It seems crazy, but people confuse celebrity with authority.
What celebrities do even dominates broadcast television newscasts. Who was seen with whom? Where can they be seen? What’s their latest health crisis? Who was just married? Who was just divorced? Who just had a baby? What is the latest movie or recording issued by our favorite actor or recording artist?
The public is vitally concerned with the health and the opinions of celebrities. They dominate talk shows as guests and subjects of gossip.
When you think about it, do they really know any more than the rest of us? Celebrity is largely an illusion.
Nonetheless, celebrity is effective. Young girls want to wear what Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Katie Perry (or whoever is popular at the moment) is wearing. Other women check out the styles of Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Anistan. Men emulate their favorite movie stars and athletes, like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Stephen Curry.
Arnold Schwartzenegger’s celebrity, together with the right opportunity (public disfavor of previous Governor Gray Davis), positioned him to become the Governor of California.
Donald Trump parlayed celebrity from The Apprentice, together with Hilary Clinton’s intense disfavor with conservatives, into the White House. His constant barrage of communications while President of the United States and afterwards has positioned him to be the Republican candidate again.
As a businessperson, you can position yourself as a celebrity for a niche or “small pond”. It’s OK to be a celebrity that people might not recognize at an airport, but the people you want to influence recognize.
A brand that has endured beyond death that everyone knows is Colonel Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken.) That particular brand was established with national advertising — prohibitively expensive for most businesses.
Tim Bajarin, currently Chairman of the Board of Creative Strategies in San Jose, California, established himself as an authority by commenting for the press on developments in the consumer electronics and technology industry, starting with the proliferation of personal computers and desktop publishing.
Dan Kennedy was a featured speaker on the Peter Lowe Success Seminar tour, speaking to crowds in arenas throughout the United States. He has been a key consultant to Guthy Renker in developing infomercials, and writes the Magnetic Marketing Newsletter and many books on marketing, time management, and management for entrepreneurs. His name regularly comes up in meetings of entrepreneurs about marketing.
Joe Polish initially established himself as a marketing expert for the carpet cleaning business, including a profile on 60 minutes. He has a podcast that’s popular with entrepreneurs, called I Love Marketing. He is recognized today as a leader in direct marketing for entrepreneurs.
With inexpensive self-publishing of books, email newsletters, text broadcasting, social media, web sites, blogs, podcasting, video webcasting, speaking opportunities, and publicity, and more, there are many media choices to establish yourself as a celebrity. It can be done with multiple media and consistent, intentional effort.
You, too, can become a celebrity for a certain audience, and incidentally become a recognized expert.
Would you like to discuss how you can apply these ideas? Contact me at mgray@profitadvisors.com to schedule a telephone conversation.