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Is it possible to get a celebrity to endorse your start-up without upfront compensation and without guarantee of future compensation? I am not talking about doing any sort of work. I'm talking about only a written consent to support the product that I could use when I speak with potential investors. Something that says "I like the product and if it is ever sold, I will publicly support it in return for the royalty", but take nothing upfront. Or is this not possible?

By the way, I wrote an email to a contact for one celebrity and never heard back. Wondering if they ever got the email and are not interested, or they never got it. Should I try to contact them again?

EDIT: Please, don't reply to me about how ineffective endorsements are. The point is not PR to the masses at this moment. The point is finding early customers who ARE celebrities.

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You get what you can negotiate, so it's certainly possible. But I would encourage you not to repeatedly email someone who doesn't email you back - most people would call this spamming. – Scott Wilson May 15 '12 at 0:34
+1 Depending on how famous the celebrity is, they may have a business manager responsible for finding and executing deals. Then again, I wouldn't place any value on celebrity endorsement (in lieu of investment), other than assume the founders lack business savvy. – bangdang May 15 '12 at 1:49
@ScottWilson, I understand that. Not talking about stalking anyone. – mvbl fst May 15 '12 at 4:21
@bangdang, I did email agent, I mentioned that I believe. Re. your last assertion, I disagree. There's a lot of products that sell because of celeb endorsements. – mvbl fst May 15 '12 at 4:21
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@mvblfst, actually, there isn't mention of contacting the celeb's agent in your question. i agree that there are products that sell because of celeb endorsements. But that's not the situation. Sure, anyone might consent to such terms, but a consent is not a contract and either party can easily pull out. A common response to such question may ask you to come back when you can demonstrate income for the celeb. With that said, you appear to live in a city where there are plenty of celebs and agents nearby. Perhaps networking may yield better results vs email/calls. – bangdang May 15 '12 at 5:36
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up vote 4 down vote

Of course it's possible. It takes excellent salesmanship.

But sending an e-mail once is not going to do the trick. You need to build a relationship, think like the celebrity you are trying to convince, and have a unique and compelling story for them. What's in it for them? Does your product fit their image? How other endorsement offers are they getting? Why should they pick yours? Once you have amazingly credible answers to those questions, then you'll succeed.

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Possible. Yes. Likely. No. Helpful at your current state of business development -- not likely.

I am sure there is a joke in this someone -- "like is a celebrity willing to endorse a produce before it is ever sold a celebrity any one will listen to?"

Celebrity driven marketing is often very helpful. Many celebrities support their lifestyles by selling their name and its attachment to a product. This is their business, and is done through their agents.

Even philanthropic activity is coordinated through their agents. If you are going to invest time is the possibly although highly unlikely -- you need to be contacting agents.

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up vote 1 down vote

This question, in one form or another, pops up here all the time. "I need to contact the top CEOs of all Fortune 500 Companies", or in your case- I need to contact celebrities".

First the bad news. When you get to be in charge of a big company, or you become famous the first thing you do is isolate yourself so that millions of random people can not contact you. When someone wins the lottery, they get thousands of pleas for money. Celebrities get tens of thousands of requests. There is not enough time in the day for them to even read these requests. Your chance of contacting a celebrity without an introductions from someone who knows them is near zero. A business proposal to their agent also has a near zero possibility of getting through.

Now the really bad news. Why do you think an endorsement by a celebrity would help your start up? Unless there is some direct tie in between your celebrity and your product and this endorsement will be widely publicised, the effect will probably be null. So without a viral-like effect (which you can not predict) the possibility of this working is very slight.

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Thanks for good points. Re. viral marketing - why do you single it out? Isn't it part of the marketing as a whole? Also, right now I am not talking about PR at all. I am talking about having someone basically say "I too am behind this" and no one else needs to see this except maybe a few people. And no, I am NOT saying that this is the ONLY thing I would rely on to get other people on board. It's only a part of the plan. – mvbl fst May 15 '12 at 4:27
Viral marketing is something people seem to think they can make happen. They will launch a "viral campaign" and become well known over night. This is like saying I'm working with my 2 year old son so that he will be a star in the NBA. The odds of that happening are near zero. – Gary E♦ May 15 '12 at 19:43

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