Brand Partnerships with Rising Talent
In the blink of an eye an unknown actor or singer can become an A-List celebrity who costs millions to work with. Often it doesn't just occur overnight, as though it can seem that way for some.
Generally, there are at least a couple of years in between their humble beginnings and becoming a household name. Working with talent right before their big break is the difficult as you can never really know when the exact moment when that will occur. The only thing brands can do is make an educated guess, take a chance, and work with talent while they're on the rise. In this blog, Hollywood Branded discusses rising music artist and actress Reneé Rapp and her recent brand partnerships.
Who is Reneé Rapp?
Reneé first started making a name for herself appearing in 2019 as Regina George in Mean Girls: The Musical on Broadway.
Photo: Mean Girls the Musical
Two years later she appeared on-screen as Leighton Murray in HBO Max, now just MAX, original series The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Photo: Max
Shortly after, in 2022, she released her first single "Tattoos" and EP Everything to Everyone and went on tour.
Photo: Interscope Records
Photo: Interscope Records
Photo: Interscope Records
A true hustler. This year Reneé filmed Mean Girls: The Musical appearing in theaters this coming January, released her debut album Snow Angel, and has just ended her US leg of the Snow Hard Feelings Tour.
Photo: Paramount
Photo: Interscope Records
Photo: Interscope Records
With 1 million followers on Instagram and 1.5 million on TikTok she certainly is on the rise and some brands have already taken notice and jumped at the opportunity to partner with her.
Tumi
Founded in 1975, TUMI is a business, travel, lifestyle, and accessories company that prides themselves on providing high quality sustainable products. The company caters to sophisticated business people and travelers ages 25 - 35.
Photo: Instagram | @tumitravel
Photo: Instagram | @tumitravel
A girl who is clearly on-the-go, Reneé partnered with TUMI this year to promote their Voyageur and Georgica collections.
Photo: TUMI
Given Reneé's strong following among women ages 20-34 and how she's quickly moving up the ranks in notability, it is clear to see how she aligns with their brand.
TUMI's partnership with Reneé allows them to become top-of-mind as the luggage, bag, and accessories brand for this trend setting crowd who are entering and are already established in the workforce.
Photo: Instagram | @youngexwives
SweetGreen
When brands partner with talent it's important that they're a match. Of course, it's preferred that they're authentic consumers or users of the brand they're endorsing.
In Sweetgreen's case, Reneé was the perfect person to partner with.
In an interview with PEOPLE Reneé shared how much she loves Sweetgreen saying, "I have been a very public Sweetgreen fan for so long." She then recalled calling her mom right after getting her salad and telling her she had to come to New York and visit Sweetgreen.
During the same interview with PEOPLE Reneé continued to talk about when her label asked her what collaborations she wanted to do she easily replied with, "Well, I want a bowl at Sweetgreen." She then went as far as to call a bowl at Sweetgreen her Tony.
Well build a bowl with Sweetgreen she did as on September 13th Sweetgreen announced that for a limited time The Reneé Rapp bowl would be available for purchase.
As part of the partnership, Reneé even went to her local Los Angeles Sweetgreen to make some bowls and meet some fans!
This is an excellence way that brands can work with a celebrity to directly impact sales while ensuring maintaining authenticity.
The Salty Donut
A partnership that brands might not immediately come to mind is one with the artist indirectly.
For example, donut shop The Salty partnered with Reneé Rapp to do a one day only activation in celebration of her concert in North Carolina at The Filmore.
Photo: The Salty
It was announced the day before on both The Salty and Reneé's official fan page run by her team, YoungExWives on Instagram, that fans who visited The Salty location in North Carolina and purchased Reneé Rapp's Raspberry and White Chocolate Snow donut could win a ticket upgrade or receive a free merch item.
To share the excitement around this partnership, Instagram stories of fans who were able to pick up the exclusive Reneé donut were reposted by the official fan account.
In order to preserve the stories and continue brand awareness, a highlight was also created on the YoungExWives Instagram so new fans, aka Young Ex Wives, who visit can still become aware of the brand if they weren't already.
Additionally, since there wasn't any heavy lifting from Reneé herself and only a little work was needed from her team, a partnership like this is great for brands who may not have a huge budget but would like to work with talent to leverage their fanbase.
benefits of working with rising talent
It's a delicate dance that brands must do when wanting to increase brand awareness and amplify their chances of product/service trial.
The best way for them to do that while keeping the total fee low (compared to partnering with A-List celebrity) is by working with rising talent.
There are a number of benefits to brands working with talent on the come up. In addition to the monetary aspect, where a brand can begin working with the star at a lower fee than once they are a major celebrity. Moreover, if the talent loves the brand, the brand can negotiate being grandfathered in fee-wise as they becomes a well-known celebrity.
Money aside, talent that is earlier in their career are more likely to be more enthusiastic about the partnership. The up-and-coming star is highly likely to recognize that a brand working with them is a vote of confidence.
As a result, they will be more likely to discuss the brand more with their inner circle and fans. This in turn provides makes the star's collaboration with the brand more genuine.
Not only does the talent understand this, but so do their fans who will be more inclined to promote the brand driven by their excitement of seeing that a brand supports their favorite artist/actor as well.
Take it from these fans who dressed as some of Reneé's previous brand partners for her concert and halloween!
Lastly, when a brand works with a rising star they are more likely to get first rights. This usually means that if both parties enjoy working together, when the partnership contract is up, the brand gets first dibs to to renew before the category becomes available again to competitors.
If the brand and public figure want to continue a partnership together, the brand can then maintain category exclusivity unless otherwise negotiated.
So to the brands who want to partner with a celebrity but may not be ready for a full multi-million dollar deal, look to the rising stars. Because you never know which ones will go down in history!
Eager To Learn More?
Enjoyed learning about how brands can work with celebrities and want to learn more? Check out the blogs below.
- Rocking the Brand Partnership
- Top 10 Steps To Create A Successful Music Video Partnership
- Samsung's Celebrity Partnerships
- Top Fast-Food Celebrity Partnerships
- Influencer and Celebrity Endorsements 101
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