Once hailed as the ultimate celebrity access platform…
Cameo burst onto the scene back in 2016 offering personalised video messages from stars, big and small. From heartfelt birthday wishes to hilariously specific shoutouts, Cameo turned the previously unimaginable — direct engagement with celebrities — into a click-and-pay reality. In its heyday this wasn’t just a novelty, it was revolutionary. Yet today, with TikTok reigning supreme and a downturn in profit for Cameo, one has to ask: does it still hold any appeal for the youth market?
When TikTok entered the scene, it didn’t just create a new platform; it redefined what celebrity meant. The platform transformed the passive consumption of celebrity culture into something dynamic, participatory, and deeply interactive. It established a two-way relationship between fan and star: from duet videos to starting trends that celebrities eagerly jump into, TikTok made ‘intimate’ interactions feel authentic and, crucially, free.
Where Cameo offers curated messages for a price, TikTok serves up moments like Lewis Capaldi reacting to impressions of himself or creators sparking viral trends that involve fans and stars alike (was there any star NOT doing the Charli XCX Apple dance over the summer?). The interactivity is real-time, communal, and often far more entertaining than the static one-way communication Cameo provides. Why pay £50 for a pre-scripted happy birthday video, when you might get your fave celeb casually dropping jokes in the comment section (Julia Fox loves it) or reacting to a fan-made meme? The next gen has embraced this seamless, organic relationship with creators — one that Cameo’s transactional nature struggles to replicate.
Despite its hurdles, Cameo retains a niche appeal
For creators who’ve had their fleeting moment in the spotlight, it offers a way to extend that 15 minutes of fame. From the Original Sad Oompa Loompa to reality TV mainstays (think Real Housewives, Vanderpump Rules orTOWIE) or boy bands from times gone by (NSYNC anyone?), Cameo provides a platform for monetising niche celebrity as well as nostalgia.
It’s a solid source of income for established creators, so stands to reason that they would encourage fans to keep buying. It can help to boost earning potential far beyond the creator funds, ad revenues, affiliate links, brand deals or perhaps just a lack of acting jobs.
Last year millennial ledge James Buckley became Cameo’s first millionaire, and on a recent podcast, star-to-teen-boys, Beavo, said he’d made £20k on Cameo in the last 6 months, and could have made a further £13k if he hadn’t let requests expire.
But where it probably has the most potential with a youth audience is cashing in on meme culture and their slightly eccentric humour. How about a personalised chat up line to make your skin crawl from creator Bofem, or challenge your dad’s gender assumptions with a video from Tippy?
Alternatively, create your own content for a celeb to participate in. One of my faves from last year — Nigel Farage was caught out with phonetically scripted videos that were in fact, drug-dealer menus delivered in slang. In fact, he’s constantly trolled and is duped far more than seems believable.
Most importantly though, content from creators like that, follows their established format, feeling far more authentic than the off-the-shelf happy birthday with an in-joke from the buyer. It’s more fluid and immersive for fans craving direct (albeit paid) connections with niche personalities or viral sensations, it still scratches an itch.
Brands aiming to connect with youth demographics should take cues from what Gen Z are buying and requesting, to understand how to target them
They thrive on irreverence, inside jokes, and the unexpected — elements that drive their engagement. Leaning into this quirky, participatory humour allows brands to craft campaigns that feel as if they’re firstly aware of what young people are talking about and secondly that they ‘get it’. The key is to meet Gen Z where they are: celebrating oddity, subverting the ‘norm’, and building connections through humour that feels personal and relatable. And of course, be mindful of a cost of living crisis and limited expenditure.
Even Cameo itself is pivoting to bring more authenticity to its offering. It has rebranded itself as a tool for businesses to engage audiences through celebrity endorsements, setting itself up in a similar format to an influencer tool, and giving brands the opportunity to find genuine brand fans. Or at least, that’s clearly the aim.
Yet, this strategy faces challenges, too. TikTok excels in influencer-brand partnerships, and its algorithmic magic means endorsements on the platform feel organic, and often reach the right audience with minimal effort. Cameo’s reliance on its existing pool of personalities limits its flexibility compared to TikTok’s ever-evolving roster of creators.
So can Cameo evolve beyond its transactional roots? Gen Z craves community and interactivity. If Cameo can integrate these elements — perhaps by fostering participatory fan experiences or creating opportunities for shared storytelling — it might just find a way to survive in a TikTok-dominated world.
For now, though, Cameo is like a nostalgic pop song: not topping the charts anymore, but still holding onto its diehard fans and those who love a good throwback.
Featured image: Cameo
