Going Gaga Over Celebrity Partnerships

By Katie Norwood

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words – but exactly how much is a face worth? That number is $34 million, according to a recent report on the partnership between international pop star Lady Gaga and MAC Cosmetics. Last year, the singer became the newest face of VIVA GLAM, a long-running campaign to raise money for the company’s charitable organization, MAC AIDS Fund. Known for her highly theatrical performances, dramatic makeup (and outfit choices) and for her signature larger-than-life persona, Lady Gaga is an inspired choice for VIVA GLAM in a variety of ways. As a result, her involvement in the campaign has been extraordinarily successful.

Face Time: Reach and Influence
One major reason the campaign has done so well is because Gaga is such a well-recognized face, especially among MAC’s target consumers. Counting over 28 million Facebook fans and 8 million Twitter followers, she is extremely powerful in terms of social media influence – a fact that has provided built-in publicity for every new commercial or appearance she makes for the brand. With a simple tweet or a quick post, Gaga can stir up quite a buzz among her fans. Need more proof? A Facebook post promoting VIVA GLAM that was added to her page yesterday afternoon has already garnered over 19,000 “likes” and over 4,000 comments.

A Powerful Voice
Celebrity partnerships can be very beneficial for nonprofit organizations, but to optimize a campaign’s success the organization must pick a spokesperson who is well-aligned with the cause and the brand image. For the VIVA GLAM campaign, for example, it would have made little sense to pick a spokesperson who was not known for wearing makeup or who was, well, unglamorous. Gaga is all about glamour; she has yet to make a single public appearance sans-makeup (or even a coffee-run, for that matter). Her association with the MAC AIDS Fund also makes sense in terms of cause and brand congruity. She has a large and very loyal fan base in the gay community, which has long been supportive of the fight against the disease, and has always the cause herself.

So taking Lady Gaga and VIVA GLAM as an example, it could be said that the ideal “face” of an organization is someone who truly cares about the cause and whom consumers will have no trouble linking with the brand. Also, someone who has considerable influence and who brings added value to the brand, in terms of social media power or a professional/social network of contacts.

Of course, being a huge celebrity doesn’t hurt either.

Developing a partnership with a spokesperson who cares about your nonprofit’s mission can be incredibly important to reaching and building relationships with your donors. Has your organization chosen a celebrity or spokesperson to serve as the “face” of the organization? If you haven’t and you are still looking, we would be happy to help you.

At The ThinkTank, our passion and our mission is helping nonprofits grow. Our team provides nonprofits with the resources they need to grow and thrive – so if your organization is looking to expand, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Reach The ThinkTank’s Chief Visibility Officer Vanessa Horwell at vanessa@thinkinkpr.com or Katie Norwood at knorwood@thinkinkpr.com. Please visit www.thinktankpr.org for more information.