Celebs Take Home More Than Awards During Hollywood Award Season

January 13, 2014 K. Pearson Brown

Drool Worthy SWAG and Pampering Lead Up to the Big Night for Celebrities

Award season is upon Hollywood, and that means lots of glamour, glitter and gifting. The latter is the way smart brands are reaching celebrities and other tastemakers by providing samples of their wares at gifting suites and in gift bags surrounding the ceremonies.

Free Stuff We All Get, or SWAG as it’s known, is a hot commodity, usually presented to VIPS at designated gifting lounges or at after parties. With fierce competition, many savvy marketers have found unique ways to get their goods in the hands of Hollywood influencers.

A guest awaits her makeover at Prive salon in a pre-Golden Globes event sponsored in part by Colgate to help get their products in the hands of Hollywood influencers

Fashion personality Jayneoni Moore found her niche in the scene by hosting the Boom Boom Room for celebrities who are expectant parents or who have young children. The event at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel featured brands such as BambiniWare designer Burba wear, SpeCtra blinged-out breast pumps, Au Lait fashionable nursing-friendly clothing line, Fourth Love maternity comfort clothes, Wee Drool designer bibs, Daddy & Company apparel for expectant fathers, Lov’d Baby children’s organic clothing, and the services of Educated Nannies, a vetted provider of discreet and degreed household help good enough for A-listers.

While big brands come out to showcase their products, enterprising independent vendors like Lil’ Hands, a purveyor of baby sign language services, SleepBelt baby holder, Blink’d mini kiddie tattoos, Fancy Pantz Designs jewelry maker and Monkie Birdie décor designer attend the suites hoping for their big break. In today’s celebrity obsessed culture, these startups know that celebrity buzz about their products and services or a photo of a celeb sporting their designs or placement in a celeb’s nursery can make their career.

Other treats at the Boom Boom Room gifting suite were of the edible kind. Along with samples of Nine Natural pregnancy-friendly shampoo and conditioner and Blissful Booby Butter in their goodie bags, guests took home baked delights from Nothing Bundt Cakes and pouches of applesauce inspired snacks from GoGoSqueez and Lifeway Kefir probiotic dairy beverage coupons and a recipe book, all taken away in the Sureshop reusable tote, designed to clip onto strollers so they won’t tip.

Besides the traditional gifting lounges, brands appeal to celebrities by pampering them with salon and spa treatments, such as at doMAIN’s Golden Globes Beauty Bar, hosted at Prive salon in Los Angeles. The salon was made over for the event to resemble a swanky lounge in which VIPS were treated to hair styling and blowouts along with manicures and pedicures, while they sipped wine and noshed on fresh berries and Kefir cups. As they departed, guests received gift bags with OPI nail polish, StyleSexyHair products and a full supply of Colgate Optic White products.

A wall in Prive salon in LA displays a wall of Colgate products for an event where Hollywood inlueencers got complimentary makovers before the Golden Globes — A wall in Prive salon in LA displays a wall of Colgate products for an event where Hollywood influencers got complimentary makeovers before the Golden Globes

The reality is that much of the time SWAG products do not reach the celebrities themselves and end up in the hands of assistants, publicists and others close to the celebs. Still, the association with the awards and the stars gives the brands bragging rights, and often that’s all they need. After all, who wouldn’t want to use the same hair gel or mouthwash that the A-listers got in their Golden Globes SWAG bags?