Tag Archives: Product placement

Brands and marketers love to use celebrities to help endorse companies and products. Consumers think that if a product is good enough for someone famous, then it’s good enough for us as well. Using a celebrity’s image in advertising campaigns helps to promote products and raise its awareness. Marketers hope that the positive response to a celebrity will be passed on to the products or brands.

There are advantages to this approach. Celebrity endorsements help consumers remember advertisements and makes a brand more memorable than a brand that lacks a celebrity. But it doesn’t always work; it can backfire on both the brand and the celebrity when things go astray. Since by their very nature, celebrities are often in the news, and are monitored constantly, a celebrity who takes an unpopular stand risks damaging his or her image, as well as the brand. Scandals can immediately provoke a negative consumer perception and harm the brand.

Recently, Cam Newton (quarterback for Carolina Panthers) offended sponsor Dannon with his off-hand remark to a female sportswriter that “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes” in reference to his football play. Newton was quickly censored by several groups who viewed the remarks as disrespectful to women, and Dannon ended its relationship with him to promote its Oikos Greek yogurt. (Newton has since apologized for the remark.)

How difficult is it to use celebrity endorsements?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the importance that celebrities play in brand endorsements.
2. Have students list all of the celebrities-brands links they can remember.
3. What makes these pairings successful?
4. View Cam Newton’s remarks: https://youtu.be/HYVa0wuEjjk
5. Poll students as to their opinion.
6. Divide students into team. Have each team select a product or brand and then find a celebrity who could successfully endorse the brand.
7. Debrief: Poll students about their opinions about the suggested pairings. Why were the celebrities selected?

Source:  New York Times, other news sources

A great marketing tactic is to use celebrities to endorse brands or products. Celebrities have a broad reach and can give a face and meaning to a brand. Some recent examples include Jennifer Aniston for EyeLove and Smart Water, Tim McGraw promoting America’s Diabetes Challenge, and Lady Gaga for Tiffany.

Pairing a celebrity with a brand or campaign can be very tricky. It starts with a thorough understanding of the target customer. Marketers need to consider the target customer’s age, gender, lifestyle, behavior, occupation, and more. Then, a celebrity spokesperson has to be chosen, and available, to match with the customer and brand.

The celebrity has to be a person who the target market will identify with, and have personal credibility for representing the brand. In essence, the celebrity becomes the ‘source’ of information about the company. And, any celebrity missteps can be disastrous to a brand. (Remember Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, and Jerod the Subway guy?)

Who do you find credible?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the importance that celebrities play in brand endorsements.
2. Have students list all of the celebrities-brands links they can remember.
3. Show a few videos of celebrity spokespeople:

Jennifer Aniston: https://youtu.be/Tv4u6aI0aaE

Adam Levine: https://youtu.be/xj7hJipn9K0

Tim McGraw: https://youtu.be/3CupTlT0AXk

4. What makes these pairings successful?
5. Divide students into team. Have each team select a product or brand and then find a celebrity who could successfully endorse the brand.
6. Debrief: Poll students about their opinions about the suggested pairings. Why were the celebrities selected?

Source:  Brandchannel.com, Ad Age Daily