Whether it's a famous actress or a controversial football star, America has a celebrity obsession that dates back to the early days of Hollywood. With a rise in public exposure due to social media, celebrities have turned to PR and marketing companies to assure their image stays spotless.
New York based, WhoSay, is capitalizing on the celebrity image industry by providing a trusted platform for them to voice their opinions and develop their brand. The company is composed of three core pieces: a talent app, branded content and an editorial department.
Marketing the talent
WhoSay’s talent-facing app has been used by more than 2,000 celebrities to publish simultaneously on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and other platforms. The company recently added the ability to publish to mainstream distribution channels like Huffington Post, FlipBoard, People, or Sports Illustrated (all of whom have dedicated sections for celebrity editorials) and the app also features a messaging system for celebrity-to-fan communication. Celebrities can then view “Fanalytics” to better understand their engagement and demographics.
“What celebs are figuring out is that they need to be where their fans are so being in multiple places at once is imperative. Now days, exclusivity isn’t going to sell something or make your cause known, it’s about hitting as many people as possible and using whatever means you can to do it," said WhoSay Editorial Director Kirstin Benson.
Developing a celebrity brand
Through branded content, WhoSay has executed more than 70 campaigns in the past 16 months, using their data to pair celebrities with related brands and campaigns.
They recently participated in a campaign for Chevy called “The Best Day Ever” in which they sent celebrities as substitute teachers, including Alec Baldwin who donned an Abraham Lincoln costume to teach history at Occidental College.
Providing a platform
Between the website and app, the WhoSay editorial department is producing between 20 to 40 articles a day on entertainment and celebrity culture.
“We’re becoming the place where celebrities know they can trust us to get their full message out without editorializing it or tweaking the headlines or anything like that.”
Last summer they worked with Caitlyn Jenner to create a series of articlescalled The Real Me to showcase the struggles and joys of the transgender lifestyle. The series ran on WhoSay.com, but was also syndicated to People, Huffington Post, Medium, ABC News, and E! Online.
But just because celebrities can have their opinions heard, doesn’t mean they’re worth voicing in the first place. There tends to be a weekly athlete/celebrity foot-in-mouth moments, something Benson views as avoidable.
“Celebrities could be their own worst enemies. A celebrity is essentially a brand and if you are a brand, you’re representing a certain thing and one wrong step could screw it up. We’re seeing a lot of teams locking down their clients’ social media. The client will say ‘I want to post this’ and the team will weigh in on whether or not it's worth it. But if you aren't tech savvy or not inclined to social media it tends to be more harmful if the content coming out is insincere, or if it sounds like someone else is doing it.”As for the people who don’t feel as though celebrity opinions are noteworthy or worthwhile (it’s safe to assume they haven’t read this far), they may be denying the fact that these celebrities’ words and actions influence and motivate people far beyond fashion choices and product endorsements.
“People are generally quick to assume that social media and even the concept of a celebrity can be a bit asinine and frivolous. We’re seeing a lot of the celebrities who are on social sharing things about their lives, also raising awareness for great causes and tweeting about social issues that are important to know about.
"Fans can also interact with celebrities and a lot of the celebrities we work with tell us that they base some of their decisions and what they do on fan feedback. By being a fan of these people and interacting with them, you are actually in a position to make bigger things happen and effect change.”
Images via WhoSay
