It's a phenomenon Graham King, producer of the upcoming Michael Jackson movie knows instinctively. He also produced Freddie Mercury's biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, which made more than $900m (1.25 billion AUD) at the box office and won four Oscars. It comes off the back of the February release of Baz Luhrmann's EPiC 'Elvis Presley in Concert', a follow up of Luhrmann's 2022 Elvis movie.
Now, revealing research from Australia's Macquarie University in collaboration with UNSW has investigated the social media engagement with 10 major celebrities, including Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Emma Watson and Beyoncé.
Prof Dr Chris Baumann, a marketing expert from Macquarie Business School, co-authored the paper and says the study confirms celebrities often continue to engage audiences well after death.
"This study is the first deep-dive look at how audiences engage psychologically with dead celebrities – and we found that engagement appears to be much more than simply emotional. There is so much bonding.
"It was also fascinating to see how responses differed for types of celebrity. In some cases, for example, the Royal Family triggered a uniquely objective response in social media users. Increasingly, this means, that we think marketers will turn to the powerful branding opportunities like merchandising, that famous dead stars encapsulate," he said.
Professor Baumann introduced 'Necro-Branding', says there is more to come on how companies will use the image, sound and art of dead stars, with AI being used to 'keep them alive'.
By analysing 120,000 social‑media posts, the research found that in general, fans continue to express deep affection, nostalgia, and emotional attachment to deceased celebrities.
"By looking at the fans' emotional and cognitive language, we discovered that while living celebrities generate more present‑focused, performance-driven engagement, famous stars – like Elvis – have become Necro‑Celebrities, who evoke stronger themes of eternity, affection, ritual, and legacy," said Professor Baumann.
Co-author Rena Mu adds: "The powerful emotions that their fans experience are now being harnessed as multi-billion-dollar branding opportunities. I expect this trend to accelerate as AI and social media transform the way stories are told, and advertising (and emotions) are sold."
The findings offer marketers a data‑driven way to tailor celebrity‑based campaigns and explain why celebrity estates continue to have an impact, with digital grief, nostalgia and fandom sustaining and even amplifying a celebrity's brand long after death.
Prof Dr Chris Baumann from Macquarie Business School, co-authored the paper and is an expert in necro-branding and brand competitiveness. Rena Mu is a research student exploring Necro-Branding with an interest in Celebrity Branding. Both are available for interviews (joint-interview preferred) or to write an article on their findings.
The paper can be accessed here (Open Access)
