Celebrities have taken over the advertising world. From commercials and radio to print and billboards, it seems like every product on the planet has a red-carpet-walker endorsing it. And I’m sick of it. First of all, it’s the lazy man’s approach to branding. If you have a quality product or service, let it speak for itself. Creatively impart personality and essential characteristics, instead of shelling out a ton of cash for some famous face to lend their persona to your company. Oh yeah, and regardless of money and effort, celebrity endorsements usually just don’t work as planned.
But before I continue this hate-fest, let me preface this by saying that not all celebrity spokespeople are a horrible idea. When someone with attributes that align perfectly with a product’s intended branding come together, it can be a beautiful thing. Take Brett Farve and Wrangler. Both brands stand for the same things: being casual, tough and enduring. Those are personas that mutually benefit macho-man blue jeans and one of the most famous football players of all time.
But that kind of brand harmony is a rare thing. For a variety of reasons, most celebrity endorsements just end up weakening the brand being promoted. Here’s the two most common ways:
1. The celebrity doesn’t make sense for the product.
A celebrity spokesperson needs to do more then fit a brand’s general demographic; he/she needs a reason for being its spokesperson. Forcing a brand with a celebrity for the sake of having a celebrity on board does nothing for the brand and just confuses the consumer. Look at Luke Wilson’s alignment with AT&T. Sure he’s cute (had to say it), funny, quirky, and definitely famous. But how does that benefit potential consumers of AT&T, a company that’s struggling to prove their reliability and coverage plans against competitors like Verizon? Celebrity for celebrity’s sake just doesn’t sell.
2. The celebrity is an inconsistent, unreliable spokesperson.
Remember when Kirstie Alley became the new face of Jenny Craig? For a while, things were perfect in endorsement land. Alley looked great, seemed fulfilled and confident, and certainly seemed to prove that Jenny Craig’s weight-loss plans are an effective way to shed pounds. …Until she gained about 100lbs back, unintentionally telling consumers across the nation that Jenny Craig doesn’t work long-term. Bad, bad branding that ultimately caused more damage to the company than the few weeks of good publicity was worth. If you’re going to use a celebrity spokesperson, make sure you can trust them to ALWAYS represent your brand in a consistent way.
The bottom line is, consistency and compatibility are essential in all areas of branding. Absolutely everything that reaches consumers (in regards to your offering) affects their perception of it. So make sure that all consumer touch-points are sending the right message, from the people who represent the brand to its packaging/design to media placement. Think long-term impact, not short-term popularity. Pay attention to even the tiniest details. Make sure one clear message comes across. And maybe let celebrities worry about their own PR, not yours.
