It is said that Hollywood celebrities have always appealed to a broader audience, while YouTube stars are more for the younger generation. In this panel, Marcus Peterzell, a seasoned veteran in the entertainment marketing business and the EVP of Entertainment and head of Ketchum’s Music Marketing and Feature Film Production, finds the distinct similarities and differences between “digital” and “traditional” and how these two can blur their own edges and seek compromise in terms of handling their audience.
Film Legend, Laura Dern from Big Little Lies and The Last Jedi starts the talk, stating that back in the day; stars were considered to be untouchable beings. It was their mysterious mystique that drew the audience to them, causing them to rapidly crave more information.
Now, the ideal celebrity persona has been altered. Worlds that are normally beyond reach such as beauty and fashion are easily entered by internet stars through makeup tutorials, brand mentions, and lookbooks. Grace Helbig, comedian, actress, and award-winning YouTuber, acknowledges the fact that people nowadays do not like commercials, moreso inauthentic commercials that are hard sells. “As a creator, you realize that the connection with your audience is transparent,” shares Helbig.
Helbig states that the audience is mindful of the brands they work with and the content they create with them, thus, despite advertising a certain product, since there was room for creating original content, the advertisement was well-accepted by her forum. “Our audiences don’t pay us in our finances, they pay us in attention.”
Helbig and Dern wrap the conversation by stating ways brand people, marketers, or advertisers can continue to entice celebrities whether online or digital:
- It is important for the brand’s core values to resonate with the prospect’s audience.
- Brainstorm with each other to reach compromise. Collaboration is a must for any content creator.
- Create different variations of things and be flexible within it.
- Layers of people in-between a pitch may work for one, but not another
