Celebrities and popular brands go together like peanut butter and jelly. Well, sort of. How about this modified statement: celebrities and popular brands go together like peanut butter and jelly after the research showing why they should go together in the first place. Apart from being long winded, that just about covers it.
Celebrities are everywhere. Look at the latest television commercial, or the billboard on the highway, or any kind of social media feed. And, of course, those magazines that are 80% print ads and 20% actual reading. What do you see? Who do you see? And after viewing such ads and/or commercials, what compels you to buy the product? Celebrities have been making appearances in ads for some years now, and the benefits of their partnership with brands is far-reaching. For example, according to Nielsen, a global marketing research firm, Liam Neeson is currently one of the most influential celebrities in the branding world (Bauder, 2015). This means that a Kitchen-Aid blender is more likely to be bought if Liam Neeson is shown using it. Luckily, thanks to companies like Nielsen, celebrities aren’t using their ‘star power’ in vain. It makes total sense — many people identify more with a product if they see something familiar about it; in this case, they see a familiar face associated with the product and they are more likely to support it (Daye, 2011). Using a celebrity in an ad campaign should be a no brainer for companies, right?
As it turns out, not so much. Every famous face does not instantly equal success, and in some cases, end up doing just as much to hurt the brand as it could to help it. According to Daye (2011), celebrity ads featuring controversial celebrities did more to hurt the brand in question. This means that the public either rejected the celebrity driven ad or weren’t influenced by the ad at all. Society just doesn’t experience that wide and sparkly eyed “wow” like they used to. Why is that? Unlike the past, before the internet, before social media, now everyone knows everything. Indiscretions are out in the open, and people can form an opinion on an issue before news networks broadcast it. This means that not only can people disregard an ad featuring a particular celebrity, but if that celebrity is surrounded by controversy, they may focus on the celebrity’s wrongdoing instead of the product (Daye, 2011).
Rapper Rick Ross was briefly featured in an ad campaign for Reebok, an ad campaign that was pulled after some of his lyrics were criticized for promoting ‘date-rape’ (Sacks, 2013). Although the lyrics have nothing to do with the shoe, Reebok found that many people were disturbed by the lack of concern displayed by Ross, even going so far as to starting a petition and protest the brand for including Ross in the campaign at all (Sacks, 2013). It didn’t take long for Reebok to pull the ad to avoid further damage to the brand.
As marketing strategies continue to evolve, we see new and interesting trends develop. Research shows more about consumer habits. People are generally harder to impress, and celebrities don’t hold the power that they once did. What does this mean for the world of marketing? It’s just one more thing to account for. In the race to find the perfect marketing strategy, ad agencies will need to stay on top of trends like these to stay relevant.
Samantha
References:
Sacks, E. (2013). Rick Ross dumped by Reebok amid controversy over lyrics to song ‘U.O.E.N.O’ that seem to glorify date rape. New York Daily News. Retrieved from: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/rick-ross-dumped-reebok-date-rape-lyric-controversy-article-1.1314310
Daye, D. (2011). Celebrities In Advertising: A Marketing Mistake? Retrieved from: http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/02/celebrities-in-advertising-a-marketing-mistake.html#.VWvzmKaSAmQ
Bauder, D. (2015). Nielsen Survey says Liam Neeson is a big ad man. Associated Press. Retrieved from: https://www.yahoo.com/tv/s/nielsen-survey-says-liam-neeson-big-ad-man-123903263.html
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