Hi, my name is Veronique and I’m the Senior Manager of Celeb Relations at IZEA!
So, what does somebody in Celebrity Relations do, exactly?
In short, my job at IZEA is to align celebrity influencers to campaigns and digital initiatives that IZEA has going on. Sounds easy, right? It is!
Not.
Like most jobs in today’s burgeoning celebrity digital space, nearly everything I do is via email. The closest thing to compare my job to, which didn’t exist 10 years ago, would be traditional celebrity commercial endorsements and sponsorships. Think of the classics you grew up with: Michael Jordan and Nike, Snoopy and MetLife, Bill Cosby and Jell-O. You get the idea. It’s a lot of phone calls…then emails about the phone calls, followed by phone calls about the latest email. It’s a very exciting email-phone call-email kind of world.
So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty – now that’s a fun place to be. When I’m in the NG, I’m usually writing: ideas for tweet campaigns, copy options/suggestions for upcoming initiatives, etc. Here at IZEA, we make sure that each celebrity and their team are involved in the tweet-writing process. Luckily, most celebs will write their own tweets – and we love that! Sometimes, though, they are unavailable or don’t have time to write, so we send them a list of options that they can tweak and edit. A quick foundation on which they can build. Some of the most fun in my job is taking on the ‘voice’ of a celebrity and writing copy that suits their lifestyle, reflects their natural vernacular and encompasses their personality. My favorites, you ask? Reality Moms, Rappers, anybody British (it’s fun to use the word ‘cheeky’), celebrities with a teenage demo (sometimes I have to research slang…being out of touch is a frequent concern of mine) and celebrities who use numbers as words, Spanglish and excessive punctuation (‘????’ or ‘!!!!lol!!!’). All of these details make a difference!
Now, it’s your turn! Let’s play ‘Write a Celeb Tweet!’ To help you stay within character count, use this – and don’t forget, Twitter counts any link as 20 characters, so you really only have 120 – less disclosure!
In the comments section, write me a tweet in one of the following celebrity voices:
- Garey Busey, tweet for a hot dog company, #dawggydawg, #ad
- Flava Flav, tweet for a luxury clock brand, #ticktock, brought to you by
- Dolly Parton, tweet for cheese-in-a-can, #lovemycans, I’ve partnered with
- Jackie Chan, tweet for an after-school study company, #eggheads, sponsor
…I’ll pick one at random to win an IZEA Celebrity Relations prize pack!
Aside from the emails, phone calls and copywriting, the remainder of my day is a mix between composing lists of potential participants for campaigns (Hey V! I need a list of male celebs who love the outdoors, are thrill seekers and love to hike by Tuesday!) and accompanying research (inquiring with my agency/management colleagues about potential participants, verifying celebrity conflicts, exclusions or existing relationships that would prohibit their participation in a campaign, and departmental maintenance). Then, of course, there is campaign execution, follow-ups and reporting.
It’s time to play Celebrity Relations again (cue ‘Price is Right’ theme)! In the comments below, see if you can list 5 celebrities on Twitter who fulfill one of the (real!) requested campaigns. I’ll pick one at random to with a Celebrity Relations prize pack!
- Comedians who like to make crafts
- Dads with kids ages 5-9 who eat meat
- Celebrities who do their own home repairs
- Irish female celebrities who are proponents of birth control
It’s fast-paced, it’s constantly evolving as new social circles are created (for example, I get a lot of Vine requests, now!) and sometimes I get to meet a celebrity or two (cough::danielradcliffe::cough)!
