Our Nic’ and Brad Pitt voted world’s best celebrity endorsees, but no-one wants to see Rusty in his jocks

 24 July 2006

Australia

At home and abroad Nicole Kidman holds her own against female celebrities, with consumers around the world voting her one of the best female celebrities for product endorsements.  And while these days he may be more commonly known as the male half of the ‘Brangelina’ phenomenon, Brad Pitt still maintains appeal in his own right, with consumers across the globe voting Pitt as the best male celebrity to endorse almost every kind of product, from casual wear to luxury items, sunglasses to lingerie.

According to a global online consumer survey conducted by leading research company ACNielsen in 42 markets across the globe, out of a random list of celebrities Pitt was voted the best male celebrity to endorse six out of a possible 10 product categories, including luxury wear, evening wear, designer lingerie, luxury perfume, sexy, provocative wear and trendy, cutting edge fashion.  Kidman and Angelina Jolie each received top votes for four of the 10 categories, with Kidman taking out best celebrity endorsee for designer watches, luxury wear, evening wear and luxury perfume and Jolie leading for casual wear, designer lingerie, sexy, provocative wear and designer sunnies.

Other celebrities who held appeal as endorsees were tennis star Maria Sharipova for sports wear and singer/actress J-Lo for trendy, cutting edge fashion, while consumers voted actor George Clooney as hottest endorsee of men’s evening wear, Tiger Woods for designer watches, and David Beckham for sports wear.

In Australia consumers showed their patriotism, with Kidman holding onto top votes for the same four categories, while Jolie was pipped at the post by Kylie Minogue for lingerie and J-Lo lost her top spot to Minogue for trendy, cutting edge fashion.

And while Pitt maintained his appeal with Aussie consumers, he had to share the title of best endorsee of casual wear with local talent Russell Crowe, as well as sharing best endorsee of trendy, cutting edge fashion with Johnny Depp and luxury wear with George Clooney.

“Celebrities’ professions or the types of films or songs they are associated with have a great influence on consumers’ views, as could be seen by the selection of Maria Sharipova and Becks for sports wear,” says Johnny Panagiotidis, Director, Retail, ACNielsen Australia.  “There was also a strong association with product categories the celebrity had previously been associated with, such as perfume for Kidman or designer watches for Woods - an indication of money well-spent for marketers.”

The ACNielsen survey revealed not only consumers’ endorsee preferences, but also any potential discord between certain products and celebrities.  Russell Crowe, for example, was one of the least likely celebrities Australian consumers wanted to see modelling men’s lingerie and, similarly, they had a difficult time associating actor Jackie Chan with sexy, provocative wear.

“The aspirational nature of product endorsements by celebrities makes it highly effective where people are looking to buy an ‘image’ that will better project their social status,” observes Panagiotidis. “However, one size definitely doesn’t fit all, and marketers need to consider a number of factors before committing to a celebrity endorsement contract.”

Table 1: Female celebrities voted best fashion apparel endorsees

Table 2: Male celebrities voted best fashion apparel endorsees