Recently, major celebrity talent has started appearing at trade shows and other events. Katrina Kairf and a former Deepika Padukone are two examples of well-known individuals who have attended significant trade shows. A celebrity appearance can boost your visibility before and after they appear and boost attendance at your upcoming event.
Why Book a Celebrity?
The advantages of having a famous speaker at your event are clear. The primary defense is people’s enjoyment of seeing, hearing from, and interacting with their favorite celebrities. However, the case for working with a celebrity is a little more complicated.
Create an Impact
As with various locations and floor plans, celebrities can enhance your event in various ways. A well-known expert in the field can increase trade show attendance, a stand-up comedian can lighten the atmosphere and make people laugh at an awards dinner, and a dynamic speaker can motivate and inspire staff members during an important training session.
Essentially, getting a celebrity benefits you because their success promotes your event. No matter who they are or their talent, you can make the most of it to improve your event. Therefore, choosing a celebrity who appeals to your target audience is essential. If your target audience does not identify with the celebrity, their appearance is less likely to have the desired effect.
Who would be the perfect famous person to come to your event? It depends on the event’s goals and nature. Any event, including fundraising efforts, business gatherings, trade shows, and product launches, requires careful consideration when selecting the ideal celebrity guest. Depending on your needs, that might require looking into the following:
- Sports figures
- Movie, TV, or YouTube personalities
- Music acts
- Celebrity chefs
Alternatively, the individual may be well-known in your industry for creating a particular product or acting as a thought leader. In contrast to audiences at fitness expos, Bill Gates would be more well-liked by those at tech and philanthropic events.
Generate Publicity
When you book a celebrity, more people will likely be interested than just your audience. The incident may get picked up by the media, increasing your exposure. However, it would be best if you did not wait for that to happen.
Mainly if your celebrity guest performs or takes pictures, the issue of attendees wanting to post about the event on social media also comes into play. If your celebrity is well-known enough, people will want to take pictures of them with their phones just because they are there. Social media coverage is beneficial for promoting your event. When event attendees post about your celebrity appearance, the visibility of your event can be significantly increased. The options are endless if a famous person tweets about the event directly!
Reach Out to Your Audience
Finding a celebrity who can relate to your audience is the most critical factor in choosing your celebrity talent. It entails picking a celebrity who can represent those ideals while also considering your target audience’s preferences, beliefs, and opinions.
What Can a Celebrity Do?
Every appearance by a celebrity is unique. Depending on the situation and talent level, a celebrity may give a performance, a speech, or host an event. It may also interact with attendees by walking the trade show floor and posing for photos.
- A celebrity appearance is the most straightforward way to invite a famous person to your event. A famous person shows up, attends the event, and then leaves. They are only there to be seen in this situation.
- Walkthrough: Similar to an appearance, a walkthrough entails the celebrity mingling with the public more. They may quickly chat with guests before departing or take selfies with them. The signing of autographs and a walkthrough could happen simultaneously.
- Performance: For this kind of appearance, performers like comedians, bands, or dancers work best. Due to the increased time and talent requirements, this option is also more expensive—additional expenses for the performance, such as those related to lighting, sound, etc.
- Meet-and-Greet: During a celebrity meet-and-greet, attendees to your event will have the chance to speak with distinguished guests and take pictures with them in front of a step-and-repeat. A signing of autographs could be part of this appearance.
- Speaking of hosting: In this case, the well-known person is a crucial event element. For instance, when they host an evening event, they frequently stay present and engaged all night. They might be attending an event like a trade show to hear a keynote or speak.
Generally speaking, a performer, guest speaker, or celebrity will cost more to hire if they are asked to do more or stay longer.
The Best Way to Book a Celebrity
After selecting the celebrity or making a short list of potential candidates, the next step is to find out if they are available for your event. There are several methods for securing famous people. You have two choices: speak with the famous person directly or delegate the situation to a booking agent.
Speak with their Agent Immediately
You typically need to contact a celebrity’s agent or other representative to arrange an appearance. Sometimes it takes time to determine who their agent is. While some celebrities may have this information on their websites and social media pages, many do not. If so, you can use an online database of information to find the information, but there will likely be a fee.
Once you have the agent’s contact details, email is the most efficient form of communication. Unwanted phone calls will not help you gain the agent’s favor, and you might even lose the opportunity to advertise your event. A clear, thorough email is a much better choice. In your initial email, only include the necessary information:
- Whomever it is that you want to reserve
- Location and date of the event
- what do you want the well-known person to do
If you do not hear back after a few days, wait before trying again with a second, brief email that contains the same information.
If the response is positive, you will have the opportunity to elaborate, discuss pricing and availability, and come to an agreement.
Use a talent booking agency.
Too busy planning other aspects of the event to spend time trying to find a famous person? You might pay an agency or talent agent to take care of it. By putting you in touch with celebrity agents and acting as a reference, they help. It is beneficial because some agents prefer working with people they know, and the talent agency gives you the “in” to attract celebrity agents’ attention.
What could an Engagement with a Celebrity Do for You?
Celebrity appearances are a fantastic way to raise awareness of your event and attract more attendees. Choose a candidate who will appeal to your target market and, ideally, has a few extra benefits that will help your company by association.
When you work with Celebdhoom, we manage the speaker schedule and entertainment to relieve you of this burden. Get in touch with our team of experienced event planners for more information.
