From Mira Kapoor’s newly launched Akind to Hrithik Roshan’s HRX and Ranveer Singh’s Bold Care, multiple celebrities have transitioned into successful entrepreneurs. While some of these brands make it to the top, many fizzle out before the break-even point and still, the trend doesn’t seem to die down. However, consumers, even an ardent celeb fan, wonder if investing in celebrity-owned brands is worth their money and time. 

In 2021, Kim Kardashian announced a halt to her beauty line, KKW Beauty. In early 2023, Kristen Bell shut her CBD beauty line, Happy Dance and later that year, Jared Leto ceased the functioning of his brand Twentynine Palms within a year of its launch. While celebrity brands enjoy an edge over others given the celeb’s popularity and wide fan base, it doesn’t always equate to profitable business. 

So, what defines the success of a celeb-owned brand? The answer lies in the brand’s authenticity and true-to-its-claims promises. When I interviewed Deepika Padukone last year at the one-year anniversary celebrations of her beauty brand, 82°E, she explained that while the initial push to any celebrity brand may come from the celebrity’s fan following, it often fizzles out if the brand doesn’t deliver what it claims. According to Padukone, who founded her skincare brand in 2022, 'skincare is unforgiving, and no one would invest in a product if it’s not suiting their skin, not even her ardent followers.' Similarly, Kapoor, who launched her skincare brand Akind last month, confessed that while a celebrity-owned brand enjoys visibility because of the popularity of the person, she knew that putting a brand in the market with a personal touch will get consumers interested and loyal. “Like any other brand, celebrity brands need to know their ‘why’. They need to have their vision and define the Brand's goals with the same. Once these are aligned, the X factor of having a celebrity as your founder/owner comes to the fore,” says Ajay Singh, Head of Business and Marketing at HRX–a fitness brand founded by Hrithik Roshan. 

The Real Picture 

More often than usual, a celebrity owned brand struggles to sustain itself in the market because it fails to be an extension of the celeb’s personality. Imagine if actor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, known for extravagant fashion quotient, launches a fashion brand with subtle sensibilities... it will not be able to connect with people failing to reflect what Kapoor-Ahuja is known for on and off-screen. A successful example of one such brand is pop star Harry Styles’ brand Pleasing; the brand that sells a simple and easily accessible product, nail polishes, is still a hit among consumers. The American singer and actor is known for his quirky manicures long before he launched his brand. The same can be said about Singh’s Bold Care and its virality as the actor is known for his bold and unfiltered persona on and off-screen. “If the celebrity brand stays true to the celebrity's identity and makes an honest attempt to make a positive difference in people's lives, it can create a unique edge over other brands and competition,” adds Ajay. In a country like India where celebrities enjoy a larger-than-life image among their followers, launching a brand is like giving consumers a peek into an otherwise inaccessible world of the celebrity.  However, this may only be true for the initial phase and to sustain in a competitive industry for long, the brand must provide real solutions. Therefore, if the brand doesn’t reflect what the celebrity stands for, it fails to make a mark. 

The fatigue regarding celebrity-owned brands is real and the reason could be their lack of understanding of the subject, industry, or product, regardless of the category. The point here is authenticity. Even if the brand is backed by robust marketing, the consumer is often left wondering if the celebrity uses his own brand on his face or to dress himself for an event. With that, the consumer must also be able to understand the real reason behind the conception of the brand, if it fills any white space in the industry, and solves a real problem for the consumer. There must be a niche besides the celebrity’s name and popularity. “There aren’t enough Celebrity brands yet. Yes, we've seen quite a few come, and some have found success, too, but I feel the vision behind why the Brand was created is missing,” says Ajay. Along with that, the brand needs to hit the target with the right brand language, packaging, and marketing. 

A consumer today is smarter than what brands credit them for and so, it’s difficult to fool them. While there’s no denying that a consumer will continue to spend money on brands, there’s no guarantee that a celebrity brand will make a cut. “A customer stays loyal as long as they see value in you. You need to know what they need and fulfil it,” says Ajay. In the end, a consumer doesn’t want to put in money on a product that already exists in the market. The success of any brand is not measured by the star power it boasts of but by the growth in the number of its repeat customers. 

Future Of Celeb-Owned Brands 

The celebrities need to move past the 'there’s enough for everyone to grab’ trope and realise that the product is the key player, and the consumer is the decision maker. Only those brands that pass the product test will survive, regardless of who owns them. The concept of celebrity-owned brands is not new, however the sudden surge in the number of these brands is recent. It won’t be wrong to call it a trend and if that’s so, trends fade out quickly. Founders must remember that consumers remember the product that worked for them, and the name of the founder is often secondary. Brands with no real purpose or viewpoint will soon be wiped out and only those which are authentic will survive. “If the brand is able to create a unique proposition and can really be an honest physical manifestation of the celeb's identity, then there's a greater chance of potential customers finding it exciting. However, a celeb brand, like any other brand, must have the right products, pricing, great marketing, and the works,” concludes Ajay.