Hall of Fame or Name and Shame?
E Z I S BITE
S D N A R B CELEB
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame? A look into the credibility and execution of celeb founded brands.
November 2024
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame?
We’ve said it before and we’re not afraid to say it again - not every celeb needs to launch a brand. For every Fenty Beauty there’s ten Mike Tyson vape brands, and consumers are getting tired. So what makes a celeb brand that works? We think there are two key elements:
Credibility: Does the celeb have a right
to play in this space? Execution: How effective is the design and delivery?
In this Bitesize, we score a selection of celeb brands on this criteria, to see who’s in the hall of fame and who should be named and shamed.
“Despite the scepticism, last year celebrity owned beauty brands grew at
46.7%
faster growth rate than the overall beauty category” - The Conversation, 2024
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame?
By Tom Holland Inspired by Tom Holland’s own sobriety journey, 0.0% beer BERO was born as a reminder that sobriety shouldn’t equate to settling. This is reflected in the brand’s noteworthy disdain for category codes. The luxurious gold is a bold breakaway from the standard (and boring) blue and silver typical of 0% ABV, turning a booze free beverage to a premium product anyone would want.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
By Brooklyn Beckham Help, the celebs are coming for the hot sauces next! Multi-hyphenate Brooklyn’s modelling/photography career(s) didn’t work out so he’s now looking to the culinary world. With a steep price point and no real culinary expertise to back it up, was the market asking for this? The label has a personal touch, with illustrations in the style of Beckham’s tattoos, but as a whole it feels disjointed. The wooden stopper is straight out of the hot sauce playbook, but overall Cloud 23 is leaving us, well, cold.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame?
By Hailey Bieber As the epitome of the ‘clean girl aesthetic,’ Hailey definitely hit the on-brand bullseye with the launch of her beauty brand Rhode cosmetics. Centred around her best-selling lip peptide, this innovatively designed phone case is an incredible business move. With its unique hands free feature and viral traction, this product’s success already extends far beyond the famous name.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
By Molly Mae As creative director of PLT and position as a beloved influencer, Molly-Mae’s decision to launch her own fashion brand is on-brand. Consulting with her followers, Molly-Mae has identified a genuine need for timeless items that last. However she might need to pay slightly more attention to detail, as buyers have been finding the quality isn’t necessarily living up to the promise.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame? By Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day and Rob McElhenne This ‘Gang’ are leveraging their own lore here, creating a whiskey brand that encapsulates their American and Irish origins, plus it’s an on-brand homage to the bar in their sitcom ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’. The bottle’s rectangular shape cleverly reflects the meaning behind the name- the ‘four walls’ of any bar which provides a joint home. This being said, the clear nod to traditional whiskey cues observed here does beg the question- is this a classic design or is it simply a cliché?
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION By Logan Paul, KSI and Mr Beast Viral brands plus viral celebs should equal a super successful product that will be beloved by millions, no? Well, not quite for Lunchly. These snack packs are a joint venture between three giants of YouTube: KSI, Logan Paul, and MrBeast. Despite leveraging the fame of existing well-liked brands Prime and Feastables, early product reviews were far from stellar. The design is also somewhat uninspiring - simply leveraging existing brands isn’t helping Lunchly stand on its own, nor is it creating the impression of premium to justify the price point.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame?
By Harry Styles The playful colour-ways and mid-century design of Mr Styles’ nail polish brand, Pleasing, are both a strong display piece for your vanity and an apt reflection of the founder’s flamboyant fashion flair and fluid expression. Add in their “do better” social initiative supporting queer youth and you get a savvy business move combined with authenticity that consumers will love.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
By Dwayne Johnson Tequila on the rocks or Tequila by The Rock? While we were initially quite confused by this move considering Johnson’s lack of connection to tequila or Mexico, his commitment to nurturing a relationship with respected tequila distillers did have us changing our tune (a little). With a design that seems to mimic that of George Clooney’s Casamigos, Teremana could have easily been a cheap copy. However, the 1 million case mark sales volume speaks volumes for itself, emphasising the importance of a proportionate blend of celeb and category influence.
CREDIBILITY EXECUTION
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame?
What does this all mean? Some bitesize takeaways!
1
2
Make it make sense:
Create something so ridiculously on brand that all of your fans will be annoyed they hadn’t already predicted it coming.
Consider the stand alone factor:
Ensure that your brand is marketed and positioned well enough to survive without the face supporting it. If this isn’t the case, take a leaf out of The Rock’s book and leverage some in category expertise.
Leverage design to your advantage:
Make sure your product design is aligned with both the brand's positioning and the founder's own personality. And with guarenteed buzz around the product, don't be afraid to challenge category codes.
Hall of Fame or Name and Shame? Written by Lydia Uddin (they/them) Strategy Intern
Bringing a new brand to the market and want to chat about it? Get in touch.
Contact Andrew Mitchell (he/him) Growth Director Andrew Mitchell andrew.mitchell@missouri-creative.com
missouri-creative.com