BUSINESS OWNERS EAGER for exposure can only dream of the celebrity attention that Stacey Griffin of New Orleans is getting.
Griffin started a new business in December selling eight-ounce boxes of purified water called Aqua2Go. The product, designed for kids and adults alike, is convenient like a juice box (and even comes with a straw) but contains water instead of a sugary-sweet beverage. With limited resources for marketing, "I started sending emails to everyone and anyone I could think of," she says.
And she sent letters with samples of her product to about 30 television shows, such as "The Today Show," "Regis & Kelly" and even "Oprah" "for giggles — the worst thing that can happen is that they'll never call me," she says.
A few short weeks later, Griffin was driving down a Louisiana highway when she got a phone call from a friend "screaming from the top of her lungs that Ellen [DeGeneres] was drinking a box and singing and dancing," she says. (See a video clip from the "Ellen" show here.)
Almost immediately, her email box started to fill up, as viewers of the comedian's talk show found Griffin's web site and asked, "Where can I buy it?" Hundreds of messages came in the first week, as well an order from a big supermarket chain and interest from other grocery stores. "This got me the national attention that I may have gotten, but it would have taken years," she says.
As Griffin's case illustrates, a few moments in the limelight can easily catapult a small-business owner from obscurity to national recognition. Whether it's Eva Longoria wearing a new designer's jewelry, or Prince playing a hand-crafted piano, or Maddox Jolie-Pitt wearing an independent retailer's T-shirt, the celebrity attention can boost an entrepreneur's profile — and bottom line.
Getting Hollywood's Attention Is Tricky
When a celebrity is spotted (and ideally, photographed) clutching your product, "you'll see a huge spike in sales from it," says Patricia Handschiegel, a consultant in Los Angeles who advises stores and designers on business strategies and owns StyleDiary.net, an online fashion site. "It's easy to get excited about it, because it does bring quick — and measurable — results." Getting your products into the hands of Hollywood elite can be difficult, though, and requires persistence. (See sidebar below.) Some entrepreneurs, like Griffin, do their own work, aggressively sending out emails and letters, and supplying samples of their products for gift bags at gala events and charity fundraisers. Others hire public-relations specialists and product-placement firms in a bid to build a celebrity fan base. "It's become a very popular request," says Kelly Anderson, president of Clover Public Relations in Los Angeles. "Celebrity product placement is at the top of the list."
Sometimes, though, winning a celebrity fan is just plain luck, as T-shirt designer Toby Munitz can attest. Two years ago, the Vista, Calif., mother started a side business designing rock-star-cool shirts for her young sons and their friends. Since Munitz and her husband already had a thriving adult T-shirt business, she thought the sideline, called Inky Dink Tees, would be more of a hobby.
And then, actress Angelina Jolie took a liking to the shirts, picking up one emblazoned "Human Cannonball" for son Maddox to wear on his first press outing (see photo at right). "It couldn't have landed in our lap better," says Munitz.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity, the entrepreneur sprung into action. "Once we had that photo in our hands, we sent out an email blast and a mailing to our retailers, saying 'if Maddox likes it, it's going to sell,'" she says. "The retailers really responded to it. The first New York [trade] show that we did, people were just lining up."
Extend the 15 Minutes
Indeed, it takes quick thinking and strategic decisions to parlay that brief moment in the spotlight into a lasting way to generate sales, says Handschiegel. "You really need to be prepared, not just in being able to fulfill the orders but to leverage that minute up to the next level," she says. Business owners should quickly incorporate a celebrity customer into their marketing efforts, using phrases such as "as seen on" in pitches to clients, partners, distributors and media outlets, she recommends. And, try to win more celebrity fans, she recommends.That's what Munitz, whose T-shirts are now sold in close to 200 boutiques nationwide, has done. After the Maddox photo, she turned to professional help, hiring Anderson's firm Clover. "I don't have a PR background, and when this started happening, magazines started contacting me and they were asking for press releases," she says. With help from Anderson, she's picked up more celebrity-parent clients, including Reese Witherspoon and Heidi Klum.
Can the celebrity attention ever hurt? Sometimes, says Handschiegel, who recommends that business owners seek a celebrity who would well represent their product. A designer who makes sophisticated jewelry, for instance, might want to target elegant actress Cate Blanchett rather than party girl Lindsay Lohan, she says.
Anderson, who represents numerous business owners who make baby, maternity and parenting products, says certain clients have told her, "I don't want Britney Spears because she doesn't represent a good model for parents." Not all share that thought, though; Anderson's client Munitz falls squarely in the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" camp. "If Britney's kids were in my stuff, it wouldn't matter to me," she says.
Griffin, the water-in-a-box maker, is thrilled with her exposure on the "Ellen" show — even if DeGeneres made up a jingle for Aqua2Go that was a little risque. In front of a live studio audience, the comedian sang a tune that mimicked singer Justin Timberlake's performance on "Saturday Night Live," in which he sang about making a novel gift for his girlfriend, "....in a box." (We can't print the full title here.) DeGeneres switched the words, explaining the steps needed to "suck the straw in the box" of Aqua2Go.
"I thought, oh I can forget getting into Disney World," Griffin says, with a laugh. But any apprehension vanished when the producers called a short time later and invited her to appear on DeGeneres's show. "I nearly dropped the phone and passed out." (See the clip of Griffin on "Ellen.")
Now Griffin is planning to sell as many as 2.3 million boxes of water this year (an eight-pack of boxes retails for $3.89), far more than she ever would have expected in her first year of business. And, "I haven't paid 50 cents yet for advertising," she says.
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