Your App In The Hands of Celebs: Here’s How

In continuation to our out-of-the-box app marketing ideas, the following is a guest post by Tabatha Arocho, Account Manager at GBK Productions - a Fundraising & Special Events company that is dedicated to giving high quality, tailor-made service at celebrity events.

In the mood for some red velvet chocolate truffles? How about a $1,000 watch? Or maybe a shiny new tech toy to take home? Well, if your name is Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, or possibly Paris, GBK Productions’ luxury gift lounge will provide enough swag to make your head swivel. If you’re not “in the know”, for all the major awards shows (Oscars, Golden Globes, American Music Awards etc.) there are gifting lounges that take place, and “as if they really need it,” celebrities who attend these lounges go home with a swag bag filled with $10,000-$50,000 worth of stuff you wish you had.

So why do these companies give away their product to people who very well can afford it while the rest of us save our pennies and wait in line to purchase? Because let’s face it; these people are influential. And getting your product in the hands of a celebrity is quite possibly the holy grail of marketing. If Angie is sporting it in US weekly, it’s gotta be cool and I gotta have it… ’nuff said.

Apps are from Mars, Celebs are from Venus

Now I know that Tinseltown and the tech world are kind of like Mars and Venus, but make no mistake about it, tech has become Hollywood’s next big frontier. From Ashton Kutcher and his ever growing portfolio of start-up investments to Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber’s teams dabbling in the sector and not to mention MC Hammer, who launched a Google search rival called WireDoo. We have cool products too!

If all these other companies are getting their product out there, then there’s no reason we can’t get out apps in the spotlight too.  With celebs like Ashton Kutcher, Alyssa Milano, and Leonardo Di Caprio all taking interest in mobile apps, our worlds are bound to collide and we should embrace it and use it in our favor.

Awards show gift lounges are like the fast track to product fame because it gives companies the perfect opportunity to educate celebrities on their product face to face. The gift lounge that all the celebs are talking about are the one’s sponsored by GBK Productions. GBK is at the top of it’s game because it has the best product, is held at the swankiest hotels, and is “The List” all the A-listers want their name on.  At one of these events, companies have the opportunity to market their product in a way that could normally take a couple years.  Revitalash, a beauty product that is said to enhance one’s natural eyelashes and brows, was so taken by the gift lounge concept that the they signed up for every GBK event last year. They spent an approximate $65,000 in getting their products out there with celebs, which generated an ROI of $2.5 million.  This year they continue to sponsor the gift lounge because they have seen first-hand the power of this type of marketing, and how much of a return they can receive.

Friends, it’s time to think outside the box! In an era where old school tactics apply less and less every day, it’s time to give our cutting edge products a healthy dose of modern marketing. So I guess the only question is…. Are you ready to party with Paris?

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