Tell us about some of your popular celebrity campaigns?
Three come to mind immediately. Jennifer Lopez. Logan Paul. And Kim Kardashian. I got Jennifer Lopez to do one performance in Qatar. She was paid $2 million dollars and her Instagram story showing her royal hotel suite broke the internet. I brought Logan Paul to the Dubai Mall for a meet and greet and I got 100,000 fans to show up. It was the biggest meet and greet of all time. I brought Kim Kardashian to the same place to do a single appearance…250,000 fans. There’s so much power in the way we break news, strategically push our campaigns and skillfully promote our celebrities at my company “FAME by Sheeraz”.
During the Corona pandemic we’ve seen you purchase many billboards, what’s that all about?
When the pandemic hit and there were no more events to promote my celebrities and brands at, I had to find another effective way to get a message out to the world that could cause disruption. I contacted the largest billboard distributors and because I purchased them in bulk I got it at an extremely favorable price. Now I’ve got access to the biggest billboards in the best locations in Hollywood, New York City, Miami, London, and even Dubai. This is an amazing opportunity if you are an influencer or a brand when the price is low the impact is still huge. Thousands of people are driving every day on Sunset Blvd and they are stuck in traffic looking up at these massive billboards that I’ve put up. It’s so powerful and my rate is so good that I’ve got influencers and celebrities begging me to get them one every single day.
What are few things influencers and celebrities need to keep in mind when it comes to branding?
Show the world who you truly are, be incredibly confident and OWN it. Give yourself a title that people can’t ignore and blast it everywhere. “I’m the hottest model on Instagram” or “I’m the worlds best dancer”. Be something that people just have to stop and look at. You need to discover what makes you special, be really clear about that and tailor all of your content to fit this quality. This will guide you to the demographic that is going to be most loyal to your brand. Once you’ve done this enough and grown your audience, partner with ambitious and hungry brands that are in line with your messaging and the demographics you reach. You need to be able to move their products when they agree to do a campaign with you if you want to become a powerhouse that attracts the biggest brands in the world. Their capital will help all of your ventures, improve your production quality and you could reach massive new audiences. Finally, be genuine when you push a product. Come up with an honest way to tie the products you’re promoting to your lifestyle.
Tips on how can an influencer and celebrities boost their brand?
They can engage audiences that dwarfs every TV station, online publication, or even any movie studios reach. Be bold and be consistent. You absolutely need to communicate with your audience every single day on a variety of channels. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. And now TikTok is the biggest media machine in the world. Their reach is astounding and every major studio and agency in Hollywood is betting on TikTok to be the next giant. Not only are the audiences massive and the engagement is incredible on TikTok, but they spend money. You can tip content creators if you enjoy their work and this year alone users have donated $457 million and counting.
When it comes to business and collaborations what all should they keep in mind?
A brand and influencer need to be right for each other. You can’t just get someone who is attractive with a large following and strong engagement and expect everything to work out. Their online presence has to reflect something that is aligned with your brand’s message and audience’s interest. Otherwise you’re just gambling and the results could disappoint both parties.
What are business tips you would give them?
Make sure the brand you are pushing is just as ambitious as you are. If you’re going to put your whole machine behind them, they need to be ready to scale when you want to grow. Know your worth and then add tax as they say. Play the long game. Obviously be sure you are compensated up front but if you can negotiate equity, or a percentage of every sale, or even other massive promotional opportunities in the future, do it. It might seem riskier but you can end up with 10 fold more financial gain if you play your cards right.
How did you start your journey and make it a success?
I moved from London to LA in 2004 and launched a celebrity news and paparazzi platform called “Hollywood TV” that rocked this entire industry. In just one year it became a top rated celebrity news outlet and its content has been seen by over two billion viewers worldwide. We supplied daily content to CBS, CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, ET, The Insider, SKY, BBC, RTL, AP, REUTERS, TV GUIDE, E!, Today Show, The Early Show, Good Morning America, YouTube, Facebook and Perez Hilton. That opened doors to every celebrity, agency, and studio in town. That’s when the CEO’s of the world’s biggest brands started to contact me because they were dying for my media power and direct access to the worlds biggest stars. It became very clear to me after several years of creating and executing global campaigns with the world’s largest brands and biggest celebrities that what I’m truly selling is…fame. Cut to today and my company “FAME by Sheeraz” continues to bring the biggest brands and influencers in the world together for wildly successful campaigns.
Tell us some best of your case studies and how did it become a success?
Kim Kardashian. Her career became our blueprint and has produced unbelievable results every time. When I met Kim she was dealing with the aftermath of the tape. I stepped in and coordinated all of her paparazzi, set up shoots that went viral, provided partnership opportunities with brands, I created the news around her and controlled the narrative instead allowing it to control her. Today I can actually say that I was a part of the team that made Kim Kardashian into the media empire she is today. This proved that our strategy works. Dominate the news cycle with massive press releases, create disruption on all social media platforms and yes even be controversial if you need to. The ridiculous success of my work with Kim got me direct access to Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, Priyanka Chopra, Justin Bieber and so many more of the biggest stars. All of their managers and agents were blowing up my phone to work with their clients. And in each case not only did I deliver global campaigns but we drove brand awareness and sales through the roof for the products we partnered with and gave millions of dollars to celebrities in the process.
What can new comers learn from established celebrities?
Don’t be afraid to shock the world and break news.
What are some dos and donts of brand building?
Dos: You need a social media calendar that breaks down your Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter posting schedule and stick to it! Don’t miss a day. Be genuine when you post but also find chances to be bold and scream your opinion so loud the whole world has to stop and listen. Figure out your x factor. What’s your niche? Why are your worth watching?
Dont: Don’t be lazy. Grow your brand every single day. Also if you’re fake, the audience will be able to tell. Find an honest reason why you want to promote the product or post the content you are sharing.
What is real time amplification?
We have an expert team at FAME that monitors each campaign as it is happening. We adjust and learn from how the audience is reacting, as they are reacting to it. This helps us boost certain ads more that are working the best and we test in real time. When we see what works we turn up the volume so loud that it creates disruption.
Why do these celebrities work with you as supposed to some other media agency?
Famous people don’t just call me for my ability to create unrivaled exposure. They do it because of my contacts. I’ve got direct access to the biggest CEO’s in the world who personally work with me when they need to create disruption and dominate a market. These brands are the most dominant media buyers and spend over $2 billion dollars on advertising every year. They bring me into their boardrooms and it’s my job to recommend and connect them with talent that can deliver on these massive global campaigns. And it’s not just big movie stars and massive brands calling me, it’s the biggest agencies in the world too. Creative Arts Agency (CAA) and William Morris Endeavor (WME) are regularly reaching out to me on behalf of their clients searching for new promotions that can make their celebrities wealthy and skyrocket their popularity.
