While there is some debate on whether or not having celebrity endorsements for a product really does help drive sales, the fact is that it is still being used. Which leads to the inevitable conclusion that yes, indeed, celebrity endorsements still do have the power to bring in sales and increase marketshare. After all, what business would be stupid enough to waste leverage and dollars on something that didn’t at least have the potential to work?
Case in point is Rihanna and her advertising campaign for Totes in 2007. They had not used a celebrity to market any of their products since 1997 when Dan Marino was seen sporting their gloves in commercials. While this company certainly takes a conservative approach to celebrity endorsements, Totes described the relationship with Rihanna as “invaluable”.
There is plenty of “research” that indicates that people simply don’t care about a celebrity endorsement “Millennials don’t buy celebrity endorsements” or “Women are more likely to buy a product if their friends recommend it”. There’s a ring of truth in these statements. It is true that Millennials are changing the paradigms of the marketing world and it is true that women are more likely to buy something that their friend recommends. But the truth is that that recommendation process has to start somewhere. Someone has to buy the product first and then recommend it to their friends.
Of course, the trend in celebrity marketing is doing nothing but going up and up. Spend five minutes watching commercials (especially around the holidays) and you will see that nearly half of all commercials have some sort of celebrity appearing in the commercial. Celebrities endorsements are no more of an endangered species than Florida mosquitoes in August.
Perhaps it is better to look at celebrity endorsements as more of an ambassadorship for the brand they are promoting. They become the face of the brand and generate interest, after all, these are familiar faces in the mainstream media. We all know that generating interest is key in generating reach and sales. The attention that a celebrity can garner can be invaluable to a brand.
Of course, the product itself should also be capable of having appeal to an audience, but this combined with a celebrity endorsement has the potential to have a positive impact on a brand so long as the celebrity reaches the correct demographic for the product and the celebrity chosen for the campaign doesn’t have some sort of skeleton sitting in their proverbial closet such as Jarod Fogle of recent Subway infamy. Subway now has the challenge of attempting to erase Jared from our collective hearts and souls after the pitchman was convicted of child molestation.
In a way, having a celebrity endorse a product is not much different than sending out an email to your client base to generate interest for your product or service. The intent is to generate interest and in a world that follows people such as the Kardashians, who arguably have not really contributed much that is meaningful to this world, it is worth noting that Kendall Jenner is currently the most sought after celebrity endorser.
Open any women’s magazine and roughly 75% of the ads have the face of a celebrity in them. In a competitive market for products such as make up, skin care, clothing, and hair care, companies know that they need to lend their advertising campaigns the added benefit of a familiar face; one that is trusted and aligns with the brand’s message.
Simply put, celebrities create brand awareness in a way that few other forms of advertising can. It can make a product stand out and generate attention and interest and if followed up with a truly marketable product, can create a loyal based of customers. Nike took a huge gamble in 1984 with Michael Jordan and his signature shoes. At this point, he was yet to prove himself as a marketing commodity. Fast forward 31 years later and these shoes are still a hot item, and the face of the brand is still one of the most respected and well-known players in the history of the NBA.
While Nike’s deal with Michael Jordan is like hitting the lottery more than once in a lifetime, the potential benefits of a celebrity endorsement simply cannot be overlooked. This does bring up another point worth mentioning: A celebrity can help make the reputation of a brand, especially if the celebrity and the brand are in some respect indistinguishable from one another. This is particularly the case when a the celebrity is well liked and well respected over a long period of time. The brand that a celebrity endorses will also enjoy some of the mutual respect and Nike and Michael Jordan illustrate this point perfectly.
Having a celebrity be the face of a brand can lend credibility to a product that simply might not stand out amongst the crowd in a highly competitive market. It works pretty much like this: The celebrity becomes the face of the product and generates interest and attention because people are familiar with the celebrity, whereas they may have no familiarity or have no real connection with the brand previously.
Once the attention is generated, people are more likely to take a look at the product or service or feel inclined to find out more about it. This generates reach that translates into sales dollars assuming that the product is also worthy of garnering attention itself.
One last aspect of celebrity endorsements that is worth mentioning is that sometimes an up and coming celebrity can benefit from marketing a product or service while simultaneously building their own career and making a name for themselves in their industry. This becomes a symbiotic relationship in which a rising star, paired with the right company that already has some brand recognition can mutually benefit from the relationship. Typically these kinds of endorsement deals are less expensive in terms of advertising dollars and become somewhat of a marketing campaign for a rising star. While this may be a gamble, it can pay off in the long run by betting on the right horse.
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