and how sobriety has changed his life, but I wanted to see how consumers were receiving it. So I popped into the subreddit r/stopdrinking to see how people felt about Bero’s release.

I honed in on two threads: one from a year ago with 3,600 upvotes (likes) about Tom Holland coming out as a non-drinker, and the other from a week ago (as of writing this intro) reviewing Bero. The story arc is pretty close to perfect, from the community’s gratitude to Holland for working to destigmatize sobriety to their excitement about Holland and Bero normalizing NA beverages. Even r/FauxMoi, the infamous snark gossip community that loves a celebrity brand takedown, expressed overwhelming support for Holland’s new project.

If I’m honest, it’s surprising (and refreshing) how much the Bero team has gotten right, given how often celebrity-founded brands miss the mark. We’re at an inflection point in the era of talent brands, and Bero is a good example (so far!!) of what I believe it’ll take for them to have a shot at being successful as we turn this corner. To elaborate on what this all means, we’ll be focusing this month’s newsletter on the current sentiment around talent-led brands, what it takes for a talent brand to come out on top with today’s consumers, and what we’d like to see more of going forward. We’re rooting for Spiderman over here.

In the oft murky worlds of entertainment and venture, we pride ourselves on giving straightforward takes on thorny issues. Here’s our POV:

The Celebrity Brand Reckoning is here–and we’re loving it

In an interview with Ssense about his perfume brand Tsu Lange Yor, Troye Sivan remarked, “It might be a celebrity brand because I do it, but we don’t operate like one at all. We operate out of my house.” Similarly, in a cover story with Byrdie earlier this month, Tracee Ellis Ross mused about her brand Pattern Beauty: “We’re not a celebrity brand. Yes, we're a brand, and I am the CEO and founder, but this isn't a licensing agreement.” And in a recent interview with Marketing Brew, the CMO of Kora Organics, of which Miranda Kerr is the founder and CEO, said, “The celebrities have come in and out, but we don’t associate ourselves with the celebrity brand”. 

Sivan, Ross, and Kerr are all… celebrities. And they all have… brands. So why would they distance themselves from being called “celebrity brands?” When did “celebrity brand” become a negative thing?  

In the past year, we’ve seen an influx of what we call “slap-a-celebrity” brands—ventures that offer little more than a famous face attached to a mediocre product, with little relevance to the celebrity’s life or experience. Our friend Dhruv Patel of the Celebrity Packaged Goods newsletter recently called out talent agencies for being the driving forces behind these uninspired, opportunistic brands, asserting that “90% of what came to market this year [was] a money grab” and his frustration is warranted. When a celebrity takes advantage of the trust they’ve built with their audience by serving up an unnecessary and/or subpar product, it leaves consumers feeling exploited, which makes them less trustful—not only with the specific celebrity themselves, but with celebrity brands in general. 

This celebrity brand reckoning might seem worrisome for those invested in the success of these ventures, but we see it as an opportunity to raise the bar. Talent deals are only growing in numbers as brands vie for moments of virality (demand for celebrity partnerships has increased by 10% in just the last year), and as consumer exasperation with celebrity cash grabs increases, talent led brands will have to step it up to avoid being lumped in. An Instagram post or two with talent featuring a still from an impersonal photoshoot is just... not gonna cut it anymore.

Luckily, new entrants have a roadmap. Revered brands like Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS, and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty stand out as leaders in the celebrity brand world for representing the antithesis of the “slap-a-celebrity” idea. Instead, they’re viewed as thoughtful extensions of their founders’ values and expertise in industries primed for disruption, equipped with high-quality products, skilled operators, and involved talent partners. They’re examples of the potential talent can bring to a brand when they play their cards right, and brands like Bero seem to be taking some tips out of their playbook.

Whether you’re building a celebrity brand, working with one, or identifying if a celebrity brand has winning potential, feel free to use our COAST framework to assess its potential:

Consistency: Ensuring reliable and ongoing engagement for sustained brand impact.

Opportunity: Identifying whitespace and unique market potential.

Alignment: Making sure the project authentically aligns with the celebrity’s known passions and expertise.

Support: Assembling a skilled team and operating partners.

Time: Confirming that talent has the bandwidth to engage meaningfully.

We’re demystifying talent partnerships by answering the most common questions we get. Class = now in session 👩🏽‍🏫.

In the attention economy, most brand moments don’t occupy a consumer’s mind for long. Marketing teams have to be on their toes, ready for the next opportunity to bring their brand into the spotlight. Talent partnership announcements can be a useful means of grabbing attention, but what about in the days, weeks, months afterwards? For all the praise I heaped on Bero up top, I’m most curious to see if they’ll be able to sustain their momentum over the long-term. Check out some of the strategies we use to make sure our clients get the most out of their talent partnerships:

Welcome to The Brain 🧠, a playground where our team comes up with fantasy talent partnerships for brands we admire.

Shoot us any brands you’d like us to cover next—we’re happy to put our brains to work 🫱🏻‍🫲🏽.

Enough from us–time for you to take the mic 🎤.

Here’s what we’re paying attention to 🔎:

🎧 Dyson’s ready to take the audio world by Storm(zy).

🍻 Might as well rename the city Reynoldstown at this point.

🐸☕️ Chase Crawford’s got the tea.

💺❌ Malcolm’s no longer in the middle.

That’s a wrap. See you next month!

- Ciara