Indiaretailing.com: An idea can change a brand's life

I have always believed that companies that use celebrities for endorsements or as spokespeople too often forget that the celebrity is their own person first and foremost. And anyone who reads a newspaper will tell you that those celebrities that are most recognizable, and thus more marketable, also tend to have the most erratic behaviour.

Such one-time marketable names as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and OJ Simpson come to mind as celebrities that do not check in with their sponsors prior to making a lifestyle changing decision.

Coke is a classic example of a company that has proved you don’t need celebrity endorsements to create a strong brand identity, regardless of what former pitch man Mean Joe Green might tell you.

Marc Gordon, President, Fourword Marketing

First, find a sport people care about. Case in point! David Beckham is young, good looking and talented and has rock star status in some parts of the world. However, outside of a few soccer moms, a handful of enthusiasts and a bunch of eight-year-olds trying to kick each other on a Sunday morning, the U.S. doesn't care about soccer and never will. If I were a brand manager I'd be putting my money elsewhere.

If I were a brand manager I'd be pumping tons of cash into China. This is a country that didn't spend much on sports paraphernalia. However, since Beijing, sales of equipment and clothing has exploded. Find some icons there or export some.

Len Lewis, President, Lewis Communications, Inc.

I think for certain items, celebrities work. I'm sure these companies can measure promotion effectiveness, at least you would hope so. We all associate Nike with Michael Jordan and now Lebron James. I still associate Cindy Crawford and Hallie Berry with L'Oreal. They were successful, but I think it is because they are not only high profile celebrities, but the products also continue to improve.

I agree that maintaining a good product is most important. I think the endorsement contracts are getting out of control, but I do think that in some cases, they work well.

Janet Dorenkott, VP & Co-owner, Relational Solutions, Inc.

Celebrity endorsements without an idea are indeed tactics in search of a strategy and yes, even in the US, too many advertising "ideas" are built around a celebrity rather than something that will resonate with a customer.

As an example, when we developed Willard Scott as an ideal spokesperson for Days Inn, there were three compelling reasons that made him "work":
1. He embodied their three key customer groups: road warriors (being on the road with NBC's Today), families and seniors.
2. He was likable and appealed to these groups (i.e., he had good Q Scores)
3. There was a heavy added value component associated with his "weather" segments on Today (which Days Inn sponsored) as well as the link to the Days logo, a sunrise.

Like most other marketing activities, relevance counts both in terms of a customer and a brand's strategy.

Phil Rubin, CEO, rDialogue

If these stories are anything to go by, food retailers and manufacturers believe there is still considerable mileage in recruiting athletes' endorsements. Sporting Heroes Inspire Children into Sport and Gymnast Liukin, decathlete Clay make it to Wheaties box.

I find the language used in this story somewhat surprising, however - the athletes have been "roped in" and are being "hounded". As I've always understood it, remuneration has been extremely generous. Although some celebrities may consider themselves pressured, I thought most welcomed the additional publicity and profit. Perhaps Indian athletes are more altruistic, or less well paid?

As for the wisdom, or otherwise, of using celebrities, I find it frankly patronising to tell consumers that they can be like the relevant celebrity if they just use the product. I find it even more worrying that it works.

Bernice Hurst, Contributing Editor, RetailWire