The Delicate Equation of Celebrity Investors Unafraid of Controversy
By: Arthur Gallego
Tags: Culture, Celebrity, Sports, Food And Drink, Marketing

The Delicate Equation of Celebrity Investors Unafraid of Controversy

Most brands prefer that their celebrities remain free of controversy, particularly when it comes to race, race relations and politics. But summer 2020 has changed that. And SOTO Sake and their recent investor, tennis star Naomi Osaka, might show us a new path.

The right investors

A start-up brand’s search for the right investors is tricky. A new(er) brand wants autonomy, but also experienced, vocal investors that can help build the business. Add the additional fundraising goal that one or more of the investors is a VIP or celebrity, and the equation becomes even more complicated (something I’ve chronicled on Medium, in the past).

Sure, when raising capital, start-ups are mostly in it for the green and less so the buzz, assuming they’re a well-managed operation and not giving away equity, wantonly.

But VIP and celebrity investors remain in high demand, because their individual reputations and involvement can sometimes attract other investors, or help drive consumer purchase. But, like any other credible investor, they must be vetted properly. Are they well regarded and free of major scandal (think, R. Kelly level) that might tarnish the brand’s image in the short- or long-term? Do they add value to the actual business and its plans for growth, through association, access or reach? What is their willingness to do more than just post about their endorsement or investment on social media, and are they willing to support the brand and their investment even during a challenging socio-economic climate?

I’ve been involved with a number of VIP and celebrity investor deals (include Flow Alkaline Spring Water’s $45mm Series D in May 2020) so I have a good lay of the land when it comes to what a brand can expect in terms of actual support from these investors. But as with everything, Covid has changed the tenets of what we as a culture expect from a VIP or a celebrity in general, including how they handle their business dealings in the public eye. We hope for higher standards, an awareness of the current climate and its impact on people, culture, business and politics. We hope the VIP or celebrity has a desire to take a thoughtful position and say or do something meaningful about the day’s issues, particularly in 2020.

Who’s speaking up, who’s not

If you inventory the VIPs and celebrities that have lent a truly profound voice to the chaos of this year, you will find that list lacking in many normally familiar names that are regularly jockeying for leadership in “the zeitgeist.” (I’d rattle off a list but I have no desire to hear from their attorneys.) And it’s hardy a surprise in our current cancel culture, which described as “extreme” is a total understatement. Many VIPs and celebrities simply don’t want to risk their reputations and more important, their paychecks or legacies, by getting “too involved” or making any public statements that can be trolled on Twitter.

But if you follow the news regularly, and I acknowledge that is a very tough thing to do these days when it’s depressing, you will find shining examples of exactly how strongly a public personality can take a stand on socio-cultural and socio-political issues, and benefit every brand they associate with in the process. Tennis phenom Naomi Osaka, who earned her second US Open title in September 2020, is such an example.

Images: Left, SOTO Sake; Right: Nike

Ms. Osaka and SOTO Sake

In mid-August, before the US Open started on August 31, it was announced that Ms. Osaka was an investor and creative consultant to the Japanese sake brand, SOTO, which amusingly is based in Miami and was founded by two Canadians. The union generated news both in the US and in Ms. Osaka’s birthplace, Japan, where she holds nearly rock god status.

During the Open, Ms. Osaka quietly raised her profile and thought leadership further by sending a message to everyone watching the tournament, every time she walked on the court. The message: think very hard about the scale and impact of racial injustice in the US, right now.

With her series of Covid-compliant masks emblazoned with the names of Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile and Tamir Rice, Ms. Osaka spoke volumes without saying a word every time she strode, masked, onto the tennis court. And those sentiments, absorbed by her fans and other conscious citizens, take Ms. Osaka and the brands she partners with, to a higher level.

Images: ESPN and The Undefeated (on Twitter) via TIME.com

When a brand decides to align itself with a VIP or celebrity for an investment or endorsement, the first item of discussion amongst the marketing team members is “do they represent the brand’s values?” These “values” often include terms like vibrant, strong, authentic (deeply overused, much like the term ‘iconic’) or irreverent. Elongated into easily digestible phrases for consumers, those values take the written or spoken form of “force of nature,” “believing in myself” and “never giving up,” “staying true to myself,” or being “brave” (joining the misused pile very soon) or “honest,” and “inspiring.”

And yet with her simple act of seven unique masks during the Open, Ms. Osaka not only checked off every box above but identified a new and more interesting path, where a thoughtful and risk-taking VIP or celebrity can instead help inspire a brand’s values and position, vs. simply aligning with values determined in the abstract by the brand’s marketing department.

It’s what makes SOTO’s involvement with Ms. Osaka such a breath of fresh air in liquor marketing. Even though it’s a new relationship, it’s already clear it’s not about a world-class athlete’s passion for drinking sake during the off-season. Instead, Ms. Osaka dove into the zeitgeist and lent her youthful, understated style to a global social movement. And even though it’s not immediately apparent, that integrity, humanity and generational leadership will put a halo on SOTO and other brands she supports.

In her signature philosophical communication style, when asked by the media “what message she as trying to send with her seven masks,” Ms. Osaka replied “Well, what was the message that you got is more the question.” Mic drop.

It’s a mindset and an approach that aligns perfectly with the way SOTO markets itself: through understatement. The brand doesn’t scream that it’s one of the finest sakes on the market. Instead, it asks you to decide, with elegance, good taste and profound confidence, if you believe it is, after you try it.

It’s an marketing approach that doesn’t work for every brand, nor for every category of liquor or beverage. But it works for SOTO, as it has for Ms. Osaka.

Your feedback is welcome as always, either via LinkedIn or at www.gallegoandco.com.