Outlook Spotlight

Michael Heller Wants To Redefine How Creators Influence Society

Fresh out of New York University, Michael Heller was determined to carve a niche for himself in Hollywood’s fast-paced entertainment industry. He leveraged his expertise in law to negotiate opportunities for celebrities to support brands that in turn provided exposure for both parties.

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Michael Heller, FOunder & CEO, Talent Resources
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Michael Heller is the founder and CEO of Talent Resources , an influencer and digital marketing agency that has been an industry leader for 15 years, redefining how brands leverage the power of influencer and celebrity endorsements for marketing purposes while increasing brand image appeal. His company’s influence has made such a large impact from very early on that CNN named Heller “the man behind the marketing of celebrities’ lifestyles” in 2011. Although the industry was not easy to navigate, Heller and his team paved the way for this new age of digital marketing.

Starting his career as an entertainment lawyer, Heller helped Hollywood’s biggest stars navigate the legal side of their fame, talent, and enterprise. In that position, he worked with and managed some of the industry’s biggest names, such as Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Hunter, Paris Hilton, and many more. In 2007 he launched Talent Resources, his influencer and digital marketing agency that is devoted to bringing more value to the table for brand-talent partnerships.

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Michael Heller - A Profile In Progress
Fresh out of New York University, Michael Heller was determined to carve a niche for himself in Hollywood’s fast-paced entertainment industry. He leveraged his expertise in law to negotiate opportunities for celebrities to support brands that in turn provided exposure for both parties.
Within a short period of time, Heller built an enviable profile in the industry. His turning point came in 2006 when he was contracted to manage brand awareness for Mariah Carey’s 2006 Grammys party. 

Heller secured a deal with LG to sponsor the party, just when the company had released the first ever “camera phone” to the world. Heller’s big idea was that Carey would send a personalized message with the new camera phone to the party guests. All of these guests were high profile celebrities, making this a huge deal for LG. The strategy worked brilliantly, and LG saw an immediate jump in sales following the promotion, showing that unifying the “right celebrities” with the “right brands” can generate powerful marketing results. One year later, Talent Resources was born.

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Founding Talent Resources
Michael Heller founded Talent Resources in 2007, leveraging his strong Hollywood network and connections as well as his vast entertainment industry experience. The company’s main goal was to bring never-before-seen value to the table for brand-influencer partnerships and celebrity endorsements.

With Heller at the helm of affairs, Talent Resources sought to transform the way brands connect with their potential and long-term consumers. Realizing how celebrity culture evolved to become an integral part of our society, Heller channeled his focus on working with brands to create powerful, media-driven celebrity and influencer-based campaigns and experiences to increase brand awareness and generate sales-boosting buzz.

Michael Heller and Talent Resources have helped hundreds of celebrities ease effortlessly into the new shift towards digital advertising. Speaking of her partnership and time with Heller, Lindsay Lohan had nothing but positive words to express about her experience. She said, "Mike and his team at Talent Resources helped me understand early on in my career the value of my brand and how to best offer it to corporate America. While my deals are now handled by my agents at ICM and managers at Untitled Entertainment, I still keep in touch with Talent Resources and appreciate their introducing me to the world of celebrity endorsements."  

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Redefining The Landscape For Real Influence
Michael Heller had been dominating influencer marketing since before influencer marketing became a thing. While recalling his work with Lohan, Heller remembered hatching a plan with her to reduce cigarette consumption with a smokeless tobacco product called Ariva. At one point, almost all the paparazzi shots of Lohan published online had her holding an Ariva in her hand where it was perfectly visible and recognizable to anyone who saw the photos.

Soon the press began writing about that product in their usual attempt to scrutinize Lohan’s life. While many would think this was purely a coincidence, Lohan had actually been paid by Ariva to be seen with their product. Without even saying a word, Ariva was getting free press and publicity online and offline due to our society’s fascination with celebrities. 

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“From the beginning, I’ve always been all about striking a balance between prominent marketing and unobtrusive advertising. So, my approach was always to make ads appear not like ads. The consumers get annoyed when you are all in their faces. You just have to find a way to stay top of their mind without being intentionally sales-y or annoyingly pushing whatever it is you are looking to promote.”

Today, influencer marketing has exploded, and it has become a staple in comprehensive marketing programs.

Michael Heller’s strategy of creating brand campaigns as unobtrusive as possible and only securing celebrities and influencers who have high levels of engagement in your industry or target audience still holds true for anyone looking to achieve success in this niche today.

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These strategies and principles have earned Michael his prominent position in the influencer marketing space as he continues to work with the biggest names in entertainment. Heller pioneered a strategy to help brands get their products to their audience in the most positive, meaningful, and natural way possible. To this day, he continues to operate Talent Resources full-time as founder and CEO. 
 

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