Author: Laura

While celebrity endorsements have been around for a long time and some might consider it to be the second oldest profession, technology has enabled innovative companies to use them in clever ways. In some cases companies can even pick up endorsements “unintentionally”, and the smart agile companies know how to capitalize on this. (Under Armour conspiracy and celebrity endorsements)

Here’s what we mean:

The Windfall

Recently Keira Fogg of Winnipeg, Canada began receiving so many orders for her crystal bouquets that she thought for sure that her website had been hacked.  Turns out that A-List celebrity Cameron Diaz had given the company, Little Box of Rocks, a much needed boon by Diaz including this company in her celebrity style guide after seeing the product in Goop Gift Guide.  Fogg, who just began her company on October 1 of this year has been so inundated with orders that she is enlisting the help of friends and family to fulfill them.

While you might be able to pray for this kind of windfall, the odds of this happening are probably pretty low.  If you want a celebrity to endorse your product, you are probably going to have to go out there and pursue it.

One way that you can MAKE this happen is to place your product in the hands of celebrities such as athletes and then, if they actually like the product, they may be kind enough to give you a shout-out on social media, which you can then jump on and promote like crazy on your own product’s social media outlets. This is one way of creating buzz for your product that simply cannot be bought.  This is a bit of a dicey proposition, however, and you definitely have to be in the right place at the right time and have some sort of access to these high profile individuals and your product must also be something that they might actually use and benefit from.

The Under Armour Conspiracy

Under Armour is a company that is familiar with the in’s and out’s of celebrity endorsements.  The brand did $2.3-billion in sports clothing in 2014 and has been known to pay tens of millions of dollars for celebrities to get behind their product such as the $30 million dollar deal that Under Armour made with basketball great, Kevin Durant.  An investment that has paid off in spades.

The moral of this story is that although you may not be able to invest tens of millions to get the celebrity endorsement of your dreams, allocating a portion of your marketing budget to securing a high profile endorsement can pay off in terms of return on investment, brand recognition and getting your product or service better known in the right public sector.  As the endorsement with Kevin Durant demonstrates, this type of celebrity athlete is in perfect alignment with the brand and the audience they are trying to captivate.

The Odd Duck

One recent trend in celebrity endorsements is to use Bollywood figures to boost a brand, or some other quirky type celebrity.  These celebrities tend to be less mainstream, but still tuned into the pop culture movement.  By using these types of celebrities and having a humorous, surprising or even shocking element to your commercial or ad, conversation amongst the general public about your product or service is generated.

Examples of this are Nawazuddin Siddiqui, a Bollywood actor and his endorsement of such products such as Truecaller, a service that identifies numbers that have called your number globally, and Mayur Suiting, a premium manufacturer of premium quality fabrics known on an international basis and favored by celebrities and the wealthy.

The moral of this story is that while it is important to secure the right celebrity that fits the demographics of your public, sometimes it is worth thinking outside of the proverbial box and creating an advertising campaign that is quirky and gets people talking about your brand.  One word of caution on using this technique, just as people get tired of hearing the same song on the radio, this method is great for immediate impact, hype and talk but be sure not to beat a dead horse.  Have your next brilliant idea in the wings and employ it just before the first one becomes a notorious ear worm.

The Local Celebrity

It may be somewhat surprising that you have celebrities in your own hometown, but think about it.  Even in the backwoods of Jackson Hole, Wyoming celebrities are practically crawling.  How can you identify celebrities in your area?  Easy, google.com.  Even if you live in backwoods Iowa, there is a whole list of well-known personalities that hail from the corn state, such as Laura Flynn Boyle, Aston Kutcher, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Cloris Leachman and Shawn Johnson, just to name a few.

Shawn Johnson did a commercial for Girl Scouts on KWWL Channel 7 in Waterloo, Iowa and another for a grocery store known in the midwest, Hy-Vee.  So it’s not as unrealistic as you might expect.  And further, it is probably not as expensive as you might expect.  A Tampa Bay Buccaneer NFL Football Player can be booked as a speaker for somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000.  While that may sound like a significant sum of money, it needs to be evaluated in terms of potential return on investment.

Of course there are a myriad of ways that a business can utilize a celebrity endorsement.  Good use of imagination and creating an impact, not just with the celebrity you choose for your endorsement, but also for your campaign could mean the difference between stagnant sales and exponential sales growth.

What to do next:

Finding the right celebrity and getting though the layers of people between a celebrity and your company can be challenging.  Let CelebrityCred.com take the guesswork and the unknowns out of the equation by helping you get the right celebrity at the right price for your company’s next killer advertising campaign.  Call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

Intro:  This story is a great demonstration on how a celebrity endorsement can make all the difference in getting a business well known and sales flooding in the door.  See what happens when Cameron Diaz takes notice of a business that just opened its doors on October 1, 2015.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/12/02/rocking-her-socks-off

Quotes from the article:

“In the first month I thought I was doing great,” Fogg said on Wednesday. “I was surpassing the sales projections I had in my business plan and was very happy with that.

The annual Goop Gift Guide has attracted a huge following since it was launched by actress and food writer Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008. Fogg filled out a general submission form a while back on the Goop Gift Guide website, but “forgot about it” and had little hope anything would come of it.

If that wasn’t enough of an endorsement, Little Box of Rocks was also included in Cameron Diaz’s celebrity style guide on Monday.

Site:  http://www.littleboxofrocks.com/

Outro:  As you can see, having a celebrity give a nod to your product is one of the fastest ways for a brand to take off and spread like wildfire in an extremely short period of time.  It can launch a brand from obscurity into the limelight virtually overnight.

Make sure that the celebrity fits your demographics.  Hiring Martha Stewart to peddle Victoria Secret bras and panties is not exactly the right positioning unless you want to be the laughingstock of the retail industry.  Not to say that Martha Stewart isn’t the perfect pitchman for SOME product, just not THIS product. (Hiring a celebrity to endorse your products)

Targeting the right demographics is almost something that is not worth mentioning except that you still see advertising campaigns that miss the mark on this and leave you scratching your head wondering what the hell they were thinking. 

You might want to consider surveying the demographic you are trying to reach to find out what celebrities have the most appeal and are trusted in the segment you are attempting to target.  This way you can be sure that you are in the ballpark when you go to negotiate a contract with a celebrity to be the new, fresh face of your product or service.

An example of a mismatched celebrity and product is actor Alex Baldwin peddling the Venture Card for Capital One.  Baldwin is well-known for his liberal leanings and this was a match made in hell. His leftwing followers felt that this was a betrayal and frankly, this was not a very credible match.

http://fortune.com/2015/04/19/celebrity-endorsements-gone-wrong/

Do Everything to Hedge Your Bets on the Celebrity You Choose

We all have heard about the epic failures in celebrity endorsements.  The most recent being Jared Fogle for Subway and his recent guilty plea to child pornography charges.  After years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Subway and Jared, the relationship came to a screeching epic halt.

While even the celebrity with the best track record can go astray and take your brand with it, this is a point that should never be overlooked.  Do everything you can to hedge your bets and hire a celebrity whose behavior is going to represent your product and your brand well.

It almost goes without saying that expected code of conduct and consequences of a breech in this expected conduct should be included in any contract.  Minimally this lays out what is expected in terms of conduct from the celebrity and can give a financial out when and if these terms are violated. 

The good news for Subway is that while people will continue to associate Jared with Subway, it doesn’t appear that they are blaming the brand for his heinous crimes.   Subway took immediate steps to distance themselves from Fogle once he was arrested, including removing promotional posters and items from their stores and eliminating any references to him from their website.

If you are venturing into the realm of hiring a celebrity to endorse your product or service, don’t expect to get something for nothing.  You should expect there to be a cost involved, and chances are, you may have sticker shock upon hearing that price. 

While negotiating is part and parcel of the business world, don’t waste your time, or anyone else’s trying to get something for nothing or the virtual equivalent.  Celebrities have generally done their time and paid their dues in order to get to where they are today whether a fashion model, actor or athlete.  They are lending their credibility to your product, and to a certain extent the cost is going to follow the law of supply and demand.  The more in demand a celebrity is, the more you are going to pay for it. 

Do Your Research

Maybe doing a celebrity endorsement is not the way to go for your next advertising campaign.  Maybe the coffers are just a little too empty for this to be a smart move on your part.  While you can bet it all and go for bust, it may be smarter to have a series of less expensive advertising campaigns to roll out and increase revenue and then build the coffers (and brand recognition in the meantime) so that you can afford the outlay of cash it is going to take to secure an celebrity endorsement.

In the business world, there are times to take a conservative approach and there are times to bet it all.  You need to seriously weigh the financial risks and benefits when embarking upon a celebrity endorsement deal.  After all, you probably aren’t playing with the same kind of capital that brands like Nike, Coca-Cola and Target have. 

As a business you need to leverage your marketing budget to get your money’s worth and sometimes it is not the right time and the right place to bet the farm on a celebrity.

It pays to do a little (or a lot) or homework to ensure that this is the right move for your brand and your company. 

Would the Celebrity Actually Use Your Product

You just might want to find out ahead of time if the celebrity you want to endorse your product does or might actually use your product.  This might involve finding out what types of causes a celebrity supports and whether or not they align with your own company’s principles and/or causes.  You might want to find out what types of products the celebrity is currently endorsing or has endorsed in the past. 

None of this is a guarantee, but it might save you the trouble of finding out later that (and at the same time the public does) that there is no way in hell that the celebrity you chose to endorse your product would ever actually use it.  Perhaps the best illustration of this is the Beef Industry Council using Cybill Shepherd in their “Real Food for Real People” campaign back in 1986.  Shortly after the campaign began, Shepherd admitted in public that she “tried to stay away from red meat.”  Needless to say that contract was not renewed.

At CelebrityCred.com we can help you navigate these issues and more.   For help in securing the right celebrity for your next marketing campaign, you can call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

While 51% of adults believe that celebrity endorsements do not influence their decision to purchase a product or service, a full 45% believes that celebrities make a large (11%) or some positive influence on their buying habits.  While these figures might be daunting, remember that the glass is half full, and even half full, can still be refilled. (can a celebrity give a boost)

While it is well known that most people make purchases based on the recommendation of their friends and family, having a celebrity boost your brand is still a viable option for making your brand stand out from the crowd and be noticed in a competitive market. 

Remember that the first priority of any marketing campaign is to capture attention.  Having the right celebrity endorse your product or service can effectively deliver this.  We have all heard the stories about the latest and greatest restaurant openings in our area.  It just takes one friend to check it out and then recommend it to all of his or her friends, add water and repeat several hundred times, and the new bistro on the block has made it.  The point is that if attention is captured, it will attract attention, which then can lead to sales.

When a celebrity such as Oprah endorses a product like Weight Watchers, it lends credibility to the product.  People see that even celebrities struggle with the same things as they do, and the product can offer a hope of solving some problem that they also face.  In this case, Oprah is an extremely credible celebrity endorser as it is a well known fact that she has struggled with her weight for many years.

It is also interesting to note that in October 2015, Oprah acquired a 10% stake in Weight Watchers and the stock immediately soared.  The stock was up 105% after having a slump that saw a loss of 73% of its value throughout the first nine months of 2015.  The stock surged again when the company announced that she would be appearing in its advertising campaigns.

Oprah’s acquisition was also accompanied by a Tweet from her on the same day stating, “I believe in the @weightwatchers program so much I decided to invest, join the Board, and partner in #wwfamily evolution.”

It is expected that Oprah will use her considerable leverage as a celebrity to drive interest in Weight Watchers products and programs, as well as help steer the company into emphasizing not just weight loss, but also healthy and happy living. 

Additionally, companies such as Puma have allied themselves with such greats as Usain Bolt, the legendary Jamaican sprinter who is known as the fastest man on earth.  Usain, also known by the moniker “Lightning Bolt” is a six time Olympic gold medalist, has had an endorsement deal with Puma since he was a teenager.  Puma renewed his endorsement deal in 2013 so that they could continue to associate their brand of shoes with the fastest man on the planet.  A smart marketing move, to be sure.

Bolt, who has been with Puma virtually his entire career, does wear the company’s shoes and also has clothing from Puma that bears his endorsement.  Renewing Bolt’s contract in 2013 to ally themselves with the man billed as the fastest man on earth helped maintain Puma’s place in an already super-competitive market of athletic shoes and clothing.

In another example, Gatorade employed celebrity tennis player Maria Sharapova and watched their sales more than double between January 2007 when she signed on as an endorser and August of the same year in which she won the Acura Classic. 

The common thread on these celebrity endorsements is that they are realistic and believable to the consumer.  Oprah has been known to struggle with weight loss for years and Bolt actually does wear the shoes that he endorses and has continued to be successful in his epic sprints, it is completely believable that Maria Sharapova would use Gatorade.

This makes these campaigns authentic and therefore more apt to capture the attention of consumers who have become somewhat jaded and less sensitized to just any celebrity who pops up in a marketing campaign. 

These campaigns, particularly Oprah, allow the consumer to have some insight into the world of a celebrity figure and raises the degree of reality with persons with whom they otherwise would not have the proximity with which to gain the insight.

A smart celebrity endorsed marketing campaign is going to include all possible outlets including TV, print and social media and the really savvy campaign is going to combine something that is believable and real with a bit of the unexpected; something that is fresh and new to the consumer. 

Case in point, LeBron James does and endorsement for Kia, and while it seems somewhat improbable, James swears that he actually does drive a Kia.  As much ribbing as this has received on social media, this is still a valid marketing campaign and even the jabs on social media are drawing attention to the brand. 

This actually resulted in a commercial in which James reads a Tweet aloud, “I’ll bet anyone ten million dollars that LeBron doesn’t roll up to the games in a Kia.”  James then replies to the Tweet and is filmed getting into his car, a Kia K900, purportedly to go to a game.  Perfect example of authentic with a twist of the unexpected. 

This kind of marketing undoubtedly appeals to consumers for three reasons:

1. The celebrity is appealing
2. The celebrity is credible (or made credible) for the product
3. The celebrity is authentic himself or herself
4. The product/celebrity is a good match
5. There is an element of the unexpected

At CelebrityCred.com we can help you pair your product with the right celebrity.   For help in securing the right celebrity for your next marketing campaign, you can call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

 

http://wallblog.co.uk/2015/05/12/infographic-can-celebrity-endorsements-influence-sales/

this IS a source

Here’s a look at some of the most successful celebrities endorsements from memorable ads and memorable stars that gave their brands a boost.

http://www.ranker.com/list/most-successful-celebrity-endorsements-v1/celebrity-lists

To find out more about how you can use a celebrity to boost your own brand, you can call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

When using celebrities or influencers to help market products, it is important to maintain adherence to FTC (Federal Trade Commission) guidelines.  This ensures that everything is on the up and up and prevents your company from being subject to an FTC investigation. (Influencer Endorsements)

Perhaps one of the guidelines most easily violated is ensuring that when a celebrity or an influencer endorses a product (or there is an apparency of a products endorsement) it must be fully disclosed by the endorser.  This includes when the celebrity or influencer is given free product or any other incentive, including money, to positively review a product.

Recently there were two instances in which the FTC busted companies for failing to disclose that they paid influencers to promote their products.

In the first, Lord & Taylor was slapped for failing to disclose that they had not only sent a free dress to influencers, but subsequently paid those influencers to post positive comments with pictures about the dress on social media sites.  These posts were first approved by Lord & Taylor and then the influencer was paid thousands of dollars.

While this seems like a perfectly legitimate way to use endorsements (the dress sold out), Lord & Taylor failed to disclose that its influencers were paid. 

The suit against Lord & Taylor by the FTC could have easily been avoided had the influencers been instructed to include, minimally, #ad in their social media posts, or in some other obvious manner disclosing that they had been given the dress for free and subsequently paid for the posts.  This created the apparency that these were independent statements made about the dress.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2016/03/lord-taylor-settles-ftc-charges-it-deceived-consumers-through

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2016/03/ftcs-lord-taylor-case-native-advertising-clear-disclosure

In another case, the FTC ordered Machinima, Inc. to fully disclose that it had paid endorsers to review Microsoft’s Xbox One system and several games in an influencer campaign carried out via YouTube videos.

The influencers that were paid failed to adequately disclose that they were compensated which resulted in consumers believing that their opinions were unbiased and objective.

Machinima paid influencers $1 for every view they got on YouTube up to $25,000 and did not require the influencers to state in any way that they were paid to promote the products.  In all, 300 videos were uploaded to Machinima’s channel on YouTube and these videos received over 30 million views.  That’s a significant amount of exposure.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2015/09/when-buzz-goes-bad

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/09/xbox-one-promoter-settles-ftc-charges-it-deceived-consumers

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2016/03/ftc-approves-final-order-prohibiting-machinima-inc

The FTC recommends complete transparency when using celebrities and/or influencers to promote a product.  Ads should be reviewed from the viewpoint of the consumer and should affirmatively answer the following questions:

*Is it obvious to the consumer that the influencer/celebrity is getting paid to endorse the product?

*Is the relationship between the company/product and the influencer openly disclosed?

*Is it obvious that this is an advertisement and not merely someone stating their independent opinion?

It is the FTC’s stance that disclosing the relationship between an endorser and a company gives the consumer the ability to evaluate the legitimacy of the statement.  The consumer may be less likely to embrace an endorsement from someone that is compensated, whereas, they may be more likely to embrace an endorsement from someone who is merely stating their personal opinion of a product.

Both of the above companies used a form of advertising called “native advertising” in which their campaigns appeared to be in the form of news, articles or product reviews.  The FTC takes the stand that full and conspicuous disclosure of these types of native campaigns prevents deception.

What the FTC considers when evaluating an ad or a campaign and whether or not it is deceptive to consumers is the impression the ad conveys to consumers.  According the the FTC, “Any clarifying information necessary to prevent deception must be disclosed clearly and prominently to overcome any misleading impression.”

Advertisers are ultimately responsible for ensuring full disclosure and should monitor the posts of influencers/celebrities that they are paying and/or compensating in some manner to endorse their products.  In fact, it is ultimately considered to be the responsibility of the company to ensure that paid product endorsements are disclosed.

Our words of advice? Keep your celebrity/influencer campaigns clean and on the straight and narrow.  Openly disclose all relationships and ensure that this is visible on any social media campaigns.  Make your expectations clear to anyone that is endorsing your product for compensation that this is required as part of the deal.

For more details on the FTC guidelines covering endorsements you can visit the FTC’s site here:  https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/advertising-and-marketing/endorsements.

CelebrityCred.com can help you ensure that your ad campaign with celebrities and influencers is on the up and up.  For more information on navigating the waters of celebrity endorsements, contact CelebrityCred.com at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com.

A little truth in advertising can go a long way, maybe even to China.  In 2014, China introduces a new law that makes it a requirement that celebrities actually use their products.  This was after a string of ads in which the celebrities appearing in marketing campaigns obviously did not use the products they were peddling. (Celebrity doesn’t use the product they endorse.)

In a laughable example, “I’ve seen male celebrities endorse things like bras, lingerie and female body wash,” said one Wiebo commentator. “I even remember seeing one guy endorse sanitary pads!” That consumer was referring to Chinese star Jiro Wang, who indeed did pitch feminine napkins.

Another example is Chinese actor TaTang Guoqiang fronting a vocational school that grants bulldozer licenses. 

There are some equally questionable celebrity endorsements that appear in the United States such as the Kardashians and Sears.  It is absolutely ludicrous to think that any member of the Kardashian clan shops at Sears.

Bob Dylan appearing in a Victoria’s Secret is almost as weird, and maybe even downright creepy. 

When Jessica Simpson partnered with The Tarrant Apparel Group to make her own brand of JS by Jessica simple apparel and Princy jeans, she refused to wear the cheap pieces from her own collection on the red carpets and in public appearances.  In another related snafu, she told an interviewer that her favorite brand of jeans was True Religion.  (Oops!) She ended up being sued for $100 million but after the suit was settled went on to make an estimated $750 million in sales in 2010.

In the 90’s Helen Bonham Carter endorsed Yardley cosmetics, but their relationship ended after the actress admitted that she never wore makeup and had no idea why the brand had chosen her to endorse its products.

Samsung seems particularly foolish after Manny Pacquaio, David Beckham and Ellen Degeneres were all “busted” for not using the products they endorsed in marketing campaigns. 

Obviously these were bad judgement calls on the part of the company soliciting a celebrity endorsement.  Had the companies above done bit more assessment of the celebrity vs. brand being endorsed, they could have avoided having egg on their faces and had more successful use of a celebrity endorsement. 

To avoid these types of mishaps when courting a celebrity to endorse your product or service, you can call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

If you are going to hire a celebrity to endorse your product, it pays to have all your ducks in a row to ensure a successful relationship between the product, celeb and the public at large.

In 2009, Gate 5 and Beyonce entered into an agreement that Beyonce would involve development of a motion-sensing dance video game based on her moves that was to be called Starpower: Beyoncé. 

Beyonce alleged that they company, Gate 5, failed to secure the needed financing for the game, whereas Gate 5 claimed that she intentionally sabotaged the deal by demanding additional compensation before moving forward.  Their disagreement ended up in the courts in a $100 million lawsuit before eventually being settled in a private agreement between the two parties in 2013.

For one thing, the bitterness between the two entities could have been avoided (as well as a long, drawn out court case) if they had simply sat down and discussed the terms of the agreement and been willing to communicate their concerns and then iron them out.  While this is not always possible, it is certainly the preferred method.

Secondly, ensuring that the contract is perfectly clear on what is expected on both sides is an absolute necessity.  While it’s a fact that Gate 5 was to secure financing for the deal, what gets a little unclear is whether or not Beyonce got greedy and sabotaged potential financing or if Gate 5 was simply not able to secure the investors for the deal. In either case, this was a point that should have been explicitly stated in the contract as to what was required and expected from both Beyonce and Gate 5. 

Also in 2012, Will.i.am was sued by his own clothing line.  Both parties could not agree on when exactly it was that his contract expired.  I.Am. Clothing sued the singer for $2 million when he apparently abandoned his creative, marketing and promotion responsibilities.  According to Will.i.am his contract had expired.  According to the brand, he was obligated until 2016.  A recent google search for the brand showed that this website was nowhere to be found.

Clearly this also a case in which the terms of the contract and expectations from both parties might have been ambiguous and demonstrate the need for a clearly delineated contract that defines exactly the contractual obligations of all parties involved. 

Both of these cases also demonstrate a need for the company wishing to use a celebrity to endorse their product to be as professional as possible and have all of its ducks in a row before embarking on a relationship with the future brand spokesperson.  Of course there are going to be attorneys on both side to ensure that both are getting what they bargained for, but professionalism is called for as a requisite. 

Obscure expectations aren’t going to cut it when it comes to ensuring that the celebrity delivers the longed for result.  This needs to be hammered out before the contract goes to either side’s attorney.  To do otherwise is simply a waste of time and money and may even antagonize your prospective spokesperson.  After all, if they are in demand in enough to the face for your brand, they probably don’t have time for unskillful negotiations.

While we always recommend that attorneys be consulted in conjunction with contracting celebrities for endorsing products, we can help you navigate the process and avoid costly mistakes.  For help in securing the right celebrity for your next marketing campaign, you can call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

There is no doubt that technology has played a huge part in celebrity endorsements.  With the advent of Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, celebrities can now be paid to positively mention products or services in just a few keystrokes. (Celebrities and Social Media Endorsements)

Khloe Kardashian reportedly makes $13,000 for every endorsement Tweet she makes, while Kim Kardashian is said to be making as much as $200,000 per Tweet.  That’s a little over $1,400 per character!

With the number of followers on Facebook and Twitter in near astronomical ranges, the bottom line is that is pays to have followers.  Kim Kardashian has over 34 million Twitter followers.

Traditionally celebrity endorsements were limited to TV and print advertising, but that is was the past and this is now.  Now in the click of a mouse button, a celebrity can reach millions of followers in an instant. The upside for the company using the celebrity endorsement is that they can skip the advertising agency, the set, the hair, the makeup, and everything that went with traditional media. 

This can make endorsements on social media a much more cost effective method of advertising.

Now a celeb can Tweet or Facebook a few nice words about a product while in their pajamas if they want to.  Convenient, quick and effective.

The beauty of social media endorsements is that it provides a glimpse into the everyday life of the personality and can create a sense of shared reality with the celebrity.  Social media can make endorsements seem more believable and genuine just based on the fact that the celeb is using the same social media outlets as everyone else. 

In the mind of the consumer, a Tweet or Facebook post is more spontaneous and more down to earth than a staged photo or a commercial.   Tweets and Facebook posts seem to have the allure of being more bona fide and therefore, credible.

In a culture where brand loyalty is built on trust, the legitimacy of an endorsement can be based on a few word Tweeted by a celeb.

This is a perfect way to create brand awareness in a market that is competitive for the attention of the consumer.  The announcement of an endorsement deal alone can sometimes send the price of stock up.  According to marketwatch.com “A new study, conditionally accepted for publication at the Journal of Advertising Research, looks at stock market valuation and sales data for a raft of athlete endorsements. The authors, Anita Elberse and Jeroen Verleun, find that while stocks go up roughly a quarter of a percentage point, on average, with a celebrity endorsement, sales for products endorsed by athletes go up by an average of 4%. What’s more, these sales boosts can be recharged by a career triumph — a Grand Slam for Roger Federer, an Olympic Gold Medal for Michael Phelps.”  In short, celebrity endorsements do work. 

Link:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/do-celebrity-endorsements-work-1300481444531

Lastly, a word to the wise.  No matter what type of celebrity endorsement deal you might make, be sure and have all of the specifics laid out in a contract and checked by lawyers on both sides of the deal.

It is especially important that compliance with Federal Trade Commission guidelines are adhered to in order to avoid making a costly blunder. 

“Always make sure your endorsement tweets are in compliance with federal rules and regulations. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whose mission is to prevent business practices that are anticompetitive, deceptive or unfair to consumers, regulates the phrasing of endorsements on social media platforms. If a celebrity is compensated to advertise or promote a product or service, the FTC requires that the endorser disclose the nature of the endorsement.

Disclosure must be clear and conspicuous and should be placed as close as possible to the claim they qualify. To ensure compliance, the FTC recommends endorsers use such hashtags as #ad or #sponsored in conjunction with endorsed tweets. Stress the importance of these rules to your celebrity endorser.”

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232460

Celebrity endorsements on social media is a relatively painless method of marketing and reaching a target audience.  For more information on how to best use the power of celebrities and social media, you can call us at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com to find out more.

Although the focus on celebrity endorsements tends towards big name brand products on a national or even international level, celebrity endorsements can also be utilized to give a local product, company or service a boom in sales and marketing. (Celebrity endorsements for local products.)

There is a common misconception that celebrity endorsements for are too pricey for for a local start up or small business.  While it is true that a smaller business is not as likely to pull a hard core A-Lister that just appeared in the blockbuster movie of the year, there are celebrities with plenty of draw that are willing and able to endorse products on a smaller scale and for less money.

Here are some points to consider:

*Everybody loves their home town.  Okay, maybe that is a little overstated, but people are drawn to their roots.  This includes celebrities.  A celebrity may feel inclined to help out a hometown business for sentimental reasons instead of cold, hard cash. The trick is finding a local celeb that also aligns with the product or service.

*Every town or city has local celebrities.  In a smaller town, this might be the mayor or former mayor.  It could be the local winner of a pageant, or a local that has appeared on any number of shows ranging from American Idol to Shark Tank.  This is simply a matter of searching. A quick Google search of American Idol contestants in my state pulled up a list of possible contenders. 

Realize that you can capitalize on the contestants “Five Minutes of Fame” even if they didn’t come close to winning.  Perhaps they are still interested in still pursuing a career and a little local media attention and social media attention would be a mutually beneficial proposition.

Creating an event and a little hoopla (or a lot) around your local future stars might just work out for all involved.

*Don’t forget about a retired athletes.  Depending on their status, they may be willing to give a local business a boost, particularly if it is a store, product or service that they tend to use themselves. 

*The retired and beloved mayor of your local city might be a good way to lend some credibility to a local business.  People like to be remembered for their accomplishments and a tasteful ad campaign might be just the ticket.

*Create a local celebrity.  Sometimes celebrity marketing can be as simple as choosing a face for a brand.  While this is a longer term proposition, over time choosing the right frontman (or frontwoman) to represent as the face of the company can pay off.  This builds credibility through familiarity.  People come to expect a message coming from the same person and this brands the product or service at the same time.

*Getting a local radio or TV personality can also enhance marketing on a local basis.  These personalities are well-known already and targeted to the correct market, can also lend authenticity to a campaign.  This can also work for the retired local weather guy that was invited into homes on a daily basis for a number of years.

A quick Google search located Denny Frary, a meteorologist for the local TV station that I grew up watching.  His longstanding career began in 1974 and ended with his retirement in 2006.  Even having not lived within a thousand miles of this town since 1991, I still remember him vividly.  Turns out that just this past November, Frary did a Red Kettle kickoff for the Salvation Army.  This is exactly the kind of local celebrity that would enhance almost any local business.

*The local high school sports team that just won the state championship can also serve as a celebrity endorsement.  Not only does recognizing local heroes endear a company to the local community, but it also gives a deserving group a pat on the back.  Combining this with a press event in which a donation is made to a local school might just be the ticket to a successful public relations event and timely marketing campaign.

The next points to consider are as follows:

*Make sure that the celebrity targets the correct market demographics.  Even though someone has “celebrity”, it does not automatically mean that their personality, past accomplishments and perhaps past misdeeds align with the needs and wants of the company or product.

*If a celebrity is one with “a bit of a reputation”  (see video of Gary Busey in a local Kia dealership commercial), it is wise advice to be prepared for a little bit of fallout.  This is a case in point of creating a buzz, because people ARE going to be talking about it.  This can work out fortuitously or backfire in the worst way possible.  This is just part of the territory when doing any marketing. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWL2A8Lw7Os&list=PLE2C2033DBA1710CB&index=5

*Make sure that your marketing campaign is timely.  Someone who was an American Idol contestant three years ago is probably not going to garner much attention.  Acknowledging a local sports team months after their big season isn’t going to add much punch or credibility.

*Be ready with a rollout of follow-up spots, social media news and events. Have it all planned out and agreed upon in advance.  It may have to happen in rapid succession, so get your team on board and ready to roll to capitalize on any time of celebrity appearance or endorsement.

*Don’t forget about the legal aspects of a celebrity endorsement.  Just because you haven’t seen a local actor on TV or in movies for years does not mean that they don’t have an agent and are not legally bound and contracted in other ways.  It is always a good idea to have a contract (even when the celebrity isn’t or never has been a star).   This way everyone knows what to expect and is on the same page.

*There are also FTC rules and regulations that even the little, local guys need to adhere to.  Ensure that due diligence is done and having a lawyer cross check this is always a good idea.

CelebrityCred.com can help your business determine the best celebrity endorsement deal for your needs, great or small. For more information on navigating the complexities of celebrity endorsement branding deals with informercials, contact CelebrityCred.com at 1(888)359-4521 or visit CelebrityCred.com.