As celebrities and influencers become brands’ communication mechanism of choice, the big talent agencies are making ambitious inroads into marketing budgets. It’s not just run-of-the-mill social media creators, but also well-known faces who, dissatisfied with the money they get from traditional media, now want to front – or even own – a brand in order to make up the shortfall.
Independent Talent Group is hot on the case and has been expanding rapidly over the summer, first by bringing in Deborah Turness, former BBC Director of News, to head up a new creative studio. She’s now focused on “building original media brands, franchises and intellectual property around some of the world’s most distinctive creative talent.”
Turness (below) understood from her time at the BBC (and before that ITN and NBC) that journalists can be a powerful brand in their own right, because audiences are more interested in hearing their hard-won professional opinions than they are in listening to politicians and celebs giving non-answers to the questions put to them.
Amol Rajan, former BBC Today show presenter, is putting this theory to the test by setting up his own online venture, the Amol Rajan Connection, sponsored by NatWest, Waitrose and Google Cloud. And so is Marina Hyde, who has just quit as a Guardian columnist to launch her platform, Always On, backed by Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger.
Independent Talent Group’s expansion includes a recent investment in sports talent agency Tongue Tied, and this week they have announced that seasoned professional Dan Chard – who has worked for talent agencies across music, sport and entertainment – has joined as chief commercial officer.
Chard sees an opportunity for comedy, too, which he considers an unexplored opportunity for brands. He has already signed up John Bishop to the roster which includes some A list names like Daniel Craig, Stephen Graham, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Gillian Anderson, Richard Ayoade and Lauren Laverne.
It’s not only AI that advertising agencies needs to worry about. The whole world of brands, personalities and sponsorships is building momentum and leaving the humble broadcast ad looking harder and harder to get excited about.
The advertising industry can only hope that this year’s crop of Christmas ads will make the case for brands cultivating their own voices rather than other people’s.
