‘OG Influencer’ Paris Hilton: 'How I Work With Brands Now'

In an exclusive email interview ahead of her IAB Brand Disruption and Adweek Women Trailblazers Summit appearances, Paris Hilton discusses going from reality TV star to creating Paris Hilton Entertainment, an integrated media and product organization with 19 products that have done over $4 billion in sales in the last decade. Adweek: How do you define “brand disruption? Paris Hilton: I think about brand disruption in a couple of ways. One is when a brand earns enough trust to be able to change the expectations of consumers. Lyft is a great example. By pressing a button on our phone, we know a car will help us get to where we want to go. Speaking at an IAB summit might seem out of character for you. How do explain your appearance at the event? The IAB keynote is with my partner Carter Reum, who is both a great boyfriend and the co-founder of the venture firm M13. We joke that we both spend all day looking at consumer behavior. We talk about how it has changed because of Covid-19, and that the changes will lead to more innovation in the next two or three years than it has in the last 20 years. That’s the other type of brand disruption: brands that are able to get in front of shifting trends. Can you give us an example of a disruptive brand or how one should display itself to the public? One new device that I am loving is Opte. It’s a digital scanner for your skin. Companies like this are a great example of changing expectations of consumers. Why would anyone want to buy a messy bottle of creams, for example, if we can get custom skin care thanks to one simple piece of hi-tech? Opte is part of M13’s Launchpad who helped them launch quickly and directly to consumers online; that direct relationship with consumers is something I have and appreciate more than ever. Are you planning any similar product launches? I’m building an integrated media and product company. On the product side, I’m focusing on health and wellness, longevity and beauty. I share my boyfriend’s passion for consumer tech investing and will keep investing in the next generation of great entrepreneurs like Rachel at Daily Harvest, where I’m an investor. How is the Covid-19 pandemic going to alter your product offering/marketing plans? In these uncertain times, I’m very concerned for everyone’s health and safety. Carter and I are thinking a lot about how consumer behavior will [influence] the new normal. What products, companies and ways of interacting with products will people need? Where do consumers go and who do they trust for social, information and entertainment? That interests me, and I’ve seen creative innovation in the live shopping space. You are widely credited as the original influencer, dating back to the early days of social media. What’s different for you now versus then? When social media first began, I recognized the power we all had to create our own stories and take control of our images and narratives in a way that hadn’t been possible. In my documentary, THIS IS PARIS, I mentioned I realized I was a walking billboard 24/7. Back then all we had to worry about was the paparazzi. How has that early social influencer experience shaped your business philosophy? I make both business decisions and investments using my gut and my instincts. I’ve been able to build my businesses using those instincts and thinking two steps ahead of others. Being true to myself has helped me evolve as a person and as a business leader, and I’m excited to keep growing. I’m using those same instincts to invest in the next generation of great founders as I love the idea of paying it forward and supporting them. One of my favorite quotes from Carter’s book, Shortcut Your Startup, is to have a telescope in one eye and a microscope in the other. What he means is you have to look down and focus on the day-to-day while using the telescope to look out to the future. I’ve been able to spot future trends, so I’m using that telescope to look for new investments, especially those with great founders. How do you structure your partnerships with brands? The ways I and others have worked with brands in the past needs to continue to evolve. With the launch of my broader media company in digital, social, audio and television, I’m building a platform to take a more holistic approach of how I work with brands. For example, I have created the first 20 episodes of a Tik Tok Live show with the ability to integrate brands and sponsors and share my relationship with those brands across my other outlets (with digital and audio soon to launch). From a big picture perspective, today partnerships are more important than ever. We can’t achieve big things alone. Global corporations such as P&G Ventures like to partner with Carter’s innovative venture firm M13 to launch brand new products to the world—a great example of partners coming together to do something quickly and responsive for consumers. How has Paris Hilton’s brand changed over time? I have tried to be more authentic over the years and evolve my brand by sharing my journey. What you have seen from me in the last decade will be different than the next decade. It is important for me to use my platform to create positive change in the world. I believe it is possible for a brand to be fun and playful and also purposeful about making lasting positive change in the world. For example, I have been blown away by the response from my documentary THIS IS PARIS. It has resulted in the movement around Breaking Code Silence. How do you perceive the value of TikTok from a marketing perspective versus platforms such as Facebook? For me, TikTok has been the first to really understand the convergence of entertainment and social. Video is such a great platform for creativity. The other platforms will continue to evolve but new ones will be created to start trends in audio and video. What advice would you give to someone now that’s just becoming influential? I always have two pieces of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Whatever you do, make sure you do it with passion and energy. The road is never easy, but passion and energy will drive success. The second piece of advice is to find what makes you happy and then to build a business or find a job that allows you to use that. One example is my love for entertaining and music. I worked hard to learn the technical skills of being a DJ. As a result, I’ve been fortunate enough to play venues all over the world with thousands of my fans. Paris Hilton will be speaking at Adweek’s Women Trailblazers Summit on Dec. 2 on what drives her as a brand, icon and in her newfound role as an advocate.