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Celebrity-branded products bring interest, need strong star-power for success

November 28, 2012

Celebrity-branded products are nothing new, but apparently sometimes the old ideas still present fresh opportunities. This year, a slew of celebs are slapping their names on everything from perfume to purses — and according to oregonlive.com, interest in celebrity products is on an uptick.

North American revenue from celebrity clothing lines, excluding merchandise linked to athletes, rose 6 percent last year to $7.58 billion in 2011, the article reported. That's on top of a nearly 5 percent increase in 2010.

But attaching a star's name to a product does not guarantee success, rather it is the star's popularity and involvement in the design, the quality of the merchandise and marketing of the brand that make the best results.

"The celebrity name draws the fan base to the product but at the end of the day, the product has to stand on itself," says Michael Stone, president of The Beanstalk Group, a global brand licensing agency. "It has to be well priced and well designed."

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