Some companies like using celebrities in their ads because of their appeal and the buzz they may create. Some endorsers have been great, others not so much. (We’re naming no names here.)
Daily Finance has published a slide show of its top 25 endorsers. What do you think? Who is your favorite celebrity endorser not on this list — and why?
Click the image to see the Daily Finance list.
Photo by Priceline.com
I thought that it was interesting to see that most of the famous people that endorsed products were either actors or athletes. The reason why I thought that this was interesting was that people would base their opinions off of a person’s acting or sports achievements rather then that individual’s beliefs. I suppose that is however a necessary part of marketing, because the public will buy the product that a popular figure endorses. My favorite celebrity endorsement would be Terry Crews endorsing old spice body odor protection deodorant, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXvtany3mSE, the reason why Terry Crews is my favorite endorser is that he fully embodies the image that old spice would want for their product. An ultra manly/ athletic/ powerful image, and I think that Terry Crews did a great job of personifying all of these in the commercials.
I found this post pretty interesting, the thing that really stuck me was that most of these celebrity spokespeople are advertising their voices rather than images. Some of these people like Michael Jordan and Brooke Shields and some others on the list were physically modeling themselves, but most are used for voice over on television commercials and even radio commercials. My favorite from that list would be James Earl Jones, probably because he has such a noticeable voice that I always recognize from his movies.
I think it’s important for many brands to use celebrities as endorsers for their products. Many consumers are willing to buy items that have been given the stamp of approval by their favorite celebrities. Some consumers even think that they’ll be more apt to be as great as their favorite celebrity if they eat the same breakfast cereal, wear the same clothes, or own the same credit card that that celebrity endorses. Companies that effectively use celebrity endorsements are able to better market their products to consumers. My favorite celebrity endorser is Ellen DeGeneres for Covergirl Cosmetics. I think that it is easy for woman who wear makeup to respond to the effortless beauty look of Ellen’s. In that respect, I think that Covergirl does a good job picking celebrities who make their brand seem attractive and attainable.
I think having companies use celebrities as endorsers is a smart idea for a product. Majority of the time, if someone sees a celebrity using a specific product, they are going to want to buy that same product because they saw a celebrity using it. It actually can be a great way for companies to increase their customers and sell more of their products. Take the Pepsi commericals for example. Sofia Vergara is the spokes person for every single Pepsi commerical. A lot of people are huge fans of hers and when they see her drinking Pepsi they may be influenced to go out and purchase Pepsi just because they saw Sofia Vergara drinking it.
What surprised me most about this list of top celebrity endorsers were that most of them were either older or from many decades ago. I think that the reason for this is because celebrities are being paid a ridiculous amount of money in the present day to do such short commercials and endorsements that companies simply don’t think that the payout from the endorsement will be great enough to balance the amount of money spent to get the celebrity. Still, we do see many celebrities still doing commercials, like Alex Trebek for Liberty Mutual or Kaley Cuoco for Priceline, but clearly it is not as popular as it once was, especially for younger audiences.
I think it is always a good idea to get a big name star to advertise your product. This way, it is easier to connect to with the consumer and they have more of an inclination to think about the product/ service more when its paired with somebody famous. I am a huge basketball fan, so MJ would have to be my favorite. He is not just a sports icon, but a world icon as well. Michael Jordan has his own image and I feel like anything you put his name to would end up being a huge success.
Celebrity endorsements are a great way to put a face to the product that the brand is trying to sell. Viewers at home who have seen a commercial with a major name in it are probably a lot more likely to purchase the item in store. This is because the image of the celebrity will stand out in their heads. I think my favorite ad from the list is Brooke Shields for Calvin Klein. It was extremely controversial for its time, but because of that it was intriguing to people! They became interested in the product and sales for Calvin Klein skyrocketed. As we are currently seeing with Miley Cyrus, sometimes scandalous celebrity imaged cause the most popularity. Hiring the right celebrity for a product can garner a lot of success for a company. Then the celebrity in turn receives more recognition, and he or she will be more willing to put their face out there to the commercial world.
In China, sometimes this could be a problem. Even thought there is regulation, however, it might not strict enough. That is exactly why some companies hire celebrities to spread unreal information. It is not exaggerating, but is totally unreal. Many celebrities have been investigated because they “claim” they have been using a product that is really good and in fact it is not at all and sometimes even hurt consumers’ health. That is why I dont purely believe in celebrity endorsement no matter who. I do believe more when my friends say it is a good product. I think there should be law regulation that clearly differentiate exaggeration and unreal information therefore companies would be more careful whey they do commercials.
Celebrity endorsement is a great way for a company to put a familiar and likable face to a product. Celebrity endorsement not only creates buzz, it also makes the public think that the product that’s endorsed is legitimate (depending on the actual celebrity). I say this because the celebrity that endorses a product must be a reliable source with an opinion that the public values. For example, Jennifer Hudson endorses Weight Watchers and is effective because she has a highly respectable reputation in the entertainment industry.It also helps that she has had amazing results and is continuing to keep the weight off. On the other hand, Kirstie Alley endorses Jenny Craig weight loss system. However, Alley hasn’t had amazing results like that of Hudson and she is, according to the company, not sticking to their program and constantly regaining weight (they call it a “dietary misstep”). Therefore, no one takes her endorsement seriously and the company is suffering in return.
Celebrity endorsements are a very risky endeavor just because you are putting the image of your company in the hands of someone else. Some have worked great; my personal favorite being Dennis Haysbert for Allstate. Some on the other hand have only come back to hurt them. My favorite celebrity flop is Will.I.Am and his I.Am.Clothing which he sued after he claimed he fulfilled his duty.
Like the post said, there are some commercials or endorsements that just wouldn’t feel right without the actor or actress that have been the face of the brand for many years. two of my favorites include William Shatner from the price line commercial and Dennis Haysbert from the Allstate commercial. Without those two being featured in their respective brands, I feel the commercials wouldn’t have the same comedic aspect that they’ve had for many years.
I really liked this post because it is interesting to see who others believe are the best spokespeople. I knew the majority of the people on the list, but there were some who I wasn’t as familiar with. I personally like William Shatner for priceline because I think he’s funny. I really liked that he and Kaley Cuoco are now both speak for priceline. I’m also a fan of Michael Jordan, and remeber having him all over commercials when I was younger. What was surprising to me was O.J was a spokesperson for Hertz car rentals. I’m sure the commercials were out before me, but I thought it was funny. My all time favorite on the list was Bill Cosby. I feel like there is no argument there.
The idea of the celebrity endorser has become so popular in today’s culture. If a celebrity is doing it, or using it, or wearing it, “it” becomes cool. There doesn’t have to be any real relevance between the two either, for example, Fabio and I Cant Believe Its Not Butter. Typically, one would not connect butter with a romance novel model, but with marketing, suddenly the two go hand in hand. Interestingly though, I did not know many of the celebrities on this list. One would think the entire idea of using a celebrity endorser comes with “everyone” knowing who they are. Perhaps at the time they were more well known, but I was surprised not to see celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson for Weight Watchers or Beyonce for Coke.
For starters I think it is absolute blasphemy that Bill Cosby beat out someone like Michael Jordan for the top spot on this list. Sure I understand the appeal of a guy like Cosby, but Jell-o over a guy who has his own shoe brand with Nike alongside of the endorsement deals with Wheaties, Hanes, etc. Now aside from my rant I think the list maybe added whoever was the biggest celebrity endorser for their time. I know for a fact now-a-days William Shattner is bigger than ever thanks to his priceline deal, but maybe compared to some people who back in the day did endorsements, it pals in comparison. I think it is all relative two A) what the product is, and B) what time period you’re in as far as the product use goes. Then again that’s always something that is constantly changing. It’s crazy though because it’s gotten to the point where we can only judge a product based on a celebrity endorser. Simply put, if a celebrity isn’t on it, we usually don’t want it.
I am not surprised to see the people that have been endorsed by companies and the prevalence there of, but I don’t and never have believed that it was worth it. I have never bought a product because of an endorser and I am sure that there are other people like me, but companies are focused to spend a fortune to get an endorser for their product. On top of that, their are times when endorsers can fall from grace and that ruins a company in two ways: payments to the embattled endorser and lack of sales because a company is associated with such a person. An example of this is Cytosport endorsing both Ryan Braun and Aaron Hernandez…these were two high priced athletes who are now punchlines and the brand spent a lot of money for what ultimately wound up being bad publicity. I just don’t think it is worth it.
First of all I am in shock that Michael Jordan was not number one. He has been on every ad commercial. He is retired and still appearing on TV. But some of these people not only endorsed the product but also modeled for it, which surprises me. As if endorising the product is not enough, Mark Wahlberg decides to model for Calvin Klein underwear. Celebrity endorsing is a smart move by companies because most people look up to famous actors and athletes.
It’s a good idea to have celebrities endorse a product in the commercial. It really gets the viewer thinking “if he/she uses it, I might as well too!” Although I’m not a huge basketball fan, Michael Jordan seems to be everywhere in commercials. From cars to beverages to underwear, he has the widest range of products he endorses. I’m quite shocked to see that Michael Jackson wasn’t on the list, but also, I didn’t even know have the celebrities on the list.