Made By Gather, parent company to Drew Barrymore's Beautiful and Demi Lovato's relaunched Bella, reveals its formula for successful celebrity brand partnerships. CEO Shae Hong emphasizes the necessity of a "human at the helm" – a genuinely involved celebrity partner. This episode provides a blueprint for vetting celebrity collaborators and shifting from product manufacturing to brand narrative control for sustainable growth.
Celebrity-led brands have become one of the biggest trends. But it's not enough to simply have a big name associated with a company -- the person actually has to be involved. That's what has helped Made By Gather be such a success. Made By Gather is the parent company of Beautiful, Drew Barrymore's homewares company. Now, Made By Gather is relaunching another brand, Bella, alongside Demi Lovato. Made By Gather has been around since 2003, but only in the last decade has it begun really focusing on branding and high-profile partnerships. In 2010, "we got some really good advice that in order to really maximize the value of the business, you should think about launching your own brands and kind of control your own destiny," said founder and CEO Shae Hong. Hong joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the necessary elements of brand building and why Made By Gather believes there needs to be what he calls a "human at the helm." Before, Made By Gather made home products that sold in major stores like Target and Walmart, but there was no cohesive brand or story behind it. Beginning in 2011, the company realized it needed to have more elements than just good products. Now, companies don't only require having a cohesive brand -- they also need someone leading the narrative. Part of Made By Gather's focus has been finding the right partners to do this. After years of working in the home goods space and seeking out top-tier partnerships, Hong says he's figured out the formula for finding the best celebrity collaboration. "Really, it is trying to read whether somebody is genuinely interested in the category," he said.