Beauty Holding was launched in June of 2008 and has been successfully raising money from 'beauty investors', gaining more and more momentum as the first Golden Beauty was “sponsored” and two more are hot on her heels. Nolcha's Lynn Furge sat down with the creators of Beauty Holding to find out how the dollar by dollar, the business of modeling just got a little more interesting.
Lynn Furge: How did you come up with the idea of sponsoring modeling talent?
Beauty Holding: Lets be honest, it is by far easier to try your hand in modeling if you are Paris Hilton or Peaches Geldof who come from rich backgrounds and are born into celebrity families. An average girl, be she the most pretty, is most often at a disadvantage here. Getting noticed by a good modeling agency is not easy, especially if you do not have well developed portfolio and do not have money to travel and stay in a fashion capital like New York or London. Beauty Holding allows the aspiring models on-line to gain money to cover their start-up fees from sponsors all over the world.
Based on the concept that beauty-minded people would be willing to sponsor beautiful girls (especially men), originator Dov “Davidoff” Vitkauskas turned his idea into reality. Vitkauskas has a background as a music producer and saw the success of Sellaband.com, linking the idea to modeling and Beauty Holding came to fruition
LF: What has the feedback been from models?
BH: Models love that raising the $10,000 sponsorship money is totally free for them. Their privacy, and if they choose, their confidentiality, is fully protected. We do not allow the users to exchange contact information within the site but they can chat freely and promote themselves. And last but not least, everyone is given the same fair chance as Beauty Holding is totally impartial. Sponsors decide who has the best chance to become a successful model.
LF: What about the participants in terms of sponsors…has it turned into a competitive bidding type thing like ebay where people obsessively track their favorites?
BH: You are right, it has for some! When a girl is close to reaching the full sponsorship we get really frantic bidding activity from the sponsors. Everyone wants a piece of the action!
Our sponsors fit several different profiles. Some just want to have fun investing and instead of following “boring stocks” they can look at beautiful girls. Yet another category of sponsors are more interested in socializing with the models online. They are very active on the message boards but they invest relatively little, starting from $1 per model.
We start to know our users quite well as we, as a company, interact with them on a regular basis. One of the things we do is we take interviews from them and publish in our News Section. You can see what the sponsors are saying about Beauty Holding here: http://www.beautyholding.com/index.php/news/2009/interview-with-kristianf/12370
Our sponsors fit several different profiles. Some just want to have fun investing and instead of following “boring stocks” they can look at beautiful girls. Yet another category of sponsors are more interested in socializing with the models online. They are very active on the message boards but they invest relatively little, starting from $1 per model.
We start to know our users quite well as we, as a company, interact with them on a regular basis. One of the things we do is we take interviews from them and publish in our News Section. You can see what the sponsors are saying about Beauty Holding here: http://www.beautyholding.com/index.php/news/2009/interview-with-kristianf/12370
LF: What do you feel models will learn about making the industry a “business” rather than just a hobby for another pretty face by using Beauty Holding?
BH: One of the most important things for us and also for our sponsors is making sure that the girls are very serious about becoming successful models. They need to show commitment and should be willing to work hard during their 1 year engagement with us. Those that show these qualities will have a better chance of succeeding on Beauty Holding. We are a fairly well informed marketplace.
LF: How do you think your system will revolutionize modeling?
BH: Thanks for using the word 'revolutionize'. That is our intention indeed. There are two main areas where we are looking to change things quite a bit. First, the model scouting process. Currently the process is quite inefficient as it often relies on physical model scouts or a photographer bringing the girl to an agency for a fee. And even on internet as of late, the online casting suites are not very effective as they do not provide for sponsorship and proper promotion. Beauty Holding is an 'internet model scout' or, as we like to say, a talent e-cubator. We are global and we can be effective because sponsorships are available to our Golden Beauty Race winners. No wonder that physical model scouts and online casting suites do not particularly like us...
The second thing is far more complex and it has to do with how our models are selected for Golden Beauty. Our sponsors choose from hundreds of models and they 'vote with their wallets' for them. And we believe this is one of the most powerful things. This is especially relevant to the advertisers who are the end users of modeling services. They use models because they want to be more successful in selling their products. What better than the proof that their customers will like the model which helps advertise their product!? We have our sponsor demographics for each of our Golden Beauty, including age, profession, income levels and hobbies. If an advertiser came to us directly, asking for a model which will appeal to a particular type of male or female audience, we will be able to offer them that model or at least tell what beauty attributes they should be looking for. I know it sounds very much against how the modeling industry is set-up today. But we dare to challenge.
LF: Have any clients caught wind of your site and actually started booking talent from it? How would they go about doing so if they wanted to?
BH: Our first Golden Beauty, a fabulous Dutch model Sandra, has started her engagement on the 10th of February. She has been busy in New York up until now and now is back in Europe. She has successfully built up her portfolio within this first month and we have engaged with a number of clients. We are working with modeling agencies in New York, Milan and many others to help our models get listed with an agency once they reach the $10,000 sponsorship status. We are not looking to replace modeling agencies we need them as long-term partners and see ourselves as the eyes of the consumer, so in reality working with our winners should give them an edge as the masses have chosen who they want to see work in the business
LF: What is next on the horizon for you?
BH: Since the start of the year we had another model, Zoe from Singapore, securing the full sponsorship and she will start her engagement with us in April. We have a third, from the US coming close to Golden Beauty status in a week or two. By the end of the year we expect to have no less than 10 Golden Beauties, and up to 50 of them in 2010.
We have been expanding out team with Cindy Gallop, an ex-President/Chairwoman of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) US and 2003 Advertising Woman of the Year in New York, and we expect to see a lot of exciting new things developing as a result, especially in the US. Also, we are currently setting up representatives in global cities that are important to us. In addition to being present in London and New York, we have recently signed rep agreements in Milano and Moscow. Those who follow the inside scoop of the fashion and modeling industries, will sure hear about us again soon!
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