Corporations Joining Forces with Celebrities
Written By: Jake Krumwiede
Over what seems like a single night, corporations have been working towards targeting specific audiences with the implementation of celebrity-based campaigns. More specifically, they are using the names and preferences of certain celebrities to gain market share over the fans of said artists.
The first example that comes to mind regarding this tactic is when McDonald’s, one of the world's largest fast-food chains, promoted “The Cactus Jack.” For those who may not know, Cactus Jack is the nickname of world-renowned Hip-Hop artist Travis Scott. Over the years, Scott has garnered millions of fans who stretch all across the globe, including his current Instagram reach of 43.6 million followers. The meal was no more than what Travis Scott prefers on his typical McDonalds order (Quarter-Pounder with Cheese topped with bacon and lettuce, Medium Fries, BBQ sauce for dipping, and a Sprite,) yet drew massive appeal from his fans, and anyone else who was interested in what the A-lister preferred from their local McDonalds. Needless to say, this tactic found huge national success for the brand, drawing in lines of fans who were highly anticipating the meal.
McDonald’s isn’t the only brand to utilize this tactic. In fact, a variety of fast-food chains have implemented the same strategy in order to introduce their brand as the lifestyle choice of major celebrities. Notable examples of other brands following suit include:
Burger Kings, who introduced the “Cornell Haynes Jr.” mean, which was part of their “Keep it Real Meals” campaign. Cornell Haynes Jr. is most famously known as the hip-hop/r&b singer “Nelly.”
Popeyes went after one of the most popular hip-hop artists “Megan Thee Stallion.” She exploded onto the hip-hop scene over the last few years, so Popeyes collaborated with her to create the “Hottie Meal.”
None of the companies listed were the first to come up with the idea of pairing with celebrities as influencer marketing has existed almost as long as social media has been around. However, over the last few years, we have seen a serious uptick in companies deciding to outsource their marketing towards celebrities and create products around them. Though there are many places to point fingers about the origin of this behavior, there has been one company that has mastered this practice. Epic Games, and their premiere product Fortnite, has done this better than arguably anyone else. They have implemented celebrity features into the game's virtual world on a number of occasions. This list features popular names such as Marshmello, Ariana Grande, Neymar, Harry Kane, and yes, Travis Scott.
It’s unlikely to see this technique to reach audiences, specifically younger ones, disappear anytime soon. Today's generations are all so interconnected with the internet and have become so technologically savvy, brands are forced to keep up in order to retain those audiences. It’s interesting to see how they will develop over the coming years, and what a major company (and celebrity) can come up with next.