Star search: here's how even the smallest business can win big-name celebrity endorsements - includes instructions on getting an endorsement

Entrepreneur, Sept, 1996 by Mark Henricks

In some industries, personal contacts are the accepted and may be the only way to obtain celebrity endorsements. Valerie Barth, acquisitions editor for Berrett-Koehler, says the publishing company never pays a cent to the well-known names who contribute comments for their advertising and marketing campaigns and book jackets. "It would destroy the [comments'] credibility if we paid for them," explains Barth.

Nor does Berrett-Koehler go to any great lengths to snare endorsements. Instead, it turns that job over to its authors, who are expected to contact well-known friends, acquaintances and colleagues about reviewing and commenting on a manuscript.

Most stars can be contacted only through their agents or managers, but that doesn't mean you can't put a personal spin on your pitch. Finding a way to tie your endorsement to a star's pet charity, favorite sport or recreational activity, or personal preferences can give you a major edge over propositions aimed only at the bottom line.

You may be able to make a donation to a star's favorite cause instead of paying the star. Highland Park, Illinois, marketing and public relations consultant Thomas Harris was able to get TV actress Betty White to help out with a pet-related charity because of White's personal interest in animal welfare.

Even if there's no connection between your cause and the star's, you may be able to appeal to the needs of someone else who is close to the star. Egart believes one of the keys to his successful wooing of Wayne Gretzky was making the athlete's wife, actress Janet Jones, part of the deal. "Our approach was, 'It's an opportunity for the two of you,'" Egart explains of Jones' role as the company's co-spokesperson.

Another way to get big names to sign for low fees is to simply keep your eyes open for an opportunity to make it easy for a celebrity to help you. "Part of the trick is getting people between engagements, where they're available and they have nothing better to do," says Harris.

Harris should know: He got mega-endorser Bill Cosby to do spots for the nonprofit Pet Food Institute because the actor was between commitments and had free time. Harris suggests watching local news to see when a celebrity may be in town for a regional theater production, awards ceremony or other activity that should leave lots of free time for undemanding endorsement work.

It's critical to recognize that celebrities are typically very busy people, Egart notes. One of the keys to landing Gretzky for First Team Sports was promising to sharply limit the number of personal appearances the star would have to make. For a person who is already successful and wealthy, a time-consuming, troublesome commitment may not be worth it at almost any price.

These days, celebrity spokespeople can be seen endorsing almost every conceivable type of product or service. That fact alone argues strongly that celebrity marketing works, even if it isn't always easy to get the right person for the right price. And there's no doubt that the cases where the payoff is huge will keep entrepreneurs trying to hitch their wagons to the stars.