"Sometimes you come up with an idea that requires creative and technical wizardry to provide an internal client with exceptional value. Then, after the initial excitement has worn off, the scale and difficulty of the task becomes apparent. 
PERSONALITY BRANDING
Understand personality branding and you can dramatically transform the way you communicate with your target market.
Personality Branding is about using well-known TV presenters or actors to promote your products, services or training. This is such an easy way of generating energy and interest that I am surprised so few companies consider it.
The reason for this is that most companies, in particular small ones, make the following false assumptions about using personalities:
1. “They’ll be too expensive”
2. “They wouldn’t want to be associated with my company”
3. “It’s something only large companies do”.
As this article explains, this isn’t always true.
Understanding Personalities
All actors, presenters or personalities work on a freelance basis and want to be wanted; some might say loved. This means they are often available for work and on the look-out for the next job. They work on a variable daily or hourly rate, which means that a day filming with you or a couple of hours audio recording will fit in with their working schedule.
The type of production you require them for will influence the rate you pay.
Expect to pay more if you want your actor or personality to be associated with a high-profile marketing campaign. Such an expense should be viewed as an investment — the right person is going to deliver all sorts of long-term benefits. Therefore, the person you use should be a reflection of the type of company you are and the values you hold dear. For your employees, don’t underestimate the impact a personality can have. Somebody who is famous and who is suddenly associated with the company can raise morale considerably.
Recording Rates
In most instances, the rates for using an actor or personality in a corporate video or audio production are not prohibitive. You can hire a good voice-over artiste from £250 per hour and for filming work you can expect to pay upwards of £500 per day. In doing so, you will be investing in professionalism, expertise and peace of mind.
It is highly unlikely a personality won’t want to be associated with your company, unless what you do is highly controversial or politically sensitive. Nor do they work only with companies quoted on the stock exchange. Actors and personalities work for all sorts of organisations, on all sorts of projects and at all sorts of daily rates. Their agents want to keep them working and often corporate work is a good way to keep the wolf from the door before a more lucrative TV contract comes up.
Casting is Everything
When using actors, presenters or personalities, don’t fall into the trap of suggesting only the people who appeal to you. Think about your target market. Are they young, middle-aged or old? What socio-economic category do they belong to? If you are trying to attract an under-30s market, Michael Aspel or Jennie Bond may not be the right person. Instead, find out the names of some of the programmes or game shows that are aimed at that target market and make a note of the presenters and actors that appear. In case your favourites prove to be unavailable or too expensive, create a shortlist of up to 10.
If you are short of ideas this link to www.cmmol.net will take you to a site that acts as a booking agent for a wide range of actors, presenters and personalities. Alternatively, if you suddenly see someone on television who you think would be suitable, go to www.spotlight.com. Here you can type in the name of the actor and details of his or her agent will appear.
The Pay-off
Working with personalities will deliver some, or all, of the following benefits:
1. Raise the profile of your marketing or training initiative so that it is memorable
2. Distinguish what you offer from that of your competitors
3. Introduce a new level of creativity and professionalism to what might appear routine or dull
4. Raise the morale of your employees
5. Contribute to raising overall business performance.
If you would like to learn more about media-driven marketing, you may wish to read other articles on the site: 'Commission a Video', 'How To Start Podcasting', and 'Why Podcasting?'
I have worked with actors and presenters on a wide range of projects and will handle the whole process from concept through to casting, contract and production. If you would like to discuss personality branding in more detail, then please contact me at info@podcommunications.co.uk.
Joe Pélissier