Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on a Brand-Intro

The use of celebrities as spokespeople for a particular brand has become increasingly common. It is rare to open a magazine and see the face of an actual model advertising mascara or lipstick. Instead, you see Drew Barrymore, Halle Barry or another famous celebrity as the face of the leading cosmetic brands. Famous actors, musicians and athletes are even dominating TV commercials. As celebrities begin to dominate advertisements, I am led to wonder how effective is this selling technique. Do famous celebs really maximize advertising effectiveness?

The purpose of this blog is to explore this very notion. What is the impact of celebrity endorsements on a brand? What is the cost to enlist a star in your branding campaign? How do consumers respond to these ads? What are the pros and cons to celebrity endorsements? How does the success of a branding campaign with the use of a celebrity compare to those that do not?

There's no doubt that the use of celebrities to advertise does have its advantages. First and foremost, one of the most important task for marketers and advertisers is to create an ad that breaks through the clutter. Consumers are dominated by an excessive amount of advertising--in newspapers, magazines, on television, on billboards as we're driving and on the radio. Consumers are also becoming better at tuning out many advertisements. One of the benefits of celebrity advertising is that it cuts through the clutter. In an age where celebs are almost worshipped, using a star's attention-grabbing power help catch the attention of a brand. The right star for an ad can even communicate a message without elaborate story telling.




However, there is a negative of using celebrities to represent a brand. Getting a big-named star to be the face of a brand's product comes at a price--a very high price. Then, marketers must consider the possibility of the spokesperson neglecting to maintain the "proper image" that is expected of a certain brand. Consider Tiger Wood's endorsements in the midst of his cheating scandal. Celebrity overexposure and bad press both can undermine how the authenticity of the message is perceived by consumers.


Tag Heuer dropped Tiger Woods from their ad campaign right after the scandal was exposed.


Works Cited:
Daboll, Peter. "Celebrities in Advertising Are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money." Ad Age. Crain Communications, 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. .

Sliburyte, Laimona. "How celebrities can be used in advertising to the best advantage?." World Academy of Science, Engineering & Technology 58.(2009): 934-939. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.