Entrusting your Brand to a Celebrity Endorser

The use of celebrity endorsers is common in advertising. Every personality has advantages and disadvantages in terms of helping a company to reach its goals. Why would a company want to approach a celebrity? What is the company trying to accomplish? What will the company be asking the celebrity to do for t and how does his personality or interest match the company’s brand?

It is important to note that when a company signs a celebrity on, it is signing on an image. Research actually shows that the use of celebrities leads to more favourable ad ratings and more positive product evaluations (Atkin and Block 1983). This is because endorsers are more trustworthy, believable, persuasive and likeable. Endorsements can be made by a wide array of individuals, especially high visibility or well-known people. They include movie stars, actors and actresses, TV personalities, sport stars, comedians, authors, entertainers, models, etc. Other types of endorsers are CEO, expert and typical consumer.

While reading through the case study in issue 35 of BrandFaces, a Nigerian marketing communication journal, I was surprised to learn that our honourable minister of information and national orientation should not have declared in far away France, on the occasion of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, that Nollywood (our version of America’s Hollywood) was a veritable marketing tool for the Heart of Africa Project. The writer literally berated our “home videos” for celebrating the vices that have tarnished our image abroad, e.g. money ritual, witchcraft, 419, drug-trafficking/substance abused, armed robbery, political thuggery, commercialized religions, fakery, and kleptomania.

The writer simply could not imagine marketing these films abroad! But does every Nigerian home video reflect society rather than shape it? I do not completely disagree with our minister for the simple reason that most of the films usually end well- where good triumphs over evil. What if a sizeable number depicts true-life stories? I believe same goes for foreign films; we should not forget that Hollywood produced Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Nollywood produced Hilda Dokubo.

I think what the minister must have been trying to do was exploit our recognized talents to draw favourable (not desperate) attention to Nigeria. If Nollywood is anathema to marketing brand Nigeria, is it therefore strategically justifiable to engage Nollywood stars as brand endorsers? Marketers wishing to use celebrity endorsers need to carefully select those whose demographics appeal to their target audience. People differ in attitudes, values, cognitive styles and personality, which are functions of age, gender, socio-economic class, and ethnic origin.
There are marketing experts who believe potential celebrity endorsers should e thoroughly investigated to ensure that there is nothing in his/her past that might warrant negative publicity. I remember Vanessa Williams, former Miss America, whose old nude photograph was her undoing. An editor-friend could not understand why the new face of Lux should be who it is now “despite her past” plus “her low academic qualification.” He went on to give one thousand and one reasons why her “industry rival” should have clinched the “job.” Of course I disagreed with him! What if she were Magic Johnson who confessed to being HIV positive or Michael Jordan who survived adultery and a gambling scandal? Of course after Johnson’s disclosure in 1991, he lost his endorsement deals. But in mid-July 2003, he secured his first post-confession endorsement contract with Lincoln Mercury!
I think our Lux soap model, like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, John Travolta, and Jennifer Capriati (illegal drug use), is just resilient as public opinion can be fickle sometimes. Ironically all the bad press (no thanks to our soft-sell magazines) only succeeded in generating a lot of sympathy for our Lux soap celebrity and it was actually good for her fame. It must also have strengthened the positive link between her and the brand owners. However, I doubt that the company came out with any statement of support for the celebrity in her trying moments. We really have to realize that no human being is perfect and as such, sometimes the link between product endorser and company could be a tenuous one. The onus therefore lies on the company to diligently manage the relationship.
I wonder why our celebrities are not learning from their successful counterparts in other parts of the world. Take Tom Cruise for example: he insulates himself against any newspaper antics that might just occur. Do you know why Forbes ranks him as the 10th most powerful celebrity in the world? A cruise film usually rakes in nothing less than $100 million and he is arguably the most bankable star in the movie business (M. Creamer and N. Ives 2005). How does he handle the press? Cruise operates a meticulous publicity strategy where editors and reporters have access to him on the condition that they publish friendly cover stories while also making an input on the choice of photographs to use.
Do you want a celebrity endorser because you just want him/her to provide a famous name? Then you should ask Pepsi Company whose Pepsi Cola was overshadowed by Beyonce´ Knowles and Britney Spears, two high-profile celebrities. The stars were too big for the Pepsi brand which failed to get the promotion out of the ad campaign that featured them. Chrysler had to dump Celine Dion whose television commercial appearances only produced remarkable sales for the singer and not for the Pacifica car she advertised.
Newsworthy scandals involving celebrity endorsers should naturally get marketers worried though. Could you relate with Hertz when O.J. Simpson was accused of murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend? Pepsi Cola also must have been extremely confused while trying to manage three tarnished celebrities- Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael Jackson – who suddenly turned out to be liabilities to the Pepsi brand. Pepsi had to completely distance itself from Madonna immediately after her “Like a Prayer” video was released. I sympathies with PepsiCo because people are, by nature, unforgiving which makes it highly imperative for businesses to take every precautionary measure to protect their own reputation.
As a Nigerian marketer, would you touch an ex- beauty queen who was presumably tipsy and driving a borrowed male friend’s jeep which caused the death of an innocent medical doctor? Michael Jackson’s legal issues made it extremely impossible for him to gain sponsors for his tours and endorsements while the cases lasted. Kobe Bryant’s endorsement deals were also jeopardized as the prolonged court case did not help his cause. What has become of the manslaughter charge against our ex- beauty queen? Try getting her to endorse your brand (though she is not pronounced guilty yet) and you may have to learn from O.J’s experience despite his acquittal. In consumers’ eyes, it is called “guilty by association.”
Where is Ben Johnson (found guilty of steroid use) and how many brands is he endorsing today? Our latest Internet pornography saga involving a potential celebrity should have learnt from Vanessa Williams’ unpleasant experience. What is the implication of using a celebrity who was sacked for breach of contract to endorse a cough relief sweet? I actually do not see the campaign anymore. Could the brand owners have panicked that it might rub off on the brand’s image?
I am also surprised at the unprofessional way marketers are engaging one celebrity in endorsing multiple products. Do they not know that it is bound to reduce the credibility and likeability of the endorser? In addition, attitudes toward the advertisement itself will be lowered (Trip, Jensen and Carlson 1994). Why do our GSM service providers recruit so many endorsers at the same time especially from the Super Eagles? Why did a major network provider not come out in defence of one of them who was widely reported by our tabloids for denying his “look-alike” love-child and for allowing its young mother to die of frustration?
Since psychological traditions posit that negative information has disproportionate influence on consumers’ beliefs and evaluative judgements, it is not surprising that many marketers glaringly avoid negative information about their brands and anything or any personality that is bound to bring such brands into disrepute (Till, B. and Shimp, T 1998). In advanced countries, the fear of potential celebrity scandals has therefore led to the use of dead celebrities, i.e. individuals who post-humously cannot engage in acts that are inimical to the brands with which they are associated.
This new trend was actually made big in 1991 when a Diet Coke commercial featured Elton John performing with James Cagney, Louis Armstrong and Humphrey Bogart. This was immediately followed by a Coca-Cola- sponsored footage of other famous celebrities. Since then, I attest to the strides technology is making as it allows advertisers to seamlessly integrate footage of deceased celebrities into ads, such as John Wayne in a Coors campaign. Remember Paul Play’s rendition of his late dad’s “Mosorire?” If you have seen the video, then you will notice the timely ‘intervention’ of the accordion by Baba Aladura himself! That is technology, and what stops our ad professionals from experimenting with it?
Forbes’ annual ranking of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities shows that familiar faces are still money-spinners long after departing this world! What an irony! The magazine’s 4th-annual list released in late 2004 paraded 22 celebrities who earned at least $5 million in the previous year (Anna Heinemann 2005). Elvis Presley’s estate actually topped the list with $40 million in earnings that Forbes attributes to Elvis Presley Enterprises’ use of licensing and marketing to sell Elvis- sponsored products, e.g. the singer’s estate has over 100 licensees who use the musician’s image to sell products such as greeting cards, etc. Again my concern is how do you use a Baba Sala to market a 21st century brand- how many of today’s young generation know who the man was?
If you are thinking of using a dead celebrity, then make sure it is not Oyenusi or Anini! Look at the old man who designed Nigeria’s flag- he is a hero that is still living! But the last thing I read about him was that he was going soft in the head! Why abandon such a celebrity? Why did our marketers and advertising professionals do this great man a disservice? Another emerging trend is the use of animated characters as product endorsers, e.g. cartoon celebrities like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, etc. The reasoning is that like deceased celebrities, these characters hardly generate negative publicity.
Do we have celebrities? Of course we do- they are people who are widely recognized in our society. As a marketer, be on the safe side if you must use celebrities to endorse your brand.