👉 Background: Trade360 is a (soon-to-be-shut-down) online trading platform that launched in 2013. You might have seen Trade360 being promoted by former Australian cricket captain Steve Smith.

👉 What happened: But now ASIC has found Trade360 had been using high-pressure sales tactics to pressure clients into making risky trades. It was also reportedly providing personal financial advice it wasn't qualified for.

👉 What else:  These are two huge no-nos in the financial services industry, so ASIC stripped the licence from Trade360's owner Sirius Financial Markets. It just goes to show that while having a celebrity promote your brand can bring a lot of benefits… it can also go very wrong.

What's the key learning?

💡Brands paying celebrities to endorse their products is a tale as old as time. And it actually works. In fact, when a celebrity endorsement is announced, companies generally see a sales increase of 4%.

💡Why? There's a perceived boost in legitimacy for the brand. If it's good enough for Michael Jordan, then it's good enough for me. But celebs risk flushing their reps down the toilet if they don’t choose their endorsements wisely.

💡Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather both promoted a very questionable cryptocurrency called EthereumMax… and now they’re both being sued. So let's hope this tale reminds celebs and influencers to do their due diligence next time.

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