Brands and celebrity – Has the game changed?

By Simon Gentry

Kim Kardashian may have ushered in the age of the social media ‘influencer’, but it’s a fair guess that she didn’t foresee just how powerful it would end up being.  Brands have sought to associate themselves with celebrities for decades of course, but social media has supercharged the concept – and it’s become much more political.

Ronaldo choosing to brush aside a fizzy drink in favour of water happened at a time when some governments - including ours - are mulling measures to reduce consumption of high sugar and high fat food and drink. That’s political.

Naomi Osaka deciding that she’s not going to do press conferences, despite having signed lucrative contracts with a range of brands keen to be associated with her, in order to protect her mental health is political in that it comes at a time when mental health and how the health service and society deals with it is a hot political issue.

More topically, sports men and women taking the knee - which for better or worse is perceived by many as controversial - whilst endorsed by brands creates challenges which may not have been foreseen when the sponsorship was agreed.

In the last few days, advertisers on GB News have been attacked by activists opposed to the new station.  Most advertisers claimed not to know that ads would run on GB News and withdrew them pending a review.  The Co-op, having been stung by the same activists previously for advertising in The Spectator, had a well thought through and polished response.

The advent of social media has changed the game, and means that companies will need to work harder to think through and prepare for all the potential implications, political and otherwise, of their endorsements and influencers taking a stand on unrelated issues.  Likewise sports teams and individual sports men and women will also have to think through their responsibilities to those who pay their wages.