Leslie Fogel says a celebrity or creator works harder for a brand when the deal gives them a share of sales or equity. As Head of Talent Partnerships at the agency SonderCo, she argues that structuring deals this way produces stronger business results for clients.

Deals in which people are “mutually invested in the outcome,” according to Leslie, are among the most successful. “When the brand is winning, the talent is winning,” she says.

SonderCo, a partnerships agency that launched in 2023 and is based in Santa Monica, California, applies that thinking to talent and IP partnerships for brands across beauty, wellness, tech and food. Leslie says the agency enjoys working with challenger brands “trying to break through,” and that talent is “a really effective tool for that.” She cites a Rebel Wilson partnership for Noom meant “to announce that brand in a big way.”

Leslie now leads the talent side of that work, having joined in August with more than 15 years in the field and nearly a decade at Zeno Group, where she negotiated more than 250 talent partnerships for clients such as Citibank and SC Johnson.

Creator Deals Follow the Same Logic as Celebrity Deals

SonderCo works with A-list talent and with creators, and Leslie says the two kinds of deals do not differ much at their core. Deliverables for creators “are really more social-focused than true traditional linear media,” she says. 

Her examples of the range include a global ambassador deal between Salma Hayek and Ultherapy and smaller-scale deals with creators. SonderCo has also done work between its client goodwipes and Liquid Death.

In either case, the process begins with the brand’s end goal, such as breaking into retail, gaining general awareness, or driving sales. SonderCo then weighs what the talent needs, which can mean alignment with a personal belief or a brand that fits a big moment in their career. “A deal has to work for them in a way that resonates with their personal brand, or they’re not going to do it,” Leslie says.

Photo: SonderCo team

Agent Relationships and Audience Data Decide Which Talent SonderCo Recommends

For Leslie, a successful partnership is “a mix of gut instinct and science.” The latter is data on whether a talent’s followers and audience demographics match the brand’s target, whether the talent is on a growth trajectory, and whether audiences receive the talent well.

The other half comes from relationships. Leslie describes the experience side as “knowing who’s about to break out because they have big projects on the horizon,” information that comes from her 15-plus years of contacts with managers, agents, and publicists.

She is building the talent partnerships team now. The team was previously led by Jessie Mash, who was promoted to President, and Leslie works with her alongside a few other team members. Conversations with those contacts tell SonderCo who is rising, she says, which keeps clients “a step ahead of others who don’t have that type of intel.”

Habit Chose a Multi-Talent Program Over a One-and-Done Partnership

SonderCo created a chef residency program with Habit Burger & Grill. The program features chef Jet Tila, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia, and a soon-to-be-announced food influencer, each creating limited-time menu items.

The chef’s Korean Street Menu ran from July 22 through September 15, and the pitcher’s eight-week Double Play Menu began September 16. A representative on the call said the third and final residency is planned for November.

Leslie says Habit wanted to differentiate itself “in a way that wouldn’t be one and done.” A program “is multifaceted,” she says, with several launches and several talent partners, while a partnership is typically between one brand and one talent.

The staggered launches gave Habit “a steady beat of announcements and news and press that carried them through,” she says. Talent from different walks of life also let the chain speak to different audiences, she adds.

A Senior-Led Independent Can Move Faster Than Larger Agencies

Leslie says she joined SonderCo because of its leadership, CEO Sean Akaks and Jessie, who she says have “such a clear vision for the company.” She saw “a huge runway for growth to bring my industry relationships to fuel what they’ve already built,” and she calls the agency’s focus on partnerships her background and passion.

“We can move incredibly fast,” Leslie says. With a smaller team, she says, clients “know exactly who they’re working with,” and the agency is senior-led. The agency is “not padded with a ton of overhead,” she says, which she thinks keeps it efficient. At some bigger agencies, she says, “lots of layers of approvals and reviews” slow things down, while SonderCo can “move quickly with you.”

Growth so far comes from referrals, Leslie says. Clients in neighboring industries and creative shops saw SonderCo’s campaigns and “inquired about who did the talent deals,” she says, which she describes as “a natural progression of referrals.”

AI Raises Demand for Real Talent and Brands Should Work Across Their Ecosystems

Leslie doesn’t think the industry is “at risk” because of AI. People “don’t want campaigns with AI talent,” she says, and “if anything, it makes people crave real connections to real talent in a bigger way.”

Brands, she says, “really need to look at the talent’s ecosystem and all their offerings.” Much of the talent SonderCo sees is “multi-hyphenate,” with a strong social following, a podcast, a show launching, or a business of their own. Partnerships that tap those facets and show up consistently across the ecosystem “are doing it right,” she says.

SonderCo Wants More Deals to Start With the Talent’s Idea

Leslie’s near-term work is closing deals. A holiday campaign pairing model Jasmine Tookes with Jared Jewelers launched on October 20. Tookes had just shot the campaign and was in New York for an event, Leslie says, and SonderCo will have more to share.

Next year, Leslie plans to introduce SonderCo to more brands and agencies and to be brought in early, when ideas for using talent or IP are still forming. She says she wants deals to be “less transactional,” with more starting from “a conversation or an idea spark by talent that we can bring to a brand.”

Mutual gain, Leslie reiterates, is the standard she applies to brands and talent alike. SonderCo tries “to meet these two parties in the middle so everyone feels like they are gaining from the partnership,” she says. 

Of campaigns that start with talent’s ideas, Leslie says, “those are the campaigns that are breaking through, and so brands are taking notes.”

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