Blog Post By: Kali Kraft, Baer Performance Marketing Intern Show Celebrities are plastered all over TV, social media, magazines, and any other place you’d find an ad. But do those endorsements truly lead to an increase in sales of a product? In short, yes, but there can be some drawbacks that you may want to consider before choosing a celebrity to represent your brand. Here are some advantages and repercussions of celebrity spokespeople on the brand in which they’re promoting. Pros
People are attached to their favorite celebrity, and they are generally well-trusted by their fans. If they use your product, it shows their fans that it is a product worth using and builds trust in your brand. Seeing a celebrity attach their name to a product also reassures consumers of the quality of your product. The celebrity would be at risk for damaging their reputation if they endorsed a product that’s quality was lacking.[1]
Using a celebrity to represent you helps to differentiate your brand from competitors. It also can improve ad recall, making consumers remember your ad and that your brand is connected to their favorite celebrity.
Choosing the right celebrity can open up your brand to new markets. For example, when Nike wanted to expand from primarily sponsoring tennis and track, they partnered with Michael Jordan – and this partnership has been so successful it has expanded into its own subsidiary company.[2] Cons
When you sign on a celebrity to endorse your brand, you sign on to everything that comes with them. While this usually means bringing in some of their fan base as customers, it can lead to disaster if a scandal occurs. A prominent example of this was Tiger Woods in 2009, when rumors of his infidelity surfaced and brands began to drop him as a sponsor to avoid the backlash from consumers. Nike didn’t immediately release him as a sponsor and lost customers as a result.
If a celebrity is too big, their popularity might instantly overshadow your brand. If the ad focuses too much on the celebrity, it can cut out brand recognition in the minds of consumers.[3] This can also become a problem if a celebrity is endorsing multiple products at the same time, as they might see the celebrity and associate it with another brand.
This may seem obvious, but getting a celebrity endorsement typically requires shelling out a pretty substantial chunk of money. Pepsi decided it was worth the price when they signed on with Beyonce for a whopping $50 million 10-year endorsement contract, but if you aren’t a multi-billion dollar company, it’s important to assess if the increase in consumer interest and revenue is worth the cost of the endorsement.[4] [1]http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/16/elberse.athlete.endorsements.tiger.woods/index.html  Celebrity ties can do wonders for brands--and can hurt them, too.From Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall advertising Robert Burns Cigarillos and Betty Davis selling Lustre Cream Shampoo to Bill Cosby and Jello Pudding, companies have long loved using celebrities to endorse their brands. And who can forget Brooke Shields’ famous line, “You wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins?” It’s true: Celebrity endorsements can reap huge rewards for a brand. Yet they have numerous pitfalls that companies should consider before developing an endorsement program. The Benefits of Celebrity Endorsements
Note: It takes time and repetition for association to occur. Celebrity endorsements are not short-term tactics. Selecting a Celebrity for a BrandBrands are important company assets. Advertisers need to select celebrities who represent the image and promise of their brands. (For more information on brand promises, read FrogDog’s article series on branding.) Not all celebrities fit with all brands. For example, at the height of “Sex and the City,” Sarah Jessica Parker signed on as a face of Gap. However, Parker was so closely associated with her show’s haute couture style that the association didn’t resonate with consumers. In 2005, Gap replaced her with Joss Stone and Keith Urban, who are more likely to wear Gap-style clothing in the public eye. Since then, Gap has continued to use celebrities who align better with their brand, such as the Avett Brothers and Kaki King. The Risks of Celebrity EndorsementYet even if a celebrity is a good fit for the brand, using one for endorsements has its own set of possible risks:
Thinking about using a celebrity for endorsement? Not a bad idea. But you might want to think twice—it’s a possible minefield. Need help with branding for your company? Call FrogDog today! Image courtesy of Savatore Vuono/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net Posted: Feb 11, 2013 What is it called when a celebrity is advertised as using a product or service?Celebrity branding or celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy which uses a celebrity's fame or social status to promote a product, brand or service, or to raise awareness about an issue.
What marketing strategy uses celebrities?Celebrity endorsement attaches the fame of a celebrity to a brand or product. With this strategy, you are getting people who are idolized to associate themselves with your product so people want to buy it. Influence marketing creates word-of-mouth advertising using people that are trusted in certain circles.
What is celebrity endorsement theory?Celebrity endorsement theories. Those theories are constructed about the effectiveness of a celebrity in promoting a product. Source based theories such as source credibility theory and source attractiveness theory can be considered.
What is celebrity product congruence?According to congruence hypothesis, Kamins (1990) concluded that "the use of a celebrity spokesperson (endorser) seems to be effective for a product that enhances physical attractiveness". These results suggest that the spokesperson's characteristics act on the nature of the advertised product.
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