Paris' Emirates endorsement worth $1.5m - expert

PARIS ENDORSEMENT: Paris Hilton's praise for Emirates on Twitter is worth $1.5m, according to a PR expert. (Getty Images)

Paris Hilton’s gushing endorsement of Emirates Airline on social networking website Twitter was worth $1.5m in free PR for the airline, according to a Dubai-based publicist.

The socialite and hotel heiress posted a photograph she took of the Emirates logo inside her first class cabin alongside the caption “this Airline is amazing” on her Twitter page shortly before her flight to Dubai took off on Tuesday.

Beside a photo of her first class cabin, Hilton posted the comment: “so comfy”, with “huge” the caption on another picture of her cabin.

She then posts a picture of her inflight bed.

Hilton’s ‘tweets’ are followed by almost 200,000 ‘followers’, including fans, media and other celebrities.

She is visiting Dubai to appear on the emirate’s high profile television show; ‘Paris Hilton’s My New BFF.’

“For something like Paris's tweet on Emirates I would say Emirates would have acquired a minimum value of around $1.5m in PR as of today in 24 hours,” said Adnan Dawood, an expert in celebrity endorsements.

“And this is just the beginning. It could go up to $3m if there is ‘fallout PR’ from her tweet.”

In a statement, Emirates confirmed it did not have a business relationship with Hilton nor had it paid her any endorsement fee.

"We are delighted that Paris Hilton - accustomed to luxury, a frequent traveller and a global style icon - has enjoyed her experience with Emirates and has articulated her views in the public domain,” said Boutros Boutros, Emirates' divisional senior vice president, corporate communications.

Hilton would usually command around $1m for a paid advertising endorsement for one day's work, depending on the geography of where the advertising was distributed, according to Dawood.

In addition, for an overseas appearance Hilton would expect to be paid somewhere in the region of between $200,000 and $700,000 not including transport and accommodation, he added.

Dawood said he doubted the ‘tweets’ were part of a marketing campaign orchestrated by Emirates.

“It’s not a marketing ploy,” he said. “There are huge benefits to the Emirates brand from this. It’s natural and does not look staged.”

No one was immediately available to comment from Emirates.

In contrast, Hilton’s Twitter comments denying that she would be appearing at the launch of the Bed Lounge at the Intercontinental Hotel were “bad” for the club night’s brand.

“While some may say all publicity is good publicity, I don’t believe that,” he continued.

“Yes, people are now aware of a club called Bed but in what credibility? A successful brand is not only well known but also credible.”

As a demonstration of the exposure a celebrity association can bring to a brand, after singer Michael Jackson visited Bahrain in 2005 the number of internet searches on Yahoo for the island kingdom rocketed by 1,030 percent, Dawood said.

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