Feb
CELEBRITY GIFTING - What You Need to Know
Tori Spelling holds up an adorable baby tee gifted to her by one of my clients, Little Showoffs.
1. Ask specifically who your product/gift certificate will be delivered to. Most celebrity gift baskets end up being delivered to managers, agents or publicists - not the celebrities themselves. The benefit to these types of marketing efforts is to be able to say that the celebrity actually has your item. Unless you have written assurance that your goodies will end up in the personal hands of the star, walk away from the opportunity.
2. Ask how many other items will be included in the gift box/basket. The vast majority of celebrity gifting opportunities are NOT individual, meaning that your product or gift certificate is going to be presented with several others. You want to look for events that guarantee a small number of participants - no more than 20-25. Imagine if you got a huge basket for your birthday filled with 50 gifts. How many of those will really stand out? Chances are, not too many. The lower number of overall participants, the better visibility for your company.
3. Ask if you will have category exclusivity. If you have a perfume company and want to participate in a celebrity gifting event, the last thing you want is three other perfumes in the same gift basket. Look for opportunities like the ones PR 101 Radio offers that ensure yours will be a one-of-a-kind item in the category you represent.
4. Ask how and when you will be notified that the celebrity has been gifted. You want to know as soon as possible after your gift has been delivered so you can leverage the opportunity for all it’s worth! How will the organizer notify you that the gift has been delivered?
5. If there are multiple celebrities being gifted, ask if you can include a special note or different items for each one. This is often a possibility with gifting opportunities and can be advantageous. If you have different colors, products, sizes, services etc., you can often customize the specific gift for each celebrity. If this isn’t a possibility, the event may still be worth participating in, but it’s good to ask.
6. Ask how the celebrity gifting or event opportunity will be promoted/publicized by the organizer. Will the company issue a press release that includes your products/services or do some sort of other editorial media push to help you leverage the opportunity? Many independent gifting companies do this, and certainly, if you’re getting the opportunity through a PR firm they should absolutely include some kind of publicity in the price. If none is included in the opportunity you are evaluating, it may still be worth participating in, but know that you’ll be left to handle this important component on your own and it is the MOST important part of gifting celebs! You want the world to know that the stars have your goods!
Where can you find celebrity gifting opportunities? Right here for starters! PR 101 Radio offers a wide variety of celebrity gifting opportunities year-round. To find the current events open for participation, visit www.PR101Radio.com and click on the various buttons on the left hand navigation bar to read more about each event. You can find more events by doing a simple Google search for celebrity gifting.
ER’s Ming Na shows off a baby sling gifted to her by one of my clients, Mamma’s Milk.
Turn me on….Wednesdays, 12-1pm PST on wsRadio.com
- Erika
