According to marketwatch.com, the
idea behind celebrity endorsements is pretty simple: “People like celebrities. If those celebrities say that
they like a product, people will like that product, too.” (Sager) But is this
really the case? Companies are paying celebrities a whole lot of money to
endorse their brand or product, but what if that celebrity is not well liked?
Lets take a
look back to Kim Kardashian’s super bowl ad, and let me just say that if
T-Mobile was looking for a well liked celebrity, in my eyes, they failed.
Yes,
Kim K was essentially making fun of herself by taking all the “selfies,” but
then the commercial turned into being all about her, and by the end, people
forgot what T-Mobile was even trying to endorse. There was a lot of backlash to
the commercial and, like always, viewers took to Twitter to talk about how they
felt. People were tweeting things like “I just lost seconds of my life from
that ad” and even started a hashtag called #Stopkim. (Chavez, Parker)
According
to Henry Schafer’s article, The Value of
Celebrity Endorsments, it is really important for the endorser to have a
connection and be compatible with the brand that they are endorsing. Adam
Levine is a perfect example of this. We all know he is one if the endorsers for
Proactive, but instead of the company just getting a celebrity to say “Hey, use
this product it works,” they used someone like Adam Levine who used to have
acne, and they even used his before and after pictures to give him the credibility.
The same goes for Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Simpson for Weight Watchers.
Marketers used the same tactics where they showed their before and after
pictures and, in my opinion, was a more humble way of endorsing a weight loss
program. As opposed to Kim and Klohe Kardashian’s QuickTrim endorsement that
just included them waking around in a bikini basically saying “Hey, use this it
works,” and then it ended up being banned in Australia.
On the
other hand, Kevin Harrington talks about how it is not even worth it for a
company to have a celebrity endorse their product or brand, saying that “Rather than spend too much time and way
too much money on Beyonce or Justin Bieber to sing the praises of your product
you’d be far better served to invest that money back into your company.”
(Harrington)
To be honest, I can see where
he is coming from with this. Everyone has a different opinion on celebrities
and although I may love Adam Levine (I mean, who wouldn’t) there may be some
people who aren’t very fond of him. Even if that certain celebrity endorsing
your brand has a great reputation, if the next day they are in the tabloids for
a DUI, your brand may be screwed.
The point I am trying to make is
that if people do not like a certain celebrity, it could affect the brand in a
negative way. “Using a celebrity in your advertising or promotion can draw huge
attention to your product or service, but it comes at a cost.” (Harrington)
So now the real question is: Do
these celebrity-endorsed ads really work? In an article written on
marketcharts.com, a study was done to see if celebrity endorsed ads had a
positive difference on consumers. It shows that in 2013 only 45% of United
States adults said that they made a large or some positive difference and 51%
said they made little to non. The same article did another study where they compared
celebrity endorsed vs. non-celebrity endorsed ads. The results, as shown in the
chart below, found that celebrity endorsed ads had less of an effect than
non-celebrity endorsed ads.
So in the end, there are many factors to
consider when using a celebrity to endorse your brand such as, being compatible
with the brand they are endorsing, and whether or not they have a positive
image in the media. Or, you can just forget about having a celebrity endorser
all together.
Works Cited
Harrington,
Kevin. "Save Your Money: Celebrity Endorsements Not Worth The Cost." Forbes.
Forbes Magazine, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinharrington/2014/01/31/save-your-money-celebrity-endorsements-not-worth-the-cost/2/>.
"How
Influential Are Celebrities? (Updated)." MarketingCharts. 7 Feb.
2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2015. <http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/are-celebrities-that-influential-38018/>.
Parker,
Heidi. "Kim Kardashian Gets Slammed on Twitter for Her New Super Bowl
T-Mobile Ad Where She Shows off Her Body While Taking Selfies ." Mail
Online. Associated Newspapers, 4 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2935739/Kim-Kardashian-gets-slammed-Twitter-new-Superbowl-T-Mobile-ad-shows-body-taking-selfies.html>.
Sager,
Ryan. "Do Celebrity Endorsements Work?" MarketWatch. 21 Mar.
2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.marketwatch.com/story/do-celebrity-endorsements-work-1300481444531>.
"The
Value of Celebrity Endorsements." QScores.com 27 Jan. 2014. Web.
Natalie raises some great points in this blog. For starters, the chart she uses towards the bottom is perfect in pointing out that using a celebrity may not always be the right course of action. I tend to fall almost in the middle on this idea, which Natalie discussed more in the first half of her post. By that, I mean that I believe certain ads work better with certain celebrities. Having said that, the wrong celebrity can really hurt an ad, so you have to get it right. Henry Schafer goes into detail when discussing this in his article, “The Value of Celebrity Endorsements.” Schafer and Q Scores believe that certain factors come into play when choosing a celebrity for an ad or commercial. Those factors are whether the celebrities are; sensible and appealing, believable, appropriate, or motivating towards the purchase decision. (Schafer) I think the key one here is appropriate. In terms of the Kim Kardashian ad that Natalie posted in this blog, the main reason people didn’t like it was because it wasn’t appropriate towards the message of the ad. Also, she seemed a little pompous in the commercial (but maybe that’s just me). I think that a celebrity should only be in an ad if it makes sense for them to be in that ad, and if it adds something like humor or likeability (on top of the first point).
ReplyDeleteAside from a few though, I usually think commercials and ads are funnier (and usually more creative) when they don’t use a celebrity. Another example of this is the Mcconaughey Lincoln commercials. He has nothing to do with driving a Lincoln (other than his movie Lincoln Lawyer, which is a relation by name alone) and the commercials make little to no sense (and I love Mcconaughey as an actor). ‘Vogue’ is a magazine not a commercial, but it’s still a form of advertisement. Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour wrote, “Part of the pleasure of editing ‘Vogue,’… is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it,” when talking about her choice to put Kanye and Kim on the cover. (Ellenbogen) This definitely makes more sense for ‘Vogue,’ rather than T-Mobile or Lincoln, but still do Americans really believe that this couple defines their culture. I can’t even begin to imagine how many people would be horrified to hear that claim. I hope Wintour means to single out her ‘Vogue’ audience here, because if not I feel her words are a complete misrepresentation of this country.
I suppose the point I intend to reach is, if you’re going to use a specific celebrity for an ad, have a specific reason for doing so and make sure that reason is right. Otherwise it might be better to go on without one for a few reasons: relatability, credibility, no preexisting biases, and cost efficiency. Sure those factors could actually flip in some scenarios (besides cost efficiency), but you have to be precise when choosing your celebrity.
Works Cited:
Ellenbogen, Rachael. "Anna Wintour Says Kardashian-West Cover Was 'Entirely Our Idea,'" ABCNews.com 21 March 2014. Web.
Schafer, Henry. "The Value of Celebrity Endorsements." QScores.com 27 Jan. 2014. Web.
Natalie did a good job discussing the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements. She used examples such as Kim Kardashian’s T-Mobile advertisement as well as Adam Levine’s involvement with Proactive. Because these celebrities are so popular, one would think their endorsements would not only increase consumer awareness, but also sales. According to some results Natalie found, this is not always the case. Her chart that she included displays celebrity endorsed ads had less of an effect than non-celebrity endorsed ads. There was also an article on marketcharts.com that showed only 45% United States adults said that they made a large or some positive difference and 51% said they made little to none. Although these numbers are not overwhelmingly high, I was still surprised to see that both sources showed people being less affected by celebrity endorsed ads than non-celebrity endorsed ads, because I assume that if you like a celebrity, then perhaps you will like the product they are endorsing regardless of what it is. However, this is not always the case. According to Qscores.com, “The key ingredient for making this work is insuring that the celebrity spokesperson is perceived to be compatible with the brand and the product category, and that these important perceptions are based on the brand's target consumers (primary purchasers)” (Schafer). What Henry Schafer is saying is that the biggest reason why celebrity endorsed ads have a positive correlation with the consumer’s association with a product is if that celebrity is relevant to the product. For example, Kim Kardashian has nothing to do with T-Mobile. In the consumer’s eyes, when they see a random celebrity on a commercial such as T-Mobile’s, it won’t stick in the consumer’s minds because there is no relevance or significant message to remember when someone such as Kim Kardashian speaks about a phone brand that everyone can assume she doesn’t use. Also, it is important to consider the content in the advertisement. For example, Kim Kardashian made a joke out of herself and out of T-Mobile, therefore, consumers are not going to take her or the brand she is associated with seriously. As Natalie mentioned, Adam Levine’s proactive commercial reached a larger audience because people could relate to his story more than Kim’s. Proactive took real photos of Adam with acne from when he was younger which an effective tool is because it is real life story telling, which his fans, as well as proactive users will be able to relate to.
ReplyDeleteSomething else to consider when dealing with celebrity endorsements, is that the company that decides to use a celebrity to endorse their product is actually taking a chance and a risk by doing so. According to The Media Studies Reader, celebrities are under constant and regular surveillance, therefore are subject to more judgment by a company and consumers. “The gaze provided by the paparazzi and distributed to magazines, television programs and on-line sites makes their often everyday activities a kind of performance to be read further” (Marshall). This just reiterates how much pressure there is on celebrities all the time, especially having to do with another product, therefore if a company decides to have a celebrity endorse their product, they need to make sure the celebrity is well liked, relevant and relatable to all consumers.
Works Cited
"The Value of Celebrity Endorsements." QScores.com 27 Jan. 2014. Web.
P. David Marshall, “The Promotion and Presentation of Self: Celebrity as Marker of Presentational Media,” in The Media Studies Reader, Laurie Ouelette, ed. (New York: Routledge, 2012), 427 - 438.