Not every agency founder can post a job advertisement and reach millions. But that’s what actor Donald Glover did when he shared a 37-second video clip on his social channels announcing his new creative studio, Gilga.
Glover wasn't breaking new ground, though. He was following in the footsteps of others, including Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tony Hawk and Ryan Reynolds, who all put their A-list names behind agencies.
Their core services vary and include marketing, advertising, content, design, talent management and PR. The common thread among them? They allow celebrities to expand their personal brands, gain more control over their work and pursue passion projects outside their industry.
What other agency leaders are saying about the trend
For Lidia Janevski, Wix Partner and founder of House of Communications, the celebrity and agency fit makes a lot of sense. “Most possess a creative mind and know the ins and outs of filming and production, so why not put those together and get the best of both worlds?” she asks.
Danielle Wiley, founder of influencer marketing agency Sway Group, has mixed feelings about the trend. “My first instinct is to bristle a little bit,” she says. “That’s as someone who has spent nearly 30 years in the space learning about marketing, being a student of it, sitting with clients, sitting on the agency side and understanding everything that goes into it.”
Wiley says agencies often get a bad rap within celebrity circles. “You’ll hear actors in commercials saying, ‘those agency people in New York tell me what to do, but they don't understand my craft,’” she says. “Well, we have our own craft. It might not be as sexy, but a lot goes into it. And there are brand priorities—such as marketing and understanding your brand motivation—that maybe aren't as fun, but they're important.”
Celebs doing it right
Vanity projects aside, many celebrities have done their homework and seamlessly connected the dots between creative marketing and celebrity reach. They understand the unique opportunity the merger presents—a creative outlet that not only allows them to have fun and control a narrative but can yield serious business results in today’s attention-driven economy.
Like actor Ryan Reynolds who, in 2018, launched his agency Maximum Effort. In five years, he has brought the small Welsh football club of Wrexham to the world stage, signing sponsorship deals with major brands like TikTok, United Airlines and HP, and producing an award-winning series documenting it all. He’s also had massive success with his Aviation American Gin brand and investment in telecoms company Mint Mobile. And he launched a new Maximum Effort Channel.
While you could argue that Reynolds is an entrepreneur before anything else, he’s leveraging his acting ability, storytelling skills and celebrity draw to smash industries wide open.
Then there’s former soccer star David Beckham who released a Netflix docuseries about his life and career produced by his company Studio99, in a deal reportedly worth £16 million. Beckham’s studio also creates content for brands he works with and for his personal social media accounts.
Wiley lists actor Ashton Kutcher and tennis stars Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka as other celebrities getting the transition right. She says what’s important is that their motivation comes from the right place, and they understand that building a talented team with knowledge and experience around them is crucial for success.
“We have an influencer marketing agency, but I'm not the best at recruiting talent,” she says. “And so, we've hired amazing people who have built that out. So I think as long as there's an understanding that you have to bring in experts for different elements and respect their expertise, then I'm okay with it.”
Marketing big and fast
For Brendan Bracken, Wix Partner and founder of Border 7 Studios, something celebs can bring to the marketing world that smaller agencies can’t is ‘fastvertising,’ or big-budget reactionary content. “Lots of people produce content about news the same day it breaks to get attention, but the level of production that celebrity-backed agencies can implement in such a short time is really interesting,” he says.
Reynolds’ Maximum Effort mastered this when it capitalized on a controversial Peloton advertisement about a husband giving his wife an exercise machine for Christmas. While it dominated the news cycle for its sexist undertones, Reynolds got to work. Within 48 hours, Maximum Effort produced an Aviation Gin commercial with the same female actor. In the ad, we see her in a bar downing glasses of gin while being consoled by friends, implying that her marriage to a husband who wanted her to get in shape didn’t work out. Reynolds cleverly shared the ad on X, posting ‘Exercise bike not included.’
“I like to say, business owners make money from the services they provide, experts make money from the knowledge they have acquired, but brands make money based on who they are,” says Bracken. "When you combine huge personal brands with fastvertising, you see some crazy results.”
Bracken says Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson achieved similar success with his tequila brand Teramana by taking a different approach, making personal rather than mass connections. Johnson went on the road visiting liquor store owners and distributors across the US. “Again, it all comes back to that personal brand and its reach,” he says.
But what does this mean for the industry, and can smaller agencies compete with companies backed by A-listers? Here are some takeaways for (non-celebrity) agencies:
01. Compete when it makes sense
Wiley’s Sway Group has both won and lost business against celebrities in the past and says when you’re a smaller agency, you must keep up with whatever is the next big thing, whether that’s a major celebrity or the latest AI capabilities. Her advice is to stay informed on competition, whatever the size, but be clear on your priorities.
“A bunch of our competitors did ridiculous stunt-type events at Cannes this year, for example, but I'm not putting seven figures down for a beach party. I have other priorities,” she says. “Any small agency is always competing against those bright, shiny objects so you'd be crazy not to keep your eye on what's going on, but know when it makes sense to compete.”
02. Have a strong identity
Bracken says there’s a lesson for small agencies in seeing what celebrity agencies do, and it has helped shape his own business strategy.
“It shows you how important it is to establish your brand instead of just being a service provider or expert,” he says. “If you're not branding yourself today, and you’re just fulfilling this role as a web designer, you’ll have a much harder time reaching out to customers and being memorable.”
Following a recent restructuring of Border 7 Studios, Bracken’s agency brands itself as a business promoting a healthy work-life balance. “Our branding asks, ‘how do you not have to abide by the hustle culture rules and how can you build a business that supports the lifestyle you want?’” he explains. “That differentiates us from a standard ‘I'll build you a website’ company. Any boutique brand needs to come up with a way to separate themselves from competition and leverage that later on.”
03. Lean into referrals
According to Suman Kumar Phuyal, Wix Partner and founder of Suman Infotech, a micro-agency or freelancer competing with a celebrity-backed agency is the age-old story of David versus Goliath. While it’s a big ask to go head-to-head with these agencies, he says it’s not impossible, citing old-fashioned referral marketing as a solid strategy.
“Feedback, client testimonials and portfolios play significant roles here,” he says. “Startups should concentrate on creating high-quality work and targeting their local market. Also, celebrity-powered agencies usually mean high costs for clients. Non-celebrity agencies can compete by offering lower-priced services.”
04. Focus on quality
Dhairya Chheda, Wix Partner and founder of Wix Freaks, views celebrity interest in agencies as something positive for the industry, helping keep companies like his on their toes. “It brings more creative ideas,” he says. “It forces other agencies to pivot or think differently to compete.”
Chheda says despite the notoriety celebrities hold, agencies shouldn’t see themselves as different. “If they’re in the same industry, they’re competition and should be treated as such,” he says. “I believe there is only one major way to compete: a quality product and quality customer service.”
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