In today’s crowded app economy, user acquisition costs are rising, attention spans are shrinking, and even the best-built products struggle to stand out. But for brands and consumer apps alike, one growth lever is withstanding the test of time: celebrity partnerships.

While the concept isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, partnering with celebrities is a growth hack that can turn emerging apps into vertical leaders through driving brand visibility and long-term customer loyalty. Further, brands are increasingly moving away from one-off endorsements and looking for new ways to bring celebrities on board as long-term partners, co-investors, and co-marketers. Done right, it’s a business move that hits across virality, press coverage, branding, and retention, unlocking key channels for user growth.

From George Clooney’s nearly $40M partnership with Nespresso, to Roger Federer’s $500M valued stake in On, there’s a long list of highly lucrative celebrity-brand deals that demonstrate the potential impact of this type of activation. To assess these benefits, we can take WeWard’s recent announcement with Venus Williams as a case study.

Our playbook was simple but effective, leading to amplified visibility, brand legitimacy, a boost in product retention, and viral engagement that landed us in the top ranking lists of the App Store.

WeWard x Venus Williams case study

In February of this year, WeWard had its biggest announcement yet: we would be bringing on Venus Williams as an investor and brand ambassador. While over the last six years, we’d built a strong international user base with 25 million users across the globe, we had yet to solidify our place in the U.S. market. Leveraging Venus’s image would be a core component to establishing ourselves among an American audience.

This deal initially came about after I had a chance encounter with Venus at a restaurant in Paris. I knew that when searching for a celebrity collaborator, convincing him/her would be half the battle, particularly for a startup. Looking back on my early interactions with Venus, I credit the following factors of my pitch to my success in bringing her onboard:

Common mission

Make sure your mission and values align with the celebrity’s brand and existing messaging. In our case, outside of Venus’s status as a legendary athlete, she was also an outspoken advocate for personal wellness and physical activity, making her the perfect partner for our mission to get the world moving.

Charity incorporation

If the celebrity has been involved with a previous NGO and/or charity, incorporating a philanthropic component to the partnership can be a great bonus incentive. In our case, we pledged to donate up to $40,000 to CARE, an organization that Venus had a longstanding relationship with.

Role and compensation

The structure of the deal will determine how involved the celebrity is in the brand activation. Instead of just bringing Venus on as an investor, we discussed having her as an ambassador as well, which would mean co-creating branded content for our social channels and product experience, participating in events and speaking opportunities, and pitching her to the press.

Ultimately, these factors all ladder back to highlighting the synergies between your app and the celebrity, which establish why the partnership makes sense, and how the outcomes will benefit both sides.

Following our discussions with Venus, our campaign consisted of the following activations across social, video, in-app, and charity donations:

  • A 50-second spot starring the tennis champion.
  • A series of independent and cross-collaborative social posts on WeWard and Venus’s channels.
  • A pledge to donate up to $40,000 to support CARE, Venus’s charity of choice.
  • A commitment to host a month-long ‘Venus Williams Championship’ in the WeWard app, where participants were able to unlock increasing donation amounts with their steps.
  • A press splash offering interviews with myself and Venus to top-tier reporters.

Our campaign then generated the following results:

  • Engaged 350,000+ users to participate in Venus’s walking campaign in partnership with CARE, unlocking a €40,000 donation to CARE as a result of our users’ community steps.
  • Featured for the first time by Apple Stores, boosting store conversion rate by 50%.
  • Drove 25,000+ organic shares/posts on social media, generating a viral moment.
  • Received coverage from 100+ articles worldwide, including top-tier press like Forbes, Inc., and Fast Company.
  • Achieved the Top 7 ranking in the U.S. Health & Fitness apps, and ranked #1 in the UK.
  • WeWard officially crossing 2M users in the U.S.

Beyond the impressive visibility generated, Venus’s involvement helped us significantly reduce user acquisition costs through improved brand image and high-performing content. We also saw a boost in new user retention. These invaluable benefits accelerate our long-term brand-building efforts, saving us years of work and positioning WeWard as a trusted name from day one.

Complexities and considerations

The campaign was a huge success, solidifying WeWard’s place as a top app within the health & wellness vertical. That said, working with celebrities comes with its own set of unique considerations and complexities, reflective of the high-profile nature of the partnership. You’re navigating demanding schedules, rapid turnaround times, thorough vetting processes, and multiple layers of approval.

If I were to give a few pieces of advice to startups hoping to successfully navigate these activations in a way that generates the highest ROI, here are a few tips I would keep in mind:

Schedule regular touchpoints

Half the battle in working with celebrities will be making time for activations in their extremely busy schedules. Scheduling semi-regular meetings throughout the year is a great way to ensure they are aware of upcoming commitments and next steps, and have direct face time with the company’s team to stay invested in the partnership.

Secure more than the name

Aligning on a celebrity’s image rights, social media commitments, and app integrations will allow for more robust marketing outcomes and position the celebrity as a true ambassador and spokesperson for the brand. Outlining these expectations in the contract upfront will allow your content, brand, and press teams to hit the ground running when preparing assets for the campaign.

Be flexible with the deal structure

As mentioned, be flexible with the deal structure and treat it as an open conversation with the celebrity. Depending on what form of financing is most compelling to them, have the flexibility to offer a mix of cash, shares, and equity.

Final words

Celebrity partnerships aren’t anything new, but when they’re well-structured and strategically activated, they can propel budding apps into the cultural mainstream.

Our collaboration with Venus Williams was a great example of this, and serves as a reminder that mission-driven apps and celebrity influence can make for powerful user experiences that produce real-time and long-term results.