It has been brought to my attention that recently, my social media has been bombarded with ads and sponsors. Looking back at my recent posts on Instagram, I guess I cannot deny it.
It’s been about almost 2 months since my return from Taiwan and thus far, I am pretty happy with the pace of work I’m going at. Of course, things aren’t going to suddenly pick up after being gone from the industry for 2 months and work was definitely slow at first not to mention a few hiccoughs here and there (a pending entry to be published regarding that when the timing is right), but I am definitely liking the way things are going at the moment.
I have a long, long way to go. A ton of objectives to meet and a bunch of goals to achieve. The thought of all my plans and the work I plan to do scares me but with the right team backing me up, I have full confidence pulling through.
Today, I want to give you a little insight on what it is to be a “Walking Billboard”. Being a public figure comes hand in hand with being a walking billboard. Just so you get the gist of what its mostly about, I’ll sum it up to the best of my lame capabilities to keep things short and sweet:
Business brands will approach public figures to engage them as a marketing tool in more forms than one. Depending on what sort of public figure you are, they will engage you accordingly. For instance, as a celebrity blogger, brands would engage you on a project that would require you to attend their events, use their brand, blog about it and give social media shout outs all in exchange for their goods and monetary compensation. As a public figure depending on what field you are in; sports, movies, music etc; you’ll be engaged in sponsorships and/or endorsements.
Endorsements and sponsorships are not always the same. Endorsement covers a lot more grounds than sponsorships. When you are endorsed by a particular brand, you live and breathe the brand and you become the face of the brand. Sponsorships are less demanding in that sense. For sponsorship agreements, you generally just get paid to wear or use their stuff. Of course, how much you get paid and whether or not you even do depends on the level of fame you are at.
Basically, this is the gist of advertising for public figures. It gets deeper than this depending on the field of publicity you are in but I won’t go into it because this is really not a business marketing post… although it’s starting to seem like one, oops.
The whole point of this entry is actually to clarify the advertising that I do. But before that, I have one more point to add. In most cases, brands will hire “talents” (non-celebrities) to star in their TV commercials, print advertisements and the likes. Of course, bigger budget productions can afford celebrities but those projects are just for added publicity. Anyhow, at this point in time, I would consider myself as a partial celebrity. Hence, realistically speaking at this point in time, TV commercials that I’m involved in, I would still be considered a “talent”. This just means other than not starring in any competing brand’s TV commercial for X amount of time, I’m not bound to that particular brand in any other way. Unlike endorsements, for example, where I cannot even be SEEN using a competing brand’s product.
All this being said and taken into consideration, as a pretty strong-headed individual, I’m not the type of person who would take up projects, endorsements, commercials, sponsorships etcetera that I’m not an avid supporter of. This just means that when I do decide to work on particular projects for advertising purposes, I pick and choose… very, very carefully. Especially when it comes to endorsements.
I am actually pretty fortunate to have such a wide selection simply because based on the work I do and will be doing, I cover a wide range of lifestyle brands. Because I blog (lifestyle related goods and services)… do sports hosting and love sports (sports related brands)… involved in a pageant (beauty related products)… partner of a fashion brand and a fashionista (fashion apparel)… heading towards artiste work in acting and singing (more lifestyle related goods and services)… as of late, I have been getting a lot offers and from reputable brands too!
I get so stoked when a brand that I absolutely adore approaches me to work on projects with them and I would consider myself very lucky.
In conclusion, what I want to make clear is, I will always be that walking billboard because… well, at the end of the day, I still need to make a living and believe it or not, doing artiste work is not the only form of income you can make as a celebrity.
As a walking billboard, I am putting my reputation on the line. Because of this, I feel the responsibility of ensuring that I do not endorse products and services that are nothing less than awesome. In other words, when I say something is good, I mean it. I don’t say its good just because someone pays me to. I say it because someone pays me to AND I honestly think its good ;p
Inversely, even if I don’t get paid for recommending or promoting a product or service, if I really do think it’s great, I would still do it! Good things should always be shared 😀
I will always preach the fact that I want to make a difference. It is my life goal (and a constant one throughout) to always make a difference… and for the better. So I would always endorse brands that are reputable and that will only mutually benefit both consumers and producers alike. And that’s a promise! 🙂
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