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The Startup CPG Podcast

#188 - Celebrity and Influencer Contracts with Foster Garvey

The Startup CPG Podcast

Startup CPG

Startup, Food, Business, Beverage, Cpg, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary


In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff dives into the world of celebrity endorsements and brand partnerships with legal expert Hillary Hughes of Foster Garvey. They break down the different structures of celebrity deals—cash, equity, royalties, and affiliate marketing—and what brands are really paying for when they bring on a big name. Hillary shares insider insights on structuring contracts, negotiating exclusivity, managing risks (like "morals clauses"), and ensuring brands actually get value from these partnerships.


They also discuss the difference between influencers and celebrities, the role of talent agents, common legal pitfalls brands face, and why not all endorsements translate into sales. Whether you’re a startup considering a celebrity deal or just curious about how these partnerships work behind the scenes, this episode is packed with essential takeaways.


🎧 Listen now to learn how to navigate the world of celebrity partnerships the right way!

Foster Garvey is a full-service law firm dedicated to supporting innovative companies, government entities and individuals in navigating legal and business challenges. Our team offers strategic, cross-disciplinary support in areas like corporate structuring, capital raises, intellectual property and regulatory compliance. Serving a diverse range of clients - from startups to global brands - we provide guidance on marketing, influencer partnerships, food safety, licensing and more.

Listen in as they share about:

  • Business Structures of Celebrity-Endorsed Brands
  • Contract Considerations in Celebrity Deals
  • Expected Deliverables from Celebrity Partnerships
  • Working with Influencers vs. Celebrities
  • Challenges & Legal Considerations
  • Best Practices for Brands Considering Celebrity Endorsements


Episode Links:

Website: https://www.foster.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillaryhhughes/ 

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.



Show Links:

  • Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
  • Join the Startup CPG Slack community (20K+ members and growing!)
  • Follow @startupcpg
  • Visit host Daniel's Linkedin 
  • Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
  • Episode music by Super Fantastics

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, do you know about Mini Social?

0:03.7

So it takes seven touch points on average to convert a potential consumer.

0:07.3

You can get started by meeting your consumers where they can see you every day on social.

0:11.9

Our friends at Mini Social work with brands on micro-influencer amplification and UGC creation.

0:18.2

You can get content that's fully licensed for use on your own marketing channels

0:21.6

and watch creators post about your products to their audience.

0:25.6

Mini Social has been around since 2018, partnering with over 1,000 CPG brands like

0:30.3

Bonza, Outstanding Foods, Fly By Jing, Hydrant, Love Wellness, and many more.

0:34.6

You can learn how it works by visiting CPG.binisocial.com and take a look

0:39.5

of their case studies.

0:40.6

Make sure to mention us at Startup CPG for a special

0:43.1

discount.

1:09.5

Thank you. So usually when we're representing the brand, if we're asked to remove, we try and get, we can leave them in the feed where they appear historically, but won't re-interact with them.

1:11.6

So that's one of the things that's negotiated. And, of course, you always want to provide in your agreement that any content they create is owned by you,

1:16.6

are you as the brand, other than, you know, their name and their image that appears in it,

1:21.6

but you want it to be your content and owned by you because you don't really want them using it in another way or owning it

1:29.0

and preventing you from using it. Hello, everyone. At my last brand, we'd approached a celebrity

1:35.5

for a big ambassador deal, but I was totally lost when they asked me to send over a proposal.

1:40.6

I didn't know where to start, what to put in the contract, and most importantly, what could go wrong.

1:45.6

So lucky for you, today we've got the perfect guest to lay all of that out. It is the one and

1:50.2

only Hillary Hughes. She's one of the best known lawyers in the space. She leads the consumer

1:55.2

sector in sports and entertainment industry groups at Foster Garvey, which is one of the best

...

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