Celebrity Endorsements

Celebrity endorsements remain a popular tool for marketers. But too many times brands use the wrong celebrities.

Tiger Woods endorsing the Buick brand makes no sense at all. There is just no believability that Tiger is dying to drive a Buick. And without believability a celebrity endorsement is worthless. The $40 million General Motors reportedly paid Tiger for his 5-year contract ending in 2009 is not money well spent.

The Buick/Woods example is the extreme of what not to do when choosing a celebrity. There was no believability; Tiger is overused and Tiger is too expensive.

The brand personalities of Buick and Tiger go together like oil and water. Buick is an older person’s car (Tiger is less than half the age of the average buyer.) Tiger is very young, very cool and at the top of his game. You imagine him driving a Bentley, a Mercedes or a Lexus.

Never in a million years would anyone imagine Tiger saying to his hot Swedish-model-wife “Hey Honey, let’s go get a Buick!” It was even worse when General Motors signed Tiger back in 1999. Then he was a cool, single guy in his 20’s. No guy ever got a date by driving around in a Buick.

If anything, it would have been a better idea for G.M. sign up Tiger’s dad, Earl Woods, as the celebrity endorser for Buick. At least he would be more of a believable Buick buyer but unfortunately it is too late for that since he sadly passed away last year.

There are times when a celebrity endorsement makes sense and can be tremendously helpful. Think Michael Jordan and Nike or Gatorade. Or Kristie Alley and Jenny Craig.

Here are the answers to some common questions to help you to decide if a celebrity is right for your brand.

How can a celebrity endorsement help my brand?

Having a celebrity endorse your brand can be helpful for a well-known brand in need of maintaining attention for its brand and category. Celebrities are most helpful because they can star in advertising campaigns and participate in company events. Consumers might be more apt to watch your ad if it has a celebrity. Employees might feel proud of having the celebrity endorsing their company. Customers might be more apt to participate in events when a celebrity involved.

A celebrity is not a replacement for an idea. A brand without a focus will never find the correct celebrity to match the brand.

Using a celebrity is also not a replacement for brand PR. Too many companies use a celebrity in an attempt to establish credibility with consumers. But the only thing that builds a brand in the mind of the consumer is PR and word-of-mouth generated by an idea. The PR attention generated by a celebrity does not build your brand.

People might talk about the celebrity but that rarely translates into much for the brand. The bottom line is that the only thing that makes a brand successful is owning a word in the mind. Paying Tiger Woods millions of dollars is no replacement for that.

When do celebrity endorsements work?

Celebrity endorsements only work when the consumer has a credible belief that the celebrity would be interested in buying and using your product or service despite being paid to do so. If not, your money is wasted on the endorsement. You can have any actor deliver your sales pitch. The celebrity might even be a distraction from your message.

Celebrity endorsements work best when you can line up a celebrity with as much exclusivity as possible. Athletes in their prime usually have endorsements with so many different brands that each has limited influence. Look at the cars of NASCAR drivers. Unless your name fills the whole car, forget it. All the little names get lost and ignored.

Celebrity endorsements work best when the celebrity is believable. Seems obvious, but many celebrities have the reputation for saying anything for a buck. This is compounded by having multiple contracts that are short-term and change frequently.

Celebrity endorsements work best if the celebrity is not too famous. Celebrities that are too famous and too much in the public eye are not as effective. They tend to overshadow the brands in the advertising. And consumers are fatigued of seeing the celebrities’s face all over the place.

Celebrity endorsements work best if you think long-term. Having a new celebrity ever few years doesn’t make sense. Consistency is key. Some brands associated with youth and fashion will have a higher turnover rate. But most brands should think about a partnership of five years or more.

Are celebrity endorsements worth the money?

A big, established, dominate brand has the money and weight to make a celebrity endorsement work. It’s usually a brand that consumers are familiar with and the exorbitant costs can be worthwhile in defending the brand’s position in the mind and keeping the category relevant and interesting.

Celebrity endorsements are usually not a wise choice for new brands with limited budgets. Better to use PR and a company leader as a spokesperson to build the brand first.

What if the celebrity gets in trouble?

The recent PR disasters with Martha Stewart, Kobe Bryant, Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton and others makes many companies extremely nervous about signing up a celebrity.

People are fallible. Even Ms. Perfect (aka Martha Stewart) can suffer a fall from grace. But having a singular person as the spokesperson for your brand, whether it is a CEO like Steve Jobs or a celebrity like Tiger Woods, is extremely beneficial and so important in a brand’s success that is worth the risk. And if the worst happens, just be consoled that strong brands tend to survive regardless.

Some of the worst celebrity endorsement choices: (Please post a comment with some of your favorites, too)

Michael Jordan and Rayovac rechargeable batteries.
I think he can afford to buy the real ones and throw them away. Don’t you?

Michael Jordan and Hanes underwear.
Boxers or briefs? Neither. I am guessing Jordan would go commando rather than wear such stodgy drawers.

Paris Hilton and Carl’s Jr.
Stuffing her face with fast-food burgers, I don’t think so. The only thing this heiress indulgences in is champagne, clothes and cosmetics.

Fidelity and Paul McCartney.
When you have billions, who needs to worry about retirement planning?

Jessica Simpson and Pizza Hut.
The overexposed Simpson is definitely cheesy but popping cheesy bites from Pizza Hut is far from believable

Comments

[Susan Gunelius]

In my opinion, all over-the-counter hair coloring product celebrity endorsements are completely unbelievable. Garnier cannot convince me that Sarah Jessica Parker colors her hair with an over-the-counter product. I agree that effective celebrity endorsements are all about believability. I believe that Michael Jordan wears Nikes. I don't believe that Tiger Woods drives a Buick.

[Dileep]

Hi Laura,

I wanted to comment on the Indian scenario of celebrity advertising, to add up to the blog already been written. In India, film has a major role in popularity. Another popular sport and attraction in India is cricket. People normally discuss about film, politics and cricket.
Amithab Bacchan in short, AB endorses
Cadbury's chocolate ( Cadbury's Diary Milk),

Dabur hajomola acndies and dabur Chyavanaprash ( medicine),
Reid & Taylor ( suitings),
Emami boroplus ( cream), ICICI bank, Pepsi Cola, Doordarshan ( Television network), Nerolac Paints, Polio drops ( govt. ad),Maruti versa ( car), Parker pens < Ever Ready Battery- we find it difficult to what personality or what character does brand portray?- Other than Reid & Taylor, Cadbury's and Parker pens- which show style and brand being vintage - other brands - a lot of them, its difficult to know what they associate.

Then Sachin tendulkar comes in commercials of sunfeast biscuits and MRF tyres.

Shahrukh Khan , another film star in Brittania biscuits, Tag Heur watches, Airtel mobile services and many..

All these brands, mainly want to get attention based on popularity,
rather use principles of branding to build a brand!

[JohnB]

For some reason, Sally Field and Boniva come to mind as a really good celebrity endorsement.

I'm a 29 year old male, I don't need to keep my bones strong!!..but the campaign struck me as very believable and a very good match.

I think celebrity endorsements come down to trustworthyness, believability and your ability to recall, and remember it.

Tiger Woods and Buick is terrible. You've got to be 55 or 60 to promote a car like that. It'd be like Sean Connery or Clint Eastwood promoting a Prius...just doesnt make any sense.

Michael Jordan and premium cigars, or a premium wine or cognac might make sense. But Jordan promoting something you could find at Kmart or Walmart doesn't make much sense..Rayovac, Hanes.

Jordans brand is so squeeky clean (and he was so popular and loved), I think many companies made a stretch trying to link him to their product or service.

[Paul]

re: Tiger. You are absolutely bang on about the credibility of the association, although I don't think you picked the right vehicles that he would be credible with. Bentleys are pretentious, Mercedes skew as old or older than Buicks (would have been appropriate 15-20 years ago) for demographics, and Lexus is too conservative. Perhaps the Escalade SUV, or a Lexus hybrid (because "green" is cool and what we expect of a Tiger), or a BMW 6 series (performance engineering, relatively expensive, fast). But the brands he should stand behind are pretty limited.

They could have turned lemons into lemonade by using Tiger to give Buicks away -- to contest winners, to charities, to "dad" figures, etc. -- because who wouldn't get excited by Tiger showing up on your doorstep to give you the keys to a new car. Even CEOs of Fortune 500 companies would get a kick out of meeting Tiger and getting a chance to talk with him for a bit, or better yet, drive to a course in their new Buick and play a round with him. But a flat out endorsement was just plain wrong.

re: Michael Jordan and Rayovac. Yes, he could afford to throw away "real" batteries, but if they promoted rechargeables as being "green", then like the Tiger example above, I think Jordan would be OK, but someone like Darryl Hannah who is known for a totally environment friendly lifestyle might be better. I wouldn't suggest to any celebrity to endorse a throwaway solution that is full of dangerous pollutants -- PR disaster waiting to happen.

re: commando. Maybe, but don't you think he is sexy in his Hanes? Isn't that what they're trying to sell?

[Paul]

re: Tiger. You are absolutely bang on about the credibility of the association, although I don't think you picked the right vehicles that he would be credible with. Bentleys are pretentious, Mercedes skew as old or older than Buicks (would have been appropriate 15-20 years ago) for demographics, and Lexus is too conservative. Perhaps the Escalade SUV, or a Lexus hybrid (because "green" is cool and what we expect of a Tiger), or a BMW 6 series (performance engineering, relatively expensive, fast). But the brands he should stand behind are pretty limited.

They could have turned lemons into lemonade by using Tiger to give Buicks away -- to contest winners, to charities, to "dad" figures, etc. -- because who wouldn't get excited by Tiger showing up on your doorstep to give you the keys to a new car. Even CEOs of Fortune 500 companies would get a kick out of meeting Tiger and getting a chance to talk with him for a bit, or better yet, drive to a course in their new Buick and play a round with him. But a flat out endorsement was just plain wrong.

re: Michael Jordan and Rayovac. Yes, he could afford to throw away "real" batteries, but if they promoted rechargeables as being "green", then like the Tiger example above, I think Jordan would be OK, but someone like Darryl Hannah who is known for a totally environment friendly lifestyle might be better. I wouldn't suggest to any celebrity to endorse a throwaway solution that is full of dangerous pollutants -- PR disaster waiting to happen.

re: commando. Maybe, but don't you think he is sexy in his Hanes? Isn't that what they're trying to sell?

[Rob Amberg]

I agree with you 100% that Tiger Woods and Buick were never a match made in heaven. I also agree that in celebrity endorsements, the match has to be believable. In my mind, using a celebrity endorsement really only works with everyday items. Think George Clooney and Budwesier or Catherine Zeta-Jones and T-Mobile. It's believeable that she would use T-Mobile. It's not like celebrities have their own wireless provider. But take something like a car or a financial investment company catering to the everyman, and that's where it goes wrong. We look to celebrities because they have what we don't. We aspire to them, so to speak. So I don't care who the celebrity is, I don't believe they would ever drive a Toyota, Buick, Honda, etc. What's also funny is that the high end cars, like Lexus or Mercedes, rarely if ever use celebrity endorsements. What does that tell you? If Brad Pitt was on TV endorsing Gillete, I'd believe it because the guy's gotta shave. If he started pitching for the Holiday Inn, it would raise a few eyebrows.

[Jay Godse]

Jason Spezza and a jewellery store. Why would a great young hockey player endorse a jewellery store. I can't believe that he even wears any himself.

[Nancy Friedman]

Speaking of poor fits, Rachel Hunter, the new spokeswoman for Slim-Fast, has said "she is happy with her current weight and has not tried the diet shake." That's right: the product's spokesperson has said on the record that she doesn't use the product. Maybe customers will appreciate her honesty. Read all about it here: http://www.popwink.com/?p=770

[Paul MacArthur]

Celebrities and Brands: A celebrity perspective.

Bill Cosby was the pitchman for Coke several years. He even did a series of "Real Thing" spots in response to the Pepsi Challenge ads. When New Coke was launched, Cos did a couple spots talking about how the New Coke was great, etc. When Coke Classic was reintroduced, Bill felt his credibility had been compromised and he association with Coke ended.

This was the right move for Cos, because there was no way he could go back to selling Old Coke and there was no way he could continue to hawk New Coke as something worthwhile. It was also the right move for Coke as Cos could no longer be an effective salesman for the company.

Of course, they could still be using Cosby today if they never bothered to launch New Coke ...

[Chris]

I have often wondered what Tiger does with the Buick(s) granted to him by GM in exchange for his commercial spots. Call me closed-minded, but I just don't see him taking his Lucerne out for a night on the town. The combination is simply not believable. I agree: the celebrity and the product have to be congruent, or you're just throwing your money away.