Unpaid Celebrity Endorsements

Budweiser hit the mythical motherlode this weekend when Peyton Manning gave a shout out to Budweiser following his victory in Super Bowl 50.  While the beer company paid $15 million for three ads on Super Bowl Sunday, Manning’s off the cuff endorsement is reported to have gained Bud an additional $1.6 to $3.2 in instant brand recognition. (Article: Unpaid Celebrity Endorsements)

This unplanned celebrity endorsement is the kind of thing that most marketers only dream about and is being hailed as perhaps “the most valuable celebrity endorsement ever.”

For more information here are two excellent articles:  http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/feb/08/mannings-budweiser-plug-may-be-most-valuable-celebrity-endorsement-ever

http://www.examiner.com/article/peyton-manning-budweiser-plug-advertisers-can-only-drool-over-bud-s-freebie

Below are some other examples of unplanned and unpaid celebrity endorsements and how they affected a brand.

Mark Zuckerberg and iGrill

In 2012, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook made a comment on his Facebook page which gave iGrill a nod.  iGrill is a product that syncs with a meat thermometer and sends data to an app to indicate the internal temperature of meat on a grill.  Within two hours the iGrill site had so much traffic that it crashed due to the overwhelming response. 

The site which normally saw 70,000 hits a month received 1,000 a minute.  The company went from a mere start up to being the world’s #1 app-enabled grilling and cooking thermometer brand.

The company was completely taken off guard by the sudden spike in traffic, initially believing that it was a denial of service attack.  However, they quickly discovered the true reason for the huge increase in traffic to the site and scrambled to add more bandwidth to keep the site up and running.  In a brilliant move, the company also gave a free shipping code (ZUCK) to customers who ordered their product following Zuckerberg’s seal of approval. 

iDevice’s iGrill was just recently acquired by Weber-Stephens Products, LLC. Weber:registered:, the world’s largest manufacturer of outdoor grills and grilling accessories.  Zuckerberg’s unpaid endorsement helped create a fan base for the product that no doubt has paid off in spades.

For more information on this unpaid celebrity endorsement:  http://idevicesinc.com/news/115/

Celebrities Love Clarisonic

Clarisonic is a makeup removal system that uses sonic wave technology to better remove dirt, makeup and grease from the face.  The product was first seen on the market in 2005 with about $1.7 million in sales, growing to $40 million in 2008, and in 2010, surpassed sales of $100 million, which was double the previous two years.

This is thanks largely in part to unpaid celebrity endorsements from such big names as Oprah, Courtney Cox, Cameron Diaz, Tyra Banks, and Justin Timberlake.  These celeb’s approvals sent waves through social media and generated a swell of attention for the product. 

The resulting increase in sales due to these celebs giving a simple seal of approval based on their own personal experience with the product generated enough horsepower for the company to begin running adds in major beauty magazines such as Vogue, Allure, InStyle.   Procter & Gamble also responded to the popularity of Clarisonic by creating their own competing product.  (They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!)

For more information of the celebrity endorsement of Clarisonic:  http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2011/03/30/lady-gagas-favorite-seattle-tech-startup-clarisonic-cracks-big-time-with-100m-sales/

Your Favorite Celebrity and Starbucks

I don’t know about you, but nothing makes me want to run out and grab a latte like seeing my favorite celebrity walking down the street with a Starbucks in hand.  Okay, perhaps I exaggerate, but one has to admit that this is probably one of the biggest and most perpetuated unpaid celebrity endorsements, albeit in small doses, of all time.

There are 2.7 million results when you search Google with “Celebrities Starbucks” where you can find pics of Tom Cruise, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift and any Kardashian with their favorite concoctions.  You can bet that Starbucks isn’t protesting the paparazzi’s unwitting advertising campaigns when they photograph celebs with their fav beverages.

While unpaid celebrity endorsements can be a huge boon to a brand, the truth is that most companies are going to pay for the endorsements of their products.  To help your brand or company find the best possible celebrity to endorse your product, CelebrityCred.com can help.  Contact CelebrityCred.com at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com.