Dream Teams: The Duo Behind Hollywood Cameos
With the past Christmas and Super Bowl seasons, we came to find that celebrity ads might be the talk of the town. Adland has never been shy in leveraging a good cameo from celebrity talent, and in turn, the celebs seem to love saying ‘yes’ to brands that they resonate with.
The benefits are manyfold - the brand is suddenly more relatable because your favourite singer or actor is part of its lore, and a celebrity feels more like they’re from the human realm because they use a product you have in your house and a new part of the brand’s world unlocked.
Born Licensing’s founder David Born and Talent Republic’s founder Anne Batz know about all of these benefits and more. But they also know that not every celebrity is fit for every brand - their job, or their companies’ jobs, are to match them up in the best way possible.
David and Anne were the duo of Cupids behind some legendary matches, such as ASDA’s ‘Have Your Elf a Merry Christmas' campaign and Buddy the Elf. That time, David negotiated the first ever licence to use Buddy in advertising via Warner Bros. But this was only half the battle - Anne had to simultaneously get Will Ferrell on board.
Above: Buddy in ASDA's commercial
Overall, the project is one of many examples of their seamless work as a dynamic duo, and their expertise in the spheres of IP and talent is evident in many more campaigns, such as Barclaycard Entertainment’s campaign by AKQA starring The Muppets played by the original puppeteer talent, or British Airways ‘Made By Britain’ featuring none other than Winnie the Pooh.
Overall, the project is one of many examples of their seamless work as a dynamic duo, and their expertise in the spheres of IP and talent is evident in many more campaigns, such as Barclaycard Entertainment’s campaign by AKQA starring The Muppets played by the original puppeteer talent, or British Airways ‘Made By Britain’ featuring none other than Winnie the Pooh.
David and Anne were introduced to each other by “a highly respected head of TV in the UK” who considered each of them the best in their respective fields. “She had worked with us both individually and felt that by connecting we could provide an even better service to the industry,” says David. “I had just moved to London from Melbourne and it was only a year or so after I started Born Licensing.”
When the two first met, David remembers finding Anne “immediately charming” and “unquestionably a highly respected leader in her space”, while she saw in David’s Aussie background “an immediate draw,” as she had lived in Sydney for a few years.
“Has he changed? Yes. He’s now a married man and lives in Sao Paolo! But have my first impressions changed? Fundamentally, no. I only have more respect for him and how 100% solid and professional he is,” adds Anne.
In the beginning, the two of them would often find themselves working on the same project without knowing it. An agency would have hired Talent Republic to manage the talent side of things and Born Licensing for the IP, so Anne and David’s paths started crossing regularly and they found that naturally being aligned allowed them to do a better job.
After almost eight years of working together, one memory sticks out for Anne as she calls it the “foundation” of their working relationship. “At the very beginning, we were working on a major international campaign that would have required a combination of talent and IP, but it ultimately became a talent only campaign, which was clearly not great for David.
“But he took it in very good grace. I think this in a way set the foundation for our relationship - it was clear to me that he ultimately respected the creative process, which doesn’t always go my way or his.”
So, come a few months later, when Anne was putting talent ideas together for AKQA and The Muppets were referenced, David was the first person on her mind.
Unlike other Dream Teams that we’ve interviewed, these two didn’t start the same company together and aren’t immediate colleagues. They fall into the unique predicament where they have the same clients and provide very similar services to each other, but somehow never step on each other’s toes.
This is where David sees the reasoning for their great fit - “Any ad agency or brand that wants to create a campaign that taps into existing fame features Hollywood dazzle and is likely to capture attention, together we are a one stop shop.”
In terms of their personal characters, Anne believes that there is just enough overlap as there is difference. While they’re both extremely knowledgeable and passionate about their respective disciplines, attention to detail can never take second place when working with the most successful names and IPs in the world. “Our level of trust in each other needs to be implicit.”
Interestingly, the one thing the two tend to disagree on is whether celebrities or characters are more effective in advertising. “Anne obviously feels that celebrities are a better investment, while I tend to lean towards characters,” says David.
“The truth is, though, that it ultimately depends on the brief, the timing and the budget. Some campaigns ask for celebrities and others for characters. The one thing we can agree on, however, is that the combination of celebrities and characters can be the most effective of them all.”
As was seen in ASDA’s usage of the combined power of Buddy the Elf with the star power of Will Ferrell, which was also named the most effective UK ad of 2022, as David reminds us.
While Anne doesn’t think she would always try to fight and pit celebrities over characters, she does agree that “the idea itself will dictate what is or what isn’t the best creative way forward.”
This idea-led approach seems to be working for both, because while each of them might be keen to put forward their set of talent or IP, they have a very precise process through which creative disagreement is, in most cases, wholly avoided.
David explains: “When responding to a brief, Anne will put forward her suggested celebrities and we’ll put forward our suggested characters. And we’ll also put together our suggested combination of celebrities and characters. We’re always happy for the other if they are successful with getting the business, but ultimately the best outcome is when we get to work together.”
“We definitely have a different point of view, but it’s always felt quite rational and not an emotional process. I genuinely don’t feel we’ve ever been in a creative disagreement,” adds Anne.
And while the results might be twice as good when the two get to work together, the stakes are also twice as high. Looking back on ASDA’s success David tells me that in campaigns like this one, “The stakeholder management becomes a critically important part of the production.”
Back then, Havas benefited greatly by hiring Talent Republic and Born Licensing together, because of their brilliant communication and feedback between themselves and their respective stakeholders - Warner Bros and Will Ferrel’s team.
“This brilliant collaborative effort only came to fruition because of the strength of the partnership between the two companies,” adds Anne. “Having worked with Will Ferrell on the Lunar campaign, I knew how much he cares about the output, so there was no way he would easily approve creative materials, especially those with such an iconic heritage.”
Today, David teases a project the two are working on, but stays secretive about the details: “It has been quite challenging because it too involves both a celebrity and IP component. We identified the perfect solution but then the IP holder declined. Then we found a great alternative and the talent declined. We are now working together to find a Plan C, which ticks all the boxes from a creative and feasibility level.” Watch this space!
Talking about what the two have learned from each other, both David and Anne go all out. Always having admired Anne’s focus on the creative and what’s best for the client, David says: “Talent Republic has an incredible portfolio of work with the likes of Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Chis Hemsworth and Snoop Dogg. You don’t get to that level of work unless you’re highly respected on a global level and trusted by all stakeholders involved.
“Anne has taught me how critically important relationships are, and that they must be protected at all costs.”
On the other hand, Anne leaves us with this: “When I see some of David’s work, I know he went to hell and back to pull it off. Bumblebee from Transformers, Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and RoboCop, among others. So now I understand the complexity of that, I’ve simply learned David is truly in a league of his own, and picking up the phone to Born Licensing is one of the best calls any agency or brand can make.”
