Movie Star Sun Style

Getting stars into branded eyewear is a big game in town. A look at how their photos can benefit brands and drive consumers into stores, PLUS info on where ECPs can go, legally, to find celeb eyewear images to use for their own promotional needs

By Erinn Morgan

There’s no doubt about it—stars have a lustrous appeal, as do the clothing and accessories they wear. Thus, getting a celebrity in their brand’s eyewear is a slam dunk for an eyeglass maker. And, getting a photo of that appearance that can be circulated to the press and beyond is even better. “Celebrities obviously have a huge impact on consumers; they want to emulate their styles as closely as possible,” says Jenna LaRoche, marketing and communications manager, fashion, with The Vision Council.

In the end, celebrity eyewear photos help drive eyewear sales—and help drive consumers into dispensaries across the country. “We always enjoy looking at celebrity eyewear photos in the trade magazines, and it’s a selling tool when you can tell customers ’Brad Pitt wears this frame,’” says Tamra Candelaria, optician at Animas Eye Care in Durango, CO.

While the cache of celebrity can help seal the sale for some eyecare professionals, Candelaria says that it doesn’t change what they carry in the dispensary. “It doesn’t necessarily influence what we buy. It’s always fun for us—and our customers—to know what celebrities are wearing,” she says.

Celebrity Eyewear Resources A rundown of image agency sources for celebrity images. Be sure to check the type of rights you are buying when you’re up to purchase a photo online. Some stock image websites focus on selling photos for editorial use but also offer options for advertising or promotional use. Others offer options for marketing on a business’ website. ■ corbisimages.com ■ gettyimages.com ■ wireimage.com ■ prphotos.com ■ shutterstock.com 1. Madonna in Mui Mui/Luxottica; 2. Kate Hudson in Ray-Ban/Luxottica; 3. Aaron Sanchez in Maui Jim; 4. Cate Blanchett in Burberry/Luxottica; 5. Brad Pitt in Carrera/Safilo; 6. The Eli Young Band in Maui Jim; 7. Jennifer Finnigan and Jonathan Silverman in GUESS/Viva; 8. Angelina Jolie in Dolce & Gabbana/Luxottica; 9. Dwayne Wade in Edward Beiner; 10. Amber Heard in Persol/Luxottica; 11. Salma Hayek in Gucci/Safilo; 12. Robert De Niro in Valentino/Marchon; 13. Joy Bryant in Guess/Viva; 14. Ron Howard in Carrera/Safilo; 15. Jennifer Lopez in Gucci/Safilo; 16. Josh Hutcherson in Guess/Viva 17-18. Blue Man Group founders, Brantley Gilbert in Maui Jim; 19-20. Aaron Paul and guest, Carly Rae Jepsen in Guess/Viva; 21. Justin Beiber in Dolce & Gabbana/Luxottica; 22. Irina Shayk in Gucci/Safilo; 23 Gavin Rossdale in John Varvatos/REM; 24. Natalie Cole in Maui Jim; 25. Naomi Watts in Miu Miu/Luxottica; 26. Jessica Chastain in Gucci/Safilo; 27. Sandra Bullock in Guess/Viva; 28. Brad Pitt in Dolce & Gabbana/Luxottica; 29. Vanessa Hudgens, Guess/Viva; 30 Jessica Alba in Carrera/Safilo; 31. Li BingBing in Gucci/Safilo; 32. Emma Roberts in Miu Miu/Luxottica; 33. Jimmy Fallon in Edward Beiner; 34. Jessica Szohr in Guess/Viva; Neon Hitch in Polaroid/Safilo; 36. Dakota Fanning in Persol/Luxottica

The draw of celebrity may inspire many an eyecare professional to utilize celebrity eyewear photos in various ways. But the reality is that there are many legal ramifications to using photos that haven’t been purchased and licensed appropriately.

Most photos provided by eyewear companies are for editorial use only by the press. Using these photos in any other way (without obtaining additional rights) is a breach of the law.

“Celebrities have the legal right to control how their image is used, especially if you want to profit from it,” says Nina Kaufman, a New York City-based business attorney and founder of AskTheBusinesslawyer.com. “If you intend to use celebrity images (or anyone else’s image, for that matter) for a commercial purpose, you must obtain the permission of the individual, who will likely want you to pay for the privilege.”

Knowing the ins and outs of celebrity images is key for those who aim to use them to their business’ benefit. The good news is that there are some unique and affordable ways to make them a part of your business’ marketing or social media efforts.

HOW BRANDS USE PHOTOS

Where do companies get those images? Eyewear companies typically purchase the rights to use celebrity eyewear photos from stock photo agencies that thrive on capturing images of famous folks sporting various companies’ products. Sometimes companies pay celebrities to endorse their products, and the eyewear industry is no exception.

All-Time Stars of Sun Eyewear has a long-running love affair with Hollywood–and its megawatt celebrities. Here, we take a walk down memory lane with some of the best photos of iconic celebrities sporting the best in eyewear. From actors to rockers to politiciant, to artists, the Ran-Ban styles of wayfarers, cats-eyes, and aviators have attracted star attention. Ray-Ban: 1940s, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (Getty Images) Ray-Ban: 1960s, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones (Ken Regan) Ray-Ban: 1950s, Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe (Getty Images) Ray-Ban: 1960s, John F. Kennedy (Bettman/Corbis) Ray-Ban: 1960s, Andy Warhol (Getty Images) Ray-Ban: 1970s, Keith Richards and Ron Wood (Henry Diltz Morrison Hotel Gallery) Ray-Ban: 1980s, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein (Getty Images)

“Celebrity endorsement is only beneficial to an eyewear brand if it has some type of continuity and a campaign behind it,” says Edward Beiner, owner of the 11-store Edward Beiner high-end optical chain and force behind the Edward Beiner Collection of luxury eyewear. “This is usually achieved when the celebrity is paid for this endorsement.” Beiner also notes that while his company does not pay for celebrity endorsements, they do use photos of celebrities wearing their eyewear as a tool.

Whether they are captured spontaneously or via an endorsement agreement, celebrity photos are used by eyewear companies to help promote their eyewear brands. This is done by sending them out to the editorial press for coverage and using them in marketing materials such as advertisements and point-of-purchase materials.

“Celebrity eyewear images help build brand awareness with the consumer,” says Lisa Toro, global director public relations/communications at Viva International Group. “We use the images as public relations to help build brand awareness. We post them on our website and feature them in our monthly Viva Connect Newsletter that is distributed to our sales force so they can use it as a selling tool. These images are also blasted out in an email to our sales force if they are newsworthy.”

In addition to posting celebrity photos on their websites, many eyewear companies also send them out via their various social media channels, such as Facebook and Pinterest. Marchon, for example, regularly posts celebrity photos to its Facebook page accompanied by fun celebrity information.

Whatever the medium of delivery, celebrity eyewear photos pack a punch, especially if the subject is a big-name star. Silhouette, for example, has used photos of celebs from Tom Coughlin, coach of the NY Giants, to Sarah Jessica Parker, actress and fashionista. “We include images in presentation materials for the ECP to help expand the possibilities of fitting everyone who walks in the door,” says Kristen McLaughlin, Silhouette brand marketing director.

WHAT NOT TO DO

The bottom line: Celebrity eyewear photos should only be used by ECPs in promotional ways if they’ve purchased them and obtained the appropriate rights. These images almost always have both celebrity and photographer’s rights attached to them. Those who use them inappropriately run the risk of being sued by either entity.

A few years ago, workers at one small chain store printed out and displayed photos from the Internet of a female celebrity wearing frames sold in the store. The chain’s corporate office was contacted by the celebrity’s legal counsel and threatened with a law suit if the photos were not removed.

“Our editorial images are rights-managed images and our technology can detect use of the images on the web without a license,” says Jody Einhorn, public relations manager at Getty Images, one of the largest stock photo agencies in the world. “If that should happen, we will notify the user that we can’t locate a license associated with the use and ask them to produce one, should it be in the name of a licensor that is different than what we can see online.”

Einhorn adds: “If there is no license, we ask the user to pay the license fee for the use, plus a small penalty to cover the costs of pursuing the use and ensuring that our photographers can be compensated for the use.”

WHAT TO DO

The best way to use celebrity photos is to purchase the rights to use them via credible sources like Getty Images. “The licensing agreements/usage can be really tricky–I’d recommend ECPs buy images from Getty or another source to use for marketing purposes,” says LaRoche.

Images of high-level celebrities from credible photo agencies can range in cost from $50 for rights to use the photo on a website or in an e-newsletter to $1,100 for the rights to use the image in a print advertisement. Searches on several of the major stock celebrity image sites turned up a wide variety of photos of celebs wearing eyewear.

How can you get started? “Register for an account at Getty Images or the other agencies where you may find photos you want to use,” says Einhorn. “Then, purchase a license to use the image in the manner that you intend. In today’s online world, it’s easy to do the right thing and legally license images.”

Typically, purchased images can be used in a variety of ways, including on a business’ website, blogs, social media channels, and in the dispensary as a fun selling tool. EB