Choosing a celebrity endorser for your brand
Choosing a celebrity to endorse a project might seem like a pretty simple and exciting task but it’s actually a thorough and delicate process which involves combing through a specific individual’s history, personal activities and reputation.
Celebrity endorsements can come from all manner of industries, from actors (film and/or TV), chefs, musicians, athletes and even models. With a celebrity endorser you have a number of options, you can use them to significantly increase brand awareness, improve sales or even completely alter the direction of the brand and reposition it on the market.
Regardless of who your favourite celebrity may be, there are a few considerations you should make before appointing them your official celebrity endorser.
Know your brand and the traits required
Before even thinking about celebrities, you need to decide exactly what it is you’re looking to do with your brand. Are you looking to increase brand awareness and sales or would you like to give the brand a complete makeover in a bid to come back bigger and better?
Only after establishing your motive will you even be able to consider which celebrity is capable of crafting this image.
Proactiv – a company specialising in acne treatment – did this perfectly when they chose Justin Bieber as their brand ambassador. What better way is there to increase sales than hiring the world’s biggest teen heart throb? Justin Bieber is adored by teenage boys (although less likely to admit it) and girls around the world and there’s nothing that dashes a teenager’s confidence more than acne. If Proactiv works for Justin Bieber though, it’ll work for anyone, right?!
Reputation
Although scandal is unlikely to have a devastating effect on the sales of a product from a large brand, it’s something many brands – even the large corporations – try to steer clear of. Once you’ve accumulated a list of potential fits each one should be carefully vetted to ensure that negativity will not be reflected on the brand.
Remember, their personal life, romantic entanglements and actions both in front of and away from the camera will all reflect on the brand.
Fit
When choosing the right celebrity, it’s essential for the person and your product to fit. Although you might have your heart set on a particular celeb it’s really important to keep the brand at the forefront of your mind in order to ensure you’re making an educated decision.
Do some research into high profilers who are already wearing/using the brand or have an interest in the industry. These people already have a vested interest and therefore it could be much easier and more beneficial to strike up a deal.
partypoker have done this brilliantly with their latest ambassador, Carl Froch. As one of the greatest British boxers of all time, he is a hero to many and a failure to none. After winning all but two fights of his career you don’t get much better, so in a male dominated game, a strong, successful male ambassador like Carl Froch makes so much sense.
Not only does he fit with the image partypoker are trying to create, he’s also got a vested interest in the industry after announcing the launch of his poker career back in 2015. Choosing him as an ambassador is an advert for success – pretty essential for online gamers!
Timing
It’s not just about the perfect celebrity match, it’s about the perfect timing too.
If you’ve chosen a footballer for example, a product launch after season-end won’t get as much publicity as one mid-season. The same is true of actors; if they haven’t worked in a while, it’s essential to wait until they’re back in the media before launching your campaign.
Toyota expressed timing perfection with an ad campaign featuring the stars of Back to the Future in 2015. If you’ve never seen it, you’ve undoubtedly heard of it but for everyone born more than 25 years ago Back to the Future is an absolute cult classic and Toyota pulled a blinder with this ad campaign.
In 2015 Back to the Future celebrated its 30th anniversary and Toyota made the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity by reuniting Doc Brown and Marty McFly (Christopher Lloyd and Michael J Fox) to discuss the film’s technological predictions and, of course, to introduce the newest addition to the Toyota family.
Choosing the perfect celebrity endorser is never easy but these tips and examples of the best brand-celebrity matches should certainly help you get started.
