Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement
Abstract
Billions of dollars are spent every year on celebrity endorsements, but do the rewards of celebrity endorsements really outweigh the risks? Is it truly an effective and efficient way for brands to spend their advertising budget? I strongly believe that no amount of celebrity endorsement can replace a good advertisement with a strong, watchable message and clever execution. In this paper I am going to explain my reasons as to why I do not think celebrity endorsements are worth the risk.
There is no denying that a relationship between a celebrity and a brand can be successful, it creates a buzz around the brand and can make revenue boom. But you are spending an extortionate amount of money on something that has the potential to blow up in a matter of seconds. Tiger Woods and Accenture had a very successful six year relationship and his demeanor on the golf course was translated into a powerful metaphor for business used in Accenture’s advertising. However in 2009 major scandal surrounded Tiger Woods when his alleged infidelities surfaced and he announced an indefinite leave from the sport to work on his marriage. Two weeks later Accenture announced that it is ending its six-year sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods; Accenture determined that he was no longer the right representative for its advertising. The saying that ‘any publicity is good publicity’ is completely false for this situation; “scandal may sell tabloids, but it often doesn’t sell products.” (3) Accenture then went into major damage control. This situation is all too common when using celebrity endorsements. Margaret C. Campbell, a research leader, states “all of us, celebrities or not, have positives and negatives to our personalities, and those negatives can easily transfer to a brand” (3) At the end of the day, we are all human and it is a big risk
Billions of dollars are spent every year on celebrity endorsements, but do the rewards of celebrity endorsements really outweigh the risks? Is it truly an effective and efficient way for brands to spend their advertising budget? I strongly believe that no amount of celebrity endorsement can replace a good advertisement with a strong, watchable message and clever execution. In this paper I am going to explain my reasons as to why I do not think celebrity endorsements are worth the risk.
There is no denying that a relationship between a celebrity and a brand can be successful, it creates a buzz around the brand and can make revenue boom. But you are spending an extortionate amount of money on something that has the potential to blow up in a matter of seconds. Tiger Woods and Accenture had a very successful six year relationship and his demeanor on the golf course was translated into a powerful metaphor for business used in Accenture’s advertising. However in 2009 major scandal surrounded Tiger Woods when his alleged infidelities surfaced and he announced an indefinite leave from the sport to work on his marriage. Two weeks later Accenture announced that it is ending its six-year sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods; Accenture determined that he was no longer the right representative for its advertising. The saying that ‘any publicity is good publicity’ is completely false for this situation; “scandal may sell tabloids, but it often doesn’t sell products.” (3) Accenture then went into major damage control. This situation is all too common when using celebrity endorsements. Margaret C. Campbell, a research leader, states “all of us, celebrities or not, have positives and negatives to our personalities, and those negatives can easily transfer to a brand” (3) At the end of the day, we are all human and it is a big risk
References: 1. Daboll, P, (2011), Celebrities in Advertising Are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money. AdAge. 2. Elberse, A, (2009), Risk and rewards of celebrity endorsements. CNN. 3. Harrington, K (2014) Save Your Money: Celebrity Endorsements Not Worth The Cost. Forbes.