Tag Archives: television

Celebrity Endorsements Can Help or Hurt Brands

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Companies will pay handsomely to celebrities in order to associate their products with the celebrities. Think about all the celebrities seen daily on advertisements. After all, if the product is good enough for someone famous, it’s good enough for us, too. Yet, this practice is fraught with peril – if public opinion about a celebrity and his/her actions are negative or illegal, it certainly impacts the brand’s credibility, as well as the celebrity’s endorsement contracts.

A recent case involves tennis star Maria Sharapova who was banned from competing in tennis for two years after she tested positive for a drug on the banned list. Even though she is banned from tennis, companies including Nike, Head, and Evian are all still maintaining contracts with her. In this case, partly because Sharapova admitted to taking the drugs, albeit without knowledge of the ban, has apologized for the mistake, and companies think her endorsement is still valuable.

Who are the most-liked celebrity endorsers? According to a study by Nielsen Group, the top celebrity is Liam Neeson (for Supercell Game). He is followed by Pierce Brosnan (for Kia), Matthew McConaughey (for Lincoln), Jennifer Garner (for Capital One), and J. K. Simmons (for Farmers Insurance).

Who should endorse your company?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the use of celebrities in product promotion and endorsement. Why are celebrities used in promotion?
  2. Divide students into teams: Have each team list 10-15 different celebrities along with the products they endorse?
  3. What are examples of poor endorsement choices by companies?
  4. Poll students: Who are celebrities that they would view positively (and negatively) as endorsers?
  5. Show the list of the most-liked celebrities from Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/they-really-like-me-the-most-liked-celebrity-endorsers-of-q1-2015.html
  6. In teams, assign each team a popular product and have teams determine a celebrity and campaign to use.

Source: Ad Age Daily, Brandchannel.com, Nielsen

 

 

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Super Bowl 50 Advertising

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With millions of viewers worldwide, the Super Bowl has become one of the premier venues for marketers. The thrills, the chills, the laughter, the tears – and that’s just the advertisements! At a cost of $4.6 – $5 million for 30 seconds of air time, the Super Bowl is also the most expensive advertising placement of any event or show. Add the costs of designing and producing ads, plus the integration into other marketing tactics, and a company can easily spend upwards of $6 million at a single event.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Super Bowl advertisements have become a talking point during and after the game. (Did you see “PuppyMonkeyBaby”?) It’s a big stage, and can also be a big risk. With an audience of 111.9 million viewers, the 50th Super Bowl is now ranked as the third most watched TV program in U.S. history, eclipsed only by Super Bowls 49 and 48. And days later, we are still watching ads and measuring results.

Watch the ads – which company do you think did the best, and worst, job on their advertisements?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Bring up one of the Web sites that have all the Super Bowl ads: http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/ads-super-bowl-50-a-z/302443/?utm_source=daily_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1455508006#Wedding
  2. Divide students into teams of two. Have each team select a Super Bowl ad to analyze and present in class.
  3. What is the target market, key message, and offer from the ad?
  4. How does the ad integrate with a company’s other advertisements?
  5. Are the messages integrated with a company’s Web site and social media?
  6. As a class, after each commercial have students assign one to five stars for the advertisements. Which advertisement won your class’ votes?

Source: Nielsen, Ad Age Daily, Brandchannel.com, other news sources

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Super Bowl 2015 Advertising Extravaganza

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With millions of viewers worldwide, the Super Bowl has become one of the premier venues for marketers. The thrills, the chills, the laughter, the tears – and that’s just the advertisements! At a cost of $4.2 million for 30 seconds of air time, the Super Bowl is also the most expensive advertising placement of any event or show. Add the costs of designing and producing ads, plus the integration into other marketing tactics, and a company can easily spend upwards of $5 million at a single event.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Super Bowl advertisements have become a talking point during and after the game. It’s a big stage, and can also be a big risk. With an audience of 114.4 million viewers, the 49th Super Bowl is now ranked as the most watched TV program in U.S. history. Even at the end of the game, 74% of all TVs in the U.S. were tuned in and watched the final play. And days later, we are still watching ads and measuring results.

Watch the ads – which company do you think did the best, and worst, job on their advertisements?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Bring up one of the Web sites that have all the Super Bowl ads. These can be found on http://www.superbowlcommercial2015.com/; http://adage.com/special-reports/superbowl/148; http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/2015; and other sites.
  1. Divide students into teams of two. Have each team select a Super Bowl ad to analyze and present in class.
  2. What is the target market, key message, and offer from the ad?
  3. How does the ad integrate with a company’s other advertisements?
  4. Are the messages integrated with a company’s Web site and social media?
  5. As a class, after each commercial have students assign one to five stars for the advertisements. Which advertisement won your class’ votes?

Source: Nielsen, National Retail Federation, Ad Age Daily, Brandchannel.com, other news sources

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