Endorsement Talent

There have been excellent examples over the years of companies successfully using celebrities to endorse and promote their brand. One particular client used a celebrity in a portion of its ads over a ten year period and wanted to know if they should continue the relationship. Analysis showed that the ads featuring the celebrity performed better on key measures than those without an endorsement. Barclaycard in the UK used the popular comedian Rowan Atkinson in a highly successful campaign. It was entertaining, memorable, and it communicated the intended messages. As a result, Barclaycard's share of new cardholders rose from 15 percent to 25 percent in five years.

A major energy drink company we've worked with faced negative press for a supposed teenage death due to overuse of their product. The company came to Celebrity Talent International seeking a medical celebrity to endorse the fact that the caffeine in the drink was not harmful. Despite conclusive evidence that the drink was not at fault for the death, the company needed help reversing the negative media attention now associated with them. CTI was able to secure a well known former NBC medical advisor for the company and with a positive campaign and new ads, the company was able to improve their public perception and return their stocks to original levels.

When a celebrity is central to the core idea of your brand, it is important to establish how well known they are among your target audience. A lipstick brand launched a marketing campaign using a well known UK model with the intention of getting international attention for their product. She was more well known in the UK than the US, resulting in strong international communication, enjoyment, and purchase intent of the product. In the US, however, there was much less success with the endorsement. We advised that it would have been a much more successful campaign had they used a different endorsement model for the US launch, one with more American appeal. It is important to understand how well the celebrity fits in with your brand or with where you want to take the brand, and sometimes it is necessary to use different celebrities for each region of endorsement.

While it isn't essential for a celebrity to be liked, this can have an effect on emotional response to an ad. The celebrity needs to come across as likable and genuine, or the endorsement may lack credibility. A snack food client in Turkey created two ads with two different celebrities. The presence of a (much liked) celebrity made a difference in the first ad, improving its enjoyment and impact; but the celebrity endorsement in the second ad was found pretentious and arrogant, and subsequently had almost no effect on the ad's performance.

A UK cereal brand asked about celebrities who are considered positive role models. One particular TV and radio presenter was rated highly, but this ranking was driven by the 40+ age demographic. When we tested a storyboard version of the ad, it was found that the younger audience thought the personality was too old fashioned. The brand increased sales when a younger celebrity endorsed the brand.

We recognize that social media plays a large role in the effectiveness of an advertising campaign and its endorsement. When we help you choose a personality for an endorsement, we consider who is the best fit for your demographic and who has a strong presence with your demographic on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. One of our clients saw an almost immediate improvement in their brand health and sales when they used a celebrity that fit these criteria.

If your ad suffers it may seem as if the celebrity endorser was the wrong choice. However, it very well could be as simple as the structure of your advertisement. The focus of the ad should be your brand first, celebrity second. Look at long running, celebrity endorsement campaigns like William Shatner for Priceline in the US, Gary Lineker for Walkers in the UK, and Chuck Norris for Total Gym. These names have become synonymous with the brand, but the brand is still the focus of the campaign.