S E M M I N D I V I D U A L A S S I G N M E N T

D E E P A K T H O M A S

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS

BACKGROUND

• Celebrity endorsements date from the late 18th

century

• Mark Twain was the face of 3 brands including

Mark Twain cigars and Mark Twain flour

• Sachin’s association with Boost and Michael Jordan

with Nike have achieved legendary status

EVOLUTION OF ENDORSEMENTS

WHAT MAKES IT WORK?

• Credibility : the trust put in celebrity

• Clout : ability to generate interest in brand

• Visibility : the number of public appearances

CREDIBILITY

• Context: the celeb should be considered an expert

eg. Lux endorsed by movie stars (considered

beautiful)

• History: the celeb should have been associated

with field for a sufficient length of time

• Success: the personality should be a success in the

field

CREDIBILITY

CLOUT

• Following : the celeb should have following in the

targeted segment

• Pitch : the communication should put across a new

and interesting concept

• Values : the core values of the communication

should be compatible with the celeb

CLOUT

VISIBILITY

• Appearances (professional) : the celeb using

products in public will generate interest

eg. Sachin’s MRF bat

• Appearances(contractual) : consistent presence in

brand communications

VISIBILITY

THE PERFECT COMBO

• Ticking all the above

boxes would lead to the

perfect celebrity

endorsement:

IPHONE & JOBS: CREDIBILITY

• Context: co- creator of first commercial Personal

Computer ; founder of Apple, NeXT Computers,

Pixar

• History: in tech business since 1976; well known as

constant innovator

• Success: though kicked out of Apple, found success

with NeXT , Pixar and comeback with iPod ; seen as

role model by aspiring techies & others

IPHONE & JOBS: CLOUT

• Following : the new gen of tech aficionados lap up

every word of Steve Jobs

• Pitch: “iPhone: Apple reinvents phone” much like

Jobs reinvented portable music with iPod

• Core values: Jobs considered visionary, creative,

maverick: perfectly in sync with iPhone message

IPHONE & JOBS: VISIBILITY

• Appearances (contractual) : perfect candidate;

has to be everywhere that iPhone is present: tech

conferences, electronics festivals

• Appearances (professional) : college speeches,

business conferences, tech summits; perfect for

building interest among the early tech adopters

RESULT : SUCCESS

FAILED EXPERIMENT

• Kardashiankard

prepaid debit card

KARDASHIANKARD: CREDIBILITY

• Context : reality stars known for controversies &

hyperbole (not ideal for cash transactions)

• History : history of controversies & living off father’s

income

• Success : success off of crude publicity stunts and

gossip magazines, not ideal fit with a debit card

KARDASHIANKARD: CLOUT

• The partnership did generate significant interest however mismatch in product and interest generated

• Following : card was targeted at teens & less educated where Kardashians had major following but high sign up fees negated that advantage

• Pitch : primary pitch was ease of use and sign up, no relevance with Kardashian sisters

• Values : Kardashian synonymous with unearned fame; wrong message for a debit card

KARDASHIANKARD: VISIBILITY

• Appearances: the Kardashians disassociated with

the brand after huge furore regarding the product

target segment & high signup fees; accusations of

ripping off their fanbase

RESULT : R.I.P

SUGGESTION: RITEBITE + JOHN ABRAHAM

CREDIBILITY

• Context : known for action movies & physique

• History : been in action movies and modelling for

over a decade

• Success : spate of successful movies leveraging his

macho appeal & builder physique

CLOUT

• Following : role model for many gym-goers &

aspiring macho men

• Pitch : “a bar that provides daily protein needs”;

convenient ; John Abraham : busy actor meets his

needs with meal bar

• Values : known for urban centricity & maintaining

good physique despite demands

VISIBILITY

• Appearances (professional) : movies constantly

focusing on athleticism & machismo; owns IHL

winning team & constant football spokesman

• Appearances (contractual) : could place the

product in movie; opportunity to reach out to urban

sports fans through football broadcasts

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

• Social media is increasingly becoming an important

platform for all marketing initiatives

• It is the cheapest platform accessible to companies

& has global reach

• The use of celebrities can significantly boost interest

on social platforms

CHOOSING A CELEBRITY

• Media presence : in this case just number of

followers is not enough; reports suggest that many

celebrity followers are often fake profiles

• Compatibility with brand : Snoop Dogg, the singer,

tied up with Hot Pockets snack brand which was

popular among marijuana users ; released a

remake of a famous song called , “Pocket like it’s

hot”

LEVERAGING CELEBRITY : AUTHENTICITY

• Time and again the most powerful tool to connect

with customers is through authenticity

• eg. Vin Diesel is the celebrity with biggest fb

presence despite lack of a social media team;

through his genuine & famous tribute to co-star Paul

Walker after the latter’s death

LEVERAGING CELEBRITY : POWER TO CUSTOMER

• Power to customer : successful social media

campaigns give power to the users to interact with

the brand & contribute

• eg. David Blaine, magician tied up with Ultrabook

to do Electrified : a stunt controlled by users using

Ultrabook PCs

• eg. Ask Me Anything on Reddit frequently used by

celebs to publicise upcoming movies and music

LEVERAGING CELEBRITY : TANDEM WITH MAINSTREAM MEDIA

• Despite the advances in social media, traditional

media still holds significant clout; using social media

to further the mainstream campaign is a oft proven

strategy

• eg. Furious 6: The campaign for the movie was built

around a Superbowl ad ; the ad was soon followed

by tweets & shares by the cast including social

media heavyweights ( no pun intended) like Vin

Diesel & Dwayne Johnson

WENDY’S PRETZEL LOVE SONGS

• The restaurant chain Wendy’s created a campaign

called Pretzel Love Songs

• The company encouraged customers to tweet

about the burger which was then made into a

video called Pretzel Love Songs sung by popstar

Nick Lachey

• The campaign was well received on social media &

boosted both Wendy’s and Nick Lachey’s brand

image

Steve Angello used #thankyou YouTube to thank all his

fans with a compilation of concert clips. On that note…