Brands are increasingly seeing the advantages of Branded Entertainment and getting more involved in the process. Instead of merely sponsoring content with no creative say, brands want to be part of the story, rather than disrupt the story, through product placement or unauthentic integrations. ‘Fashion Star’ enabled Macy's, H&M, Saks Fifth Avenue, Maybelline, Suave and Fiat to be a part of the story. The retailers serve as integral characters in the series, judging and bidding on the looks each week.

Suave and Maybelline are authentically integrated as the hair and makeup sponsors. They have a backstage area where the contestants and models get ready prior to walking down the runway and their experts advise the contestants each week. Brands want to be able to customise, share and curate their content integration, reaching a targeted engaged mass of consumers. ‘Fashion Star’ does just that and allows these brands to employ multiple platforms to maximise their reach and potential.

-Twitter: Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie, John Varvatos, Elle Macpherson, the buyers from the retailers, Fashion Star, NBC, and the brands all use Twitter to drive viewership to Fashion Star. The buyers and mentors live tweet throughout the show to interact and communicate with the audience in real time.

-Social Media: Suave and Maybelline launched a Facebook Fashion Star campaign with sections for the audience to ‘get the look’, blogs from their head stylists and makeup artists, giveaways, etc.-Top trade and consumer outlets highlighted Fashion Star through editorials, pictures, interviews of the celebrities, gossip pieces, etc.

Fashion Star is a huge success for everyone involved. The clothing sales are incredible. Every week, the clothes are selling out. The majority have sold out online even before the west coast airing. The retailers have said, "they are amazed with the outcome". Their websites have seen a huge increase in traffic that can be attributed to the show. Saks, H&M, and Macy's each saw about 100K more visitors during the show time. A lot of these were new visitors.

Ratings: The premiere of Fashion Star ranked no.1 in the time period among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and no.1 in all key female demos. #Fashion Star was a worldwide trend on Twitter. The second episode of Fashion Star went up 13% from the premiere episode with a 1.9 rating (A18-49) and 4.9m viewers. It's the first unscripted premiere this year to up from week on to week two.

Fashion Star has been featured on The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, C21, Realscreen, US Weekly, Perez Hilton, Elle Magazine, Glamour Magazine, and many more!Fashion Star has sold in 75 countries including Australia, Canada, Asia, Latin America, Brazil, Korea, Germany, France, and Turkey, with many making their own local versions.