You’ve built the pitch. The messaging is tight. You’ve got a dream spokesperson in mind.

But before you ever speak to the talent, you’ll be speaking to someone else: the team behind them. Agents, managers, and publicists are the first—and often most important—audience your offer will face.

And whether you realize it or not, they’re evaluating your campaign just as much as you’re evaluating their client.

If you’ve never worked directly with celebrity teams before, it’s easy to underestimate this part of the process. But missteps here don’t just delay progress, they can close doors.

It’s Not Just About the Budget

Yes, fees matter. But at a certain level, so does everything else.

Reputation. Alignment. Timing. Logistics. Tone. Even the format and platform can influence whether a rep will pass along the opportunity, or politely decline without ever getting it in front of their client.

Talent reps are in the business of protecting careers. From their side of the table, they’re constantly weighing whether an opportunity feels like a fit—not just for their client’s brand, but for the tone, timing, and team behind it. If something feels off, rushed, or risky, they’re likely to pass before the talent even sees it.

The answers to those questions determine how far your pitch goes.

Bad Outreach Gets Remembered… For the Wrong Reasons

We often see outreach that feels rushed, unclear, or overly transactional. While the intent may be good, the execution sends the wrong message—especially to teams who represent high-profile talent.

The intent may be good. But the impression? Not so much.

Talent reps are protective for a reason. If something feels off—too rushed, too unclear, too chaotic—it reflects poorly on the brand and whoever brought the opportunity forward. And in this industry, those impressions tend to stick.

That’s why first contact matters. And it’s why who delivers the message often matters just as much as what the message is.

In This Industry, Relationships Still Matter

This isn’t about exclusivity. It’s about trust.

When a request comes through someone the rep already knows and respects, it carries weight. That relationship is shorthand for professionalism, preparation, and credibility. It says: This will be a positive experience, for you and your client.

That trust isn’t built overnight. It comes from years of collaboration, transparency, and consistently delivering on what was promised. It’s not something that can be duplicated by a cold pitch or rushed introduction.

And it’s one of the reasons our clients lean on us—not just for access, but for protection.

A Strategic Partner Doesn’t Just Open Doors, They Safeguard the Entire Process

There’s a perception that securing a celebrity is a transactional task. But those of us who do this work day in and day out know that it’s a relationship-based negotiation that requires diplomacy, timing, and care on all sides.

When we are involved early, we help shape the process in a way that builds confidence and momentum. From tone to timing, our role is to help ensure alignment between the brand, the message, and the talent—so everything lands the way it was meant to.

Because when the rep is happy, the spokesperson is happy. And vice versa. When the talent is fully informed, confident, and prepared, your campaign performs the way it was intended to and the brand and the talent become a true team.

If your campaign depends on a spokesperson to deliver a meaningful message, don’t overlook the people who help decide whether they’ll say yes.

Talent reps are not a barrier. They’re a litmus test. And when they feel confident in the opportunity AND the person bringing it to them, they open the door to something far more powerful than just a signature: a trusted, credible partnership.

And that’s what we help protect.

It’s becoming more common: an agency or brand team lands a healthcare campaign and decides to keep the celebrity engagement work in-house. It’s a well-intentioned effort to move faster, consolidate vendors, or control costs.

But celebrity partnerships are not like creative production or media planning. They live in their own ecosystem—with different rules, different players, and different risks.

At face value, securing a spokesperson might seem straightforward. But behind the scenes, it’s one of the most nuanced and time-sensitive parts of any healthcare campaign. When managed by teams who don’t specialize in this work, cracks form quickly, and they’re often expensive to fix.

Here’s what really happens when agencies try to go it alone.

It’s More Than Just Making a List

Celebrity sourcing isn’t about popularity, it’s about fit. An effective spokesperson doesn’t just attract attention; they lend credibility to a message that often deals with sensitive, clinical, or personal subject matter.

That means the search has to go beyond surface-level research. You need to know more than who’s available—you need deep insight into who aligns with the brand, who’s a fit for sensitive topics, and who can clear potential conflicts behind the scenes. These nuances aren’t on a website. They come from experience and long-standing relationships.

Without longstanding relationships or insight into the talent landscape, outreach can lead to delays, inflated rates, or outright silence. And in healthcare, that kind of slowdown can be a campaign killer.

Strong Relationships with Reps Are Everything

When it comes to successful celebrity partnerships, the relationship between the broker and the agent is often more important than the name attached to the deal. Yes, talent matters, but trust with the reps is what makes the campaign work.

Talent reps are gatekeepers, and their job is to protect their client’s brand, time, and reputation. They don’t grant access easily. But when they know who’s calling—when there’s mutual respect, shared history, and a proven track record—the entire dynamic changes. Communication becomes transparent. Negotiations move faster. And information that would only be shared with a respected and trusted broker evolves the conversation.

These relationships take time to build. They can’t be manufactured in a few emails or over a couple of calls. When these relationships don’t exist, it shows, usually in the form of slowed-down deals, missed opportunities, or reps who quietly walk away before a contract is ever drafted.

We’ve heard it straight from agents…” If you weren’t the one calling, we wouldn’t be doing this” or “If it wasn’t you, we would have walked away by now.” That kind of trust isn’t just a bonus. It’s a necessity. It’s the difference between getting a signature, or losing the opportunity altogether.

Beyond access, it’s about managing expectations and navigating the partnership effectively. An experienced specialist knows where the pressure points are, when you can push, and when you need to hold back. The ability to balance both sides is critical to the partnership and is a difficult task if the talent side doesn’t have the confidence or trust in the buyer. A true expert understands what’s realistic and what’s going to trigger red flags. And most importantly, they know how to keep both sides aligned, so the campaign stays on track, and the relationship stays intact.

Contracts Aren’t Just Legal, They’re Strategic

This is where most DIY efforts get stuck.

Celebrity contracts are highly specific and layered—each one a negotiation between brand, agency, legal, and multiple talent reps (sometimes including managers, agents, publicists, and lawyers). What you think you’ve secured in a call can vanish when the paperwork starts.

Contract terms in celebrity partnerships are complex and constantly evolving, especially when multiple reps, legal layers, and compliance teams are involved. Without experienced oversight, critical details get missed or misinterpreted.

When this process is mishandled, two things happen:

• Campaign momentum stalls
• Everyone gets frustrated, especially the talent and their team

It’s not uncommon to see additional fees added late in the game, or for approvals to get held up because one party misunderstood the deliverables.

Scheduling Is a Full-Time Job

This is the invisible work most people underestimate.

Once a spokesperson is confirmed, someone has to manage their availability—across shoots, interviews, media moments, and sometimes live events. But celebrity calendars are not static. They’re shaped by filming schedules, tour dates, press commitments, and personal obligations.

Without someone actively coordinating logistics, it’s easy for:

• Key dates to shift and collide
• Travel to fall through the cracks
• Talent to arrive unprepared for what’s expected

This isn’t just inconvenient—it puts your campaign timeline at risk. When media is paid, production teams are on set, and legal is watching every line of copy, there’s no room for error. Having someone well-versed in these situations can make or break some major bumps.

Trying to Save Money Can Cost You More

On paper, keeping talent sourcing in-house might seem like a cost-saving move. But in practice, it often leads to costly errors—like selecting the wrong spokesperson, running into unseen conflicts, or mishandling logistics in ways that strain relationships and delay your campaign.

The worst part? These aren’t just internal headaches. They affect how the campaign performs publicly, and how your client evaluates the overall effort.

Specialists Are NOT a Threat to Agency Value, They’re a Partner in Protecting It

This isn’t about taking work away from agencies, it’s about protecting the work you’re already doing. And hopefully expanding it.

When a campaign depends on a trusted voice to deliver a sensitive message, the execution has to be flawless. That means:

• The right name
• A clean, protective contract
• Coordinated schedules
• Message alignment
• And a great experience for everyone involved, from your team to the talent

Bringing in a specialist like The Amy Doner Group isn’t about losing control. It’s about extending your bench to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

We’ve done this for 30+ years. We’ve seen what works—and what quietly unravels behind the scenes. Our job is to make sure your vision lands the way it was meant to.

Final Thoughts

Booking the right celebrity can change the trajectory of a campaign. But doing it right takes nuance, relationships, and a deep understanding of what’s at stake.

Don’t let the most public-facing part of your campaign become the most fragile.

Bring in the experts who do this every day, and let your team shine for what it does best.