Your next media tour is scheduled, and you’ve signed a celebrity spokesperson who will deliver the brand’s message. Then you find out — there’s a conflict of interest. The spokesperson recently represented a competitor, and now they’ll be representing your brand, causing confusion for the audience. What now?
A celebrity spokesperson can be the right fit for Satellite Media Tours when the goal is to increase the visibility or reputation of a company, but there are several questions we recommend you ask the celebrity’s agent before signing the contract.
If you’re an Olympic Sponsor, it’s especially important to ask these questions as we head towards Paris 2024 and many companies are using athletes as the face of their brand.
Here are five questions we suggest asking the spokesperson’s agent, before signing any type of contract:
What other projects is the spokesperson working on? Unfortunately, this information is not always forthcoming, so it’s important to ask what other projects could potentially be before or after yours. After all, you’re paying a lot of money for the spokesperson’s appearance and you want to be able to get the proper audience engagement. Other projects could potentially cut down on the amount of time that your project is in the media spotlight.
Are media blackouts required ahead of time? If so, you will need to plan accordingly.
What appearances has the spokesperson done recently? If the spokesperson recently worked on a campaign with a competitor, it may be best to either wait a little while or to change routes.
When was the last time they did a media tour? You don’t want their last appearance to outshine yours. Giving the previous appearance a little time to wane is likely the best approach for stellar results.
Are there outlets that are off-limits? If a spokesperson has previously talked about certain subjects, there may be outlets that are off-limits.
The bottom line: do your research. If you do your due diligence and do a media search ahead of time, you can be aware of any conflicts of interest ahead of time and find ways to work around them. Looking at recent tours and past stories is a great place to start, and we can help facilitate a thorough search.
We also want to point out that there is a balance when it comes to concerns over a project. A project years ago is probably not relevant to your current topic and most likely will not conflict. We’ve had clients worry about a media tour on a similar topic that happened a while ago. Because of the way the media cycle turns over, that is likely not a point of concern.
We’re here to help you work through any potential conflicts, but in order to avoid problems, we recommend looping us in from the very beginning. When we are involved in a media tour from the very first idea, we can chart a proper path to your desired results. Start your next tour without any conflicts of interest and contact us.