Forget Hollywood. There’s a new global brand ambassador

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Is the allure of Hollywood stardom on the wane as a marketing factor? From Charlize Theron for Dior to Keira Knightley for Chanel, luxury brands have regularly turned to Western film stars to be their global brand ambassadors, featuring in print and billboard campaigns worldwide.

But today, ambassadors are required to feature across more diverse marketing channels, where movie stars don’t always count for much. That’s why many brands are turning to multifaceted, digitally savvy K-pop stars.

In April, Louis Vuitton named K-pop group BTS as its global brand ambassadors, while Tiffany & Co. signed up Blackpink singer and recent solo artist Rosé, who has also been Saint Laurent’s global ambassador since AW20. Fellow Blackpink members have ambassador deals of their own, too: Lisa at Celine, Jennie at Chanel and Ji-soo at Dior. More recently, Burberry partnered with Itzy, and Givenchy with Aespa, both emerging K-pop names.

The deals speak to the broad appeal of these musicians, particularly in the US and Asia-Pacific, two key growth markets for luxury brands, particularly during the pandemic, says Avery Booker, chief operating officer at Content Commerce Insider, who has more than a decade of experience in global luxury market forecasting and digital marketing.

It’s also reflective of the need for ambassadors to appear in a multitude of advertising channels. K-pop singers won’t just wear brands on the red carpet but in a plethora of other ways, from making music, doing TV shows and filming movies to dancing and modelling, Booker says. “K-pop stars are all-round entertainers. They’re the Swiss Army knife of marketing because they can reach audiences in so many countries on all these different platforms.”

Entertainment meets marketing

Global ambassadors play an important marketing role for luxury brands because of their ability to promote a brand in a way that doesn’t look like in-your-face advertising, says Jared Watson, assistant professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business. He points out that brands can develop strong connections with consumers through ambassadors with the high-level recognition factor and big fan armies of, say, Beyoncé or Blackpink.

Posts on Twitter and Instagram announcing Louis Vuitton’s partnership with BTS topped half a million within a few hours. Louis Vuitton’s best-performing post on its social channels for Men’s Fashion Week in Paris for AW21 featured BTS, generating $436,000 in media impact value, according to Launchmetrics. Blackpink’s Lisa accrued $1.37 million in media impact value for Celine, more than the house’s own channels.