I watch a lot of home shopping style ads on TV…. sad I know.
I just love the thought that goes into them, how they sell, how they persuade, the offer the pitch, everything about them!
One thing that I see time and time again on winning ads is a celebrity endorsement.
Celebrity endorsements have been part of advertising and marketing efforts for more than a century…
The image on the right is Chuck Norris and uber babe christie brinkley doing an endorsement for Total Gym.
One of the earliest examples came in 1890, when actress Lily Langtry, well known for her beautiful complexion, began appearing in advertisements for Pears Soap.
Since then, celebrities have been involved in the world of marketing through early radio broadcasts, television commercials, online ads, and even in-person…
Brands can use recognisable celebrities to resonate with various demographic groups… depending on who that particular celeb is popular with.
Showing a famous person with a particular product or service can serve a few important purposes…
- Instilling trust in a company (based on the good word of the celeb)
- Making a product appear glamorous
- Showing a product or service as “fit for an expert”
- Because the lives, successes, and even the abilities of celebrities (actors, musicians, professional athletes, etc.) are so desirable to most people, it’s easy to make an association between a product endorsed and the qualities of the person using it…
And celeb endorsements usually work one of two ways: either a company contracts a celeb to endorse a specific product, or a celeb’s choice to use a certain product or service ends up creating word-of-mouth chatter among that celeb’s fan base…
And sometimes, if a celeb is a fan of a particular product or service already, a company will reach out, knowing that the celeb is likely to attach their name and fame to a product they already support…
To see the power of these endorsements in action, just take a look at what happened for one small jewellery business, simply because Lady Gaga wore one of her products…
The designer saw a huge boost in sales and got her business back on its feet – just because one highly recognisable person decided to use her product.
Simply associating a recognisable face or name with a product can make all the difference in public perception…
Think James Bond (any of the actors) and Aston Martin…
Michael Jordan and Nike…
Glamorous, A-List actresses featured in makeup advertisements, Jessica Simpson for pro active a $250 million a year product (Natalie Portman for Dior, Emma Stone for Revlon, Drew Barrymore for Covergirl – the list goes on and on)…
Being associated with a celebrity (particularly one trusted by your target market) increases your perceived authority…
For example, something as simple as a photo of me with Richard Branson would instantly increase your perception of me, you would automatically assign those aspects that you like from Richard to me as well, Cialdini called this the halo effect.
You see examples of this all the time, when people pose for pictures with movie stars, business tycoons, or other “authority figures.” It’s like being famous by association… and perception = reality.
At the root, people want to be like the celebrities they revere, so when a celeb endorses a product, it says to the potential customer that using that product will get them closer to being like the celeb…
And this can even work on a local level – a prominent member of society’s seal of approval of a business lends credibility… and that moves the business closer to that oh-so-important position of being known, liked, and trusted…
One of our jobs as marketers is to answer these questions:
Why should I listen to you?
Why should I trust you?
Why are you my best option?
When you utilize The Celebrity Effect, it’s one great way to increase your perceived value!
It’s all wrapped up in building authority – setting yourself apart as the obvious choice over your competitors to increase your online sales.
Who could lend credibility (and desirability) to your business?
Neil