Chen Sancong

Joel Chan × BK8: Why Booking a Celebrity Is Only Half the Campaign

Getting a recognisable celebrity into an advertisement sounds like the difficult part.

It is not.

The harder part is deciding what to do after the celebrity arrives on set.

BK8’s campaign with Hong Kong actor Joel Chan is a useful example because it shows the difference between having celebrity recognition and turning that recognition into an effective piece of advertising.

BK8 has featured Joel Chan as part of its celebrity ambassador lineup. For this campaign, reports described Chan appearing in a black suit and sunglasses, performing alongside similarly dressed dancers inside an industrial warehouse-style location.

It is deliberately stylised.

It is visually loud.

And it raises a practical question for brands:

Once you have paid for a recognisable face, how do you make sure people remember the brand as well?

Watch the BK8 × Joel Chan Commercial

The video runs for around one and a half minutes and places Joel Chan at the centre of a heavily styled performance, with dark clothing, sunglasses, group movement and a warehouse environment.

There is nothing complicated about the concept.

The advertisement wants to look confident, energetic and larger than an ordinary product commercial.

That approach can attract attention.

But celebrity advertising has another job after getting attention:

The audience still needs to know who the celebrity is representing.

A Famous Face Does Not Automatically Create a Famous Campaign

This is one of the most common misunderstandings around celebrity marketing.

A brand signs a recognisable actor.

The actor appears in the commercial.

The campaign launches.

Then everyone assumes the celebrity’s popularity will carry the advertising.

It does not always work like that.

The celebrity brings an existing audience and existing recognition.

The campaign still needs to do the rest.

That means the creative team has to decide:

• What should viewers remember after five seconds?
• How clearly does the brand appear with the celebrity?
• Does the advertisement look distinctive enough to belong to this campaign?
• Is the celebrity being used for something only this person can bring?
• What happens to the content after the main video is released?

The contract gives the brand access to the celebrity.

It does not automatically give the brand attention.

Styling Can Make an Ad Look Bigger — But It Can Also Hide the Talent

Joel Chan’s campaign leans heavily into styling.

Black suit.

Dark sunglasses.

Dark set.

Group performance.

Strong poses.

These choices give the video a particular mood.

But there is also a trade-off.

The more styling placed around a celebrity, the more important it becomes to make sure the celebrity remains instantly identifiable.

This matters especially in social media advertising.

A viewer may see the video first as:

• A small thumbnail
• A six-second cut
• A vertical Reel
• A muted autoplay video
• A banner image
• A cropped mobile advertisement

If the talent is only clearly recognisable in the full-length version, the campaign loses part of the value it paid for.

A celebrity campaign therefore needs to be designed not just for the main film, but for all the smaller formats where audiences will actually encounter it.

The Celebrity Should Not Become Just Another Person in the Scene

Large sets and groups of supporting performers can make a production feel expensive.

But they also create visual competition.

If ten people are moving at once, the audience needs to know immediately where to look.

This is where directing becomes important.

A celebrity commercial should make the talent visually dominant through:

• Framing
• Lighting
• Position
• Movement
• Editing
• Costume contrast
• Camera distance

The audience should never need to search for the ambassador.

If the campaign is paying for Joel Chan, Joel Chan has to remain the centre of the frame.

That sounds obvious.

In production, it is surprisingly easy to lose.

Creative Fit Matters More Than Making the Celebrity Look Cool

A celebrity looking stylish is not the same as a celebrity fitting the campaign.

There is a difference.

The first question is:

Does the talent look good?

The more useful question is:

Does this concept make sense because this particular talent is in it?

If the same script, costume, dance and location could be given to almost any other actor without changing the advertisement, the celebrity may not be fully integrated into the creative idea.

That does not mean every campaign needs a complicated story.

It means the creative team should find something that connects the ambassador with the brand.

It could be:

• A recognisable personality trait
• A known screen image
• A way of speaking
• A physical skill
• A recurring campaign line
• A specific visual identity
• A story audiences associate with that celebrity

The stronger that connection is, the harder the campaign becomes to copy.

Regional Recognition Is Valuable — But It Still Needs a Local Plan

Joel Chan is a Hong Kong television actor whose work is familiar to many Chinese-speaking viewers, and he won TVB’s Best Actor award in 2022 for Barrack O’Karma 1968.

That kind of familiarity can be useful for campaigns aimed at Malaysia and Singapore.

Hong Kong television has long had an audience in both markets, and HK01 specifically noted TVB’s efforts to develop its presence in Southeast Asia through Malaysian and Singaporean events.

But regional familiarity should not be confused with guaranteed campaign performance.

A celebrity may be recognised.

The advertisement still needs the right:

• Platforms
• Media budget
• Audience targeting
• Language
• Social formats
• Posting schedule
• Supporting content

Talent selection and media planning are separate jobs.

Both have to work.

A Celebrity Booking Is Not a Distribution Strategy

This is probably the most useful lesson from the campaign.

At the time, HK01 reported that the uploaded commercial had around 8,000 views on an official YouTube channel with only 29 subscribers.

That number is historical, so it should not be treated as the campaign’s total reach.

But it highlights something brands often overlook:

A celebrity cannot solve a distribution problem.

You can spend heavily on talent and production.

If the finished material is uploaded once and left there, a large part of the investment may never reach the intended audience.

Before production begins, the campaign should already have a distribution plan.

For example:

Main film
YouTube, website and campaign landing page.

15-second cut
Paid social advertising.

6-second cut
Retargeting and bumper formats.

Vertical edit
TikTok, Instagram Reels and Shorts.

Celebrity stills
PR, website and social posts.

Behind-the-scenes content
Organic social media.

Short interview or greeting
Community and local market pages.

The shoot and the media plan should be developed together.

One Long Commercial Is Not Enough Anymore

A one-and-a-half-minute master video can still be useful.

But it should be treated as the source material, not the entire campaign.

Most users will never watch every second.

That means production teams need to deliberately capture moments that still work when cut down.

A useful celebrity shoot should give the editor:

• A clear three-second celebrity entrance
• Several clean brand shots
• Short standalone lines
• Strong facial reactions
• Vertical-safe framing
• Hero poses
• Close-ups
• Product or logo interaction
• Clean footage without dialogue
• Behind-the-scenes moments

If these shots are planned in advance, one production day can create weeks of content.

If they are not planned, the editor is forced to manufacture short-form material from footage that was never designed for it.

The Thumbnail Is Part of the Campaign Too

This is easy to underestimate.

Before somebody watches a video, they usually see a thumbnail.

For a celebrity campaign, that thumbnail has to do two jobs immediately:

Show the celebrity.

Show the brand.

Not one or the other.

A beautiful wide shot of a warehouse may look cinematic, but if Joel Chan becomes a tiny figure in the middle of the frame, the campaign loses its strongest recognition asset.

The better thumbnail is often much simpler:

Joel Chan’s face.

A recognisable pose.

Clear BK8 branding.

Strong contrast.

Very little text.

The objective is not to recreate the whole commercial in one picture.

The objective is to make someone understand the partnership before clicking.

Public Reaction Is Also Part of Celebrity Campaign Planning

Celebrity advertising attracts more attention than ordinary advertising.

That includes criticism.

HK01 reported that some online comments reacted negatively to the execution of the BK8 commercial.

That does not automatically mean the campaign failed.

Polarising creative can still attract attention.

But brands need to understand that once a recognised celebrity is involved, audiences will judge more than the product.

They will judge:

• Styling
• Acting
• Script
• Music
• Production quality
• Whether the collaboration feels natural
• Whether the celebrity appears comfortable
• Whether the campaign matches the celebrity’s image

This is another reason creative fit matters.

The bigger the name, the more people have an opinion about how that person should appear.

What Brands Can Learn from BK8 × Joel Chan

1. Do not stop planning after securing the celebrity

Talent confirmation should be the beginning of the creative process, not the finish line.

The brand still needs a concept, shot list, distribution plan and content system.

2. Keep the celebrity visually recognisable

Styling should support the ambassador, not hide the person the brand paid to feature.

Always test how the footage looks on a phone screen and in a thumbnail.

3. Give the celebrity something specific to own

A costume alone is not enough.

A campaign becomes stronger when viewers can associate a line, action, attitude or visual idea specifically with that ambassador.

4. Plan short-form content before production

Do not finish the main film and then ask what can be turned into Reels.

Decide the required formats before the shoot.

5. Separate celebrity reach from media reach

A famous actor gives the campaign recognition.

Distribution is what puts that recognition in front of enough people.

Both need budget and planning.

From Celebrity Booking to Campaign Execution

Celebrity partnerships involve more than contacting talent and arranging a filming date.

A complete campaign may require:

• Talent selection
• Commercial negotiation
• Market suitability review
• Campaign concept
• Script development
• Commercial production
• Photography
• Social media formats
• Behind-the-scenes content
• Media assets
• Regional localisation
• Campaign rollout planning

WOBAO SPORTS works with brands across celebrity partnerships, athlete collaborations, commercial production and sports-related campaigns.

The objective is not simply to put a famous person into an advertisement.

It is to make sure the partnership produces content the brand can actually use.

BK8 × Joel Chan is a useful case because it shows exactly why that distinction matters.

Celebrity recognition can open the door.

Creative direction determines what people remember.

Distribution determines how many people ever see it.

Planning a Celebrity or Athlete Campaign?

WOBAO SPORTS helps brands plan celebrity partnerships, athlete endorsements, commercial productions and regional marketing campaigns.

From talent selection and creative planning to filming and campaign content, each stage can be built around the market, platform and objective instead of treating the celebrity appearance as the entire strategy.

Contact WOBAO SPORTS to discuss your next celebrity, athlete or sports marketing campaign.