Marketing fundamentals and contemporary applications

Celebrity Marketing

Companies today spend millions of dollars on celebrity endorsements, reflecting the fact that celebrity dominates our culture. However, doing so presents not only rewards, but also a variety of risks. This paper explores the use of a sports star such as Real Mardrid's David Beckham and pop star Robbie Williams to illustrate why this is true.

According to an article in strategic marketing, the major benefits of using celebrities for marketing are:

Establishes Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target audience.

Attracts Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.

Associative Benefit: A celebrity's preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.

Psychographic Connect: Stars are adored by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalize on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.

Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.).

Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest among the masses.

But will signing a contract with Beckham or Williams always produce the above results? Not necessarily. One reason preventing success may be that the image of the celebrity doesn't match the positioning of the product. For example, the use of a sports or pop star might be more appropriate for a sports car rather than a family car. Further, if the celebrity used represents values that conflict with the brand values and positioning, the advertising will create a conflict in the minds of the target audience who may reject the proposition.

Even if the company does a good job of picking an athlete such as Beckham, his ability to serve as a role model for youth may be damaged if he is later caught engaging in some illegal activity such as taking drugs. Or, bad boy Robbie Williams could cross the line of acceptability by making antiwar statements that inflame the public.

And, there are many more risks associated with celebrity marketing. A celebrity's ability to break through the clutter of advertisements may become limited if the celebrity takes on too many endorsements. Perhaps Beckham decides that he wants to rake in all the money while he can and endorses beer, sports clothing, cars, and a fast food chain to boot. The impact of Beckham reduces as the number of brands he endorses increases. In converse, the brand can be overshadowed by the overwhelming presence of the star. Showing Williams singing for a product could cause the audience to be so consumed with the artist and his performance that they don't remember the product/brand being advertised. In other cases, a celebrity can give rise to skepticism if the audience doesn't believe that the celebrity really uses the product. Would a millionaire such as Beckham really drive a Honda Accord? Probably not. Ultimately, no celebrity in the world can help a company overcome a bad product.