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Can Retail Success Be Boiled Down to Celebrity Stardom and Popularity?
At the end of September, famous singer Taylor Swift started frequenting NFL player Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs games, which ignited rumors of a possible new relationship that has since been confirmed. According to Insider, Swift’s attendance boosted Kelce’s social media following and, in turn, could land him a financial touchdown in the millions with new endorsements.
By no means is Kelce suffering financially. Beyond the $12.3 million he’s earning on the field this season, as reported by Spotrac, Kelce has also carved out a niche for himself in the entertainment world. He once took center stage in a reality dating series on E! titled “Catching Kelce” and has since launched a highly popular sports podcast, sharing the mic with his brother, Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Avid sports viewers would also be hard-pressed not to spot him frequently gracing their screens in various advertisements. Industry expert Andrew Petcash from Profluence pegs Kelce’s annual endorsement earnings at a whopping $5 million, partnering with big-name brands such as Nike, T-Mobile, Old Spice, and McDonald’s.
The biggest boon resulting from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship so far is the increased sale of the football player’s sports merchandise, including jerseys, fatheads, and onesies. After Swift’s first Chiefs’ game, Kelce’s merchandise “saw a nearly 400% spike in sales throughout the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com,” a spokesperson told The Associated Press. Additionally, Kelce’s podcast soared to the No. 1 spot on Apple Podcasts at the time.
As Kelce’s recent retail success shows, it seems evident that the ability to influence consumers has only gotten easier. But is that a good thing?
Pop culture influence and marketing used to be locked behind only a few gatekeepers, but the advent of social media has shifted the power balance considerably.
For more than 20 years, the “Oprah Effect” reigned supreme: Everything and everyone that Oprah Winfrey endorsed or associated with seemed to strike gold. Consider brands such as Spanx and Carol’s Daughter, which skyrocketed to fame, and figures like Dr. Oz and Toni Morrison, who garnered massive attention after their appearances on Winfrey’s program.
Does this mean that the general consumer is easily swayed by celebrity stardom and now social media influencers with large followings? Though some people might prefer to make decisions based on research and varying perspectives, livestream shopping shows us that not everyone does.
HubSpot explained that for better or worse, “influencer recommendations matter more than recommendations from friends and family,” and “as of 2021, almost 60% of marketers said influencer marketing was the most effective marketing trend.” In 2022, 30% of consumers found influencer recommendations more important than those from friends or family, at 27%. This shift makes sense as influencers are typically considered experts in their respective fields. Because of this, many e-commerce businesses prioritize influencer marketing rather than relying solely on word-of-mouth, as influencers and celebrities wield more influence over their audiences.
This certainly seems to be the case with Taylor Swift, who inadvertently influenced her own fans to buy Kelce’s merchandise. Some might even consider her a more current example of the Oprah Effect.
Discussion Questions
Does every brand or retailer now need strong ties with celebrities and influencers of all levels to succeed? Should retailers be preparing new strategies in case influencers ever see a decline?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lucille DeHart
Principal, MKT Marketing Services/Columbus Consulting
Lisa Taylor
Director of Retail Consulting U.S., Thought Provoking Consulting (TPC)
Retail success cannot simply be boiled down to those factors. Why? The vast majority of retail sales are not influenced, in any way, by celebrities or stardom. Most are influenced by other factors. That does not mean that celebrity endorsement isn’t helpful – sometimes it can be and in certain segments like sporting goods it is extremely valuable. But it is not the be all and end all. It is also the case that some of the sales bump caused by celebrities is simply about awareness rather than pure influence. For example, when the current Princess of Wales wears an outfit from a mainstream retailer she brings that brand and product into the public spotlight. Arguably, that might be a form of influence – but it is also partly akin to the job done by traditional advertising rather than being simply a factor of endorsement.
How many NFL fans have just “discovered” Taylor Swift, too? A net worth of $1 billion doesn’t get that way by ignoring new markets. So, I believe every brand needs to advertise and market heavily for success. Influencers and celebrities are just paid actors. There is no real magic here. It’s the same story with a different twist, and not every brand needs these actors to be successful.
Retail success boils down to smart strategy, products and experience at a desirable price, and the tech and logistics to get those SKUs into the hands of shoppers everywhere and through every channel. What makes brands unique are things like service, value, quality, and product mix. One size does not fit all.
Celebrity endorsements? If you’ve got the cashflow and the right target market, sure. Influencers? Friends and family still count, and paid influencers overtook naturally passionate product or brand fans long ago. Again, get out your wallet. In other words, get your core retail and omnichannel business right or you wouldn’t be able to handle the fame effect, anyway.
Oprah Winfrey had a daily talk show in which to push products. She was a once in a lifetime phenomenon. Taylor Swift has millions of “Swifties”, young fans who are into whatever she is into at the moment. Football is fine, but frankly, I wish Taylor Swift would date an environmental scientist or someone equally as useful.
Georganne, yes! We’d solve global warming overnight if she would! And imagine the songs that would come out of that:)
Exactly!
The “swift effect” is a phenomenon and not one that retailers/brands can replicate or leverage on demand. Using influencers and celebrities is not a flawless strategy, when brands become too aligned with celebrities, they are at the mercy of their X feeds, social media and behaviors that may not align with the brand culture. Much like CEOs who ask their CMOs to create a viral video (as if it were that easy), the true wealth of celebrities comes when they organically associate with a product or brand. While product placements and paid endorsements have a role in the overall marketing plan (especially when trying to make inroads into new markets/demographics), they should not be the central focus or disproportionate allocation of budget spend. Unless their last name is Kardashian–then all bets are off.
Not every brand needs celebrity backing. Quality is repeatedly reflected in the data as the most important revenue driver. That said, with mega stars like Taylor Swift, there will be an inevitable sales lift if her name becomes attached.
When it comes to celebrities that can influence purchases among coveted demographics, there’s Taylor Swift and everyone else. Swifties (guilty as charged and never thought I’d say it) are a fiercely loyal bunch. Comparisons to Oprah aren’t far off. The Onion headline that popped up in the wake of Oprah’s announcement that she was ending her television reign comes to mind “Oprah viewers patiently awaiting instructions.”
Influencer and celebrity-driven retail sales are not a new development. Indeed, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s new relationship has become an instant social media phenomenon and introduced the possibility of plenty of new brand partnerships and collaborations. However, despite what may appear at the surface, celebrity and influencer-led purchase decisions are a smaller percentage of consumer purchases.
The Taylor Swift impact and “Swiftie economy” is real and has helped the artist achieve unprecedented heights, as she now has a net worth of $1B. Additionally, the NFL has benefited significantly from the millions of new fans tuning in, especially to Kansas City Chiefs games. Pop culture has always greatly influenced teenage shopping decisions and emerging fashion trends.
Fundamentally, while retailers and brands may benefit from social media phenoms like Taylor, they must focus on the fundamentals and execute against their brand promise. The “attention economy” is at an all-time high with the omnipresence of TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media platforms. However, once you have the consumer’s attention, brands and retailers must perform and execute to keep their interest in your company.
Taylor Swift’s impact on merchandise sales is an outlier. Word of mouth still matters, product quality still matters. Price still matters. George Clooney telling me I should drink this tequila? Not so much.
Or the Rock telling me to drink his tequila. I don’t think it make a difference. Quality and price rule.
It’s not so much the specific influencer that matters, celebrity or otherwise. Shoppers are hungry for information to help them buy the products that won’t disappoint. Some retailers who do a good job of providing product information, and a way for shoppers to see how that product would work for them in their daily life, see results equal to influencers. And nothing beats a personable, extremely well informed store employee not only enjoy the buying experience, but continue to be satisfied with the product they purchased.
No, this is not the sure path to success. There has been many celebrity driven brands that have not succeeded even some that have recently closed in 2023 such as Hello Bello Brand from Kristin Bell and Dax Shepard. There are only a few celebrities that can have that long-term appeal to have sustainable support for a brand. Michael Jordon, Tailor Swift and Oprah Winfrey are at a much higher level of appeal than many of the celebrity tied products that get released each year. Lesser-known celebrity brands may only garner a couple of years of product viability.
Of all the ways that this subject could have been introduced, the chosen headline is more than a little maddening. Are influencers important? Of course. Are celebrity influencers even more important? Yep. Was Skims success attributable to the fame of Kim Kardashian? Yep. But how about the fact that she identified a problem/opportunity and solved it…??? And her fame was nuclear fuel for marketing?
How about good old fashioned quality and value and problem solving? And supply chain 101, and distribution 101, and last mile 101…??? And if an influencer can help accelerate the whole marketing equation, great. But if not, there are still building blocks of success that can create a great outcome. Yes, my boomer button was just successfully pushed.
Stars give brands a shortcut to credibility, trust and selling at scale.
Despite these benefits, not every brand needs to partner with an influencer. Quality, sincerity and word-of-mouth can help terrific brands stand on their own.
Recent celebrity scandals prove it’s best to diversify marketing efforts rather than rely on star power.
When good fortune brings a magic match of celebrity to a retailers door, they should leverage it for excellent result. However, they also need to know those results are not permanent and should not bet the future in the celebrity.
Salton-Maxim should be our morality tale to sober us up. George Foreman brought outstanding success to their grills. Yet they had an entire line of products and they failed to develop any strength beyond that one celebrity product. As sales of that product faded, so did their stock price and they ended up having to sell for pennies per share.
Wiser actions would have leveraged a bigger advantage for the whole company from the period of “influencer” fame.
Taylor Swift is a singularity (well, maybe in a league with Beyoncé). I don’t know of any celebrity endorsers of Hoka sneakers and they’ve exploded. More often than not, the product really matters.
im hoping TS gets people voting. It’s a more important job
While some may be influenced by the celebrity themselves, wanting to support their brand (in the case of the Swifties buying Travis Kelce jerseys). The greater value a celebrity provides is visibility. Many people wouldn’t know about a particular dress, purse or shoes, etc. until they see a celebrity wearing it. It’s like a live model fashion show where the broader public is able to see how to style it and what it looks like on a person IRL (who often times has been professionally styled).
This is a farce of a suggestion. Smart retailers know how to save space for hot licensing properties while remaining true to their consumers and class of trade. In the meantime, hot celebs or influencers have little or no impact on purchase decisions when consumers are sick or have razor thin budgets.
Retailers should remain true to their missions and value propositions and leave couples d’jour to the entertainment industry.
Celebrities and influencers can help draw in a lot of attention for brands. Many consumers trust these two groups more than brands because they come across more like the “average Joe” when providing recommendations, compared to a revenue-driven brand. That said, their relevancy and clout can come and go with time. Not to mention, most partnerships require paid agreements that are often costly for brands. Though these kinds of partnerships are certainly an important part of any consumer-facing brand’s strategy, they shouldn’t hang their hats on this approach.
Brands should prioritize the overall user experience. When a customer comes in via a celebrity or influencer, is it easy to find the items driving them to the website? How is the site search experience? Do you offer payment and shipping options that meet the customers’ preferences? Even if a customer is pulled in because of an influencer, a bad online shopping experience can still result in a lost sale.
There’s no denying that pop culture influences purchasing decisions, especially when we’re talking about celebrities like Taylor Swift. But we’ve seen brands and retailers succeed for years prior to the rise of influencer marketing. Do they help? Sure, if they’re used strategically (or if a brand is lucky enough to tap into organic promotion like Travis Kelce has). But are they necessary? Not really. Influencer marketing comes with an array of challenges from identifying the right influencers and measuring ROI to the potential for controversy and lack of exclusivity. Leveraging influencers can take up huge chunks of marketing budgets that could instead be used to bolster stronger loyalty programs or marketing campaigns tailored toward personalization. At the end of the day, no tactic should be done in isolation. While influencers can be valuable partners, retailers should avoid solely relying on them and instead be ready to adjust their strategies based on market dynamics and shifts in consumer behavior.
In my opinion, not every brand or retailer needs ties with celebrities and influencers to succeed. While influencer marketing has become powerful, success still hinges on product quality and meeting customer needs. It’s crucial for retailers to build genuine connections with their audience. Relying solely on influencers may be risky, as trends can change. Retailers should focus on diverse strategies, including quality products, excellent customer service, and adapting to market shifts. Building a strong brand foundation ensures long-term success beyond influencer partnerships. Being prepared for changes in customer behavior is wise, but strategic diversity remains key for sustained success in the ever-evolving retail landscape.
Celebrities are useful for retailers if the values align with the retailer and targeted shoppers. However, any controversies with the celebrity can bounce back to the brand. Retailers need to always be mindful that they are in the retailing and not the entertainment business.
Although influencer marketing is a powerful tool for customer acquisition, it is not a requirement for brand success. Above all else, consumers are looking for retailers to provide seamless and personalized shopping experiences. Influencers and celebrities provide credibility to brands that they endorse to increase visibility and sales, but there is no guarantee that one-time shoppers will turn into loyal, repeat customers.