Partnering with a famous face can be a powerful way of reaching new audiences and enhancing your business’s credibility. That is, provided that you have the right legal protections and contractual obligations in place. Rob Lucas, a partner at Gateley Legal, explains what you should consider when drawing up an agreement between your business and its chosen ambassador.
From actors and actresses sultrily posing with their favourite brand of perfume, to Sean Bean extolling the virtues of a cup of Yorkshire Tea, celebrity endorsements have long been a core part of many marketing strategies.
And with good reason. Done properly, a successful collaboration between a business and a well-regarded celebrity can increase exposure, unlock new audiences, and enhance your credibility amongst target consumers. After all, if BAFTA winner and former House Stark patriarch Sean Bean is endorsing it, then it must make a pretty decent cup of tea.
Calvin Klein’s recent, and highly successful, advertising campaign for its Icon Cotton Stretch range of underwear is a case in point.
The campaign, which was done in partnership with Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny, amassed $8.4 million in Media Impact Value (MIV) in fewer than 48 hours, garnering 3.7 million likes and 5.6 million views across Instagram and TikTok alone.
From superstars to specialists
Endorsements are not the reserve of acting or singing superstars, however. Brands are also tapping into the selling power of online content creators (or ‘influencers’) who can promote a brand’s goods and services via their own channels and content.
Compared to megastars such as Sean Bean and Bad Bunny, influencers are often seen as more relatable, covering niche subjects or interests that directly appeal to their subscribers.
As such, a marketing campaign done in conjunction with an influencer can achieve both greater authenticity and be more likely to have an immediate relevance and interest to that influencer’s audience.
This approach is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for brands. According to the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2025, social media is now the largest advertising channel, with global spending of $266.92 billion.
The size of the influencer marketing sector has also risen from $16.4 billion in 2022 to $32.55 billion in 2025, with more than 60 per cent of brands confirming plans to partner with influencers in forthcoming marketing campaigns.
Enter at your own risk
Partnering with influencers, however, also comes with risks that can seriously damage brand reputation if expectations and legal protections are not properly managed at the outset of the relationship.
In addition to having less control over how an influencer may choose to present or describe your product, brands also run the risk of being caught in the negative fallout of anything controversial or illegal that the influencer says or does, regardless of whether this was done with reference to the brand.
Beauty brand Morphe, for example, saw revenue plunge from $400 million in 2019 to $32 million in 2021 following its partnerships with controversial beauty influencers Jeffree Star and James Charles.
Morphe faced significant criticism, both due to its choice of partners and its response in the wake of further allegations against them. The company lost many lucrative contracts with other beauty influencers and had to withdraw popular beauty product lines that had been launched in collaboration with either Star or Charles.
At the start of 2023, the company closed all of its US retail stores, with its seven UK stores following suit a year later.
The legal bit
Despite the risks, partnering with either a celebrity or an online influencer can be hugely rewarding for your business, provided that you keep a few things in mind.
- Do your due diligence.
Morphe’s downfall is a cautionary tale of what can happen when a brand partners with someone without doing a full check of their history first. Before you choose your influencer or celebrity and send them the contract, do your research. Review their previous content, as well as what the press or other influencers have said about them and assess the risks. Are there any red flags? Is there anything they have said or done (or that they are likely to say and do) that could reflect badly on your brand, or that completely misaligns with your messaging and values? In your contract, you might also consider requiring the influencer to declare any criminal convictions or investigations as a prerequisite to entering into the partnership.
- Set expectations straightaway.
Influencer marketing is often successful because the influencer has the freedom and flexibility to promote your brand in their own way. That being said, you will need to be clear with the influencer about key messaging, anything you do and do not want associated with your brand, and how any assets belonging to you, such as logos or artwork, should be used. In your contract, signpost the influencer to your company’s social media policy and highlight any behaviours or content that will provide grounds for termination of the agreement, such as using offensive language or engaging in illegal activities. Ideally, your contract should also include an approvals process for reviewing content before the influencer publishes it.
- Remember your regulatory requirements.
Influencer marketing has a poor history of compliance with the UK’s legal and regulatory frameworks for advertising, particularly when it comes to transparency. In August 2024, for example, several adverts for Huel’s nutritional products by podcaster and entrepreneur Steven Bartlett were banned after the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) found them to be misleading because “[they] omitted material information about Steven Bartlett’s position as a director at Huel.” Both a company and the influencer with whom they’ve partnered face intervention and investigation by the ASA and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) if their content is deemed non-compliant, which could ultimately lead to content being removed, fines being levied, and reputations being damaged. As such, your contract should make clear that adherence to all legal and regulatory requirements, including those stipulated by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code, is obligatory, with non-compliance deemed grounds for termination. If your products are also subject to additional regulations, such as those required by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for financial products, then this should be highlighted in your contract as well.
- Decide who owns what.
The ownership of any sponsored content’s intellectual property (IP) is a complex issue and will depend on the nature of the relationship between the brand and its chosen ambassador. Most brands will want to have ownership over any content that the influencer produces under the contract, as this will give them greater flexibility to use, distribute and, if necessary, remove that content. In some cases, however, an influencer or celebrity may wish to retain the rights to certain elements of the content. Whatever is decided, it is important to be clear about who owns what, and for how long, in a contract before proceeding.
Perfect partners
Backed by comprehensive due diligence and legal advice, a properly drafted agreement is the key to harnessing the value, and reducing the risks, of partnerships with influencers or celebrities.
In doing so, both parties can set expectations and responsibilities from the outset, as well as identifying routes for resolving disputes or issues that may arise.
For your business, this also means that you have greater legal and reputational protection if the relationship goes sour, because you can demonstrate through your contract that your expectations were clear, and that the influencer or celebrity has breached them.
By choosing wisely, and preparing adequately, your next partnership could be the key to unlocking new customers, new audiences, and new, enhanced levels of credibility.
