Consumer marketing: what it takes to use celebrities to leverage a brand

Published 2006

For decades celebrities have promoted products through advertising.  But it began in the days when consumers actually believed advertising.  And it was all tightly controlled and ‘plastic’ - a carefully scripted TV commercial (if necessary shot 20 times to get it right) or a few chosen words (which could be agonised over for days or weeks before agreement) and a carefully posed photo (ironically probably not as retouched as today’s) in a print advertisement.

In today’s world the real ‘bang for the bucks’ from celebrity endorsement is through PR extensions - getting it picked up by media and now, increasingly extending through the range of new personal media channels (from mobile phones to YouTube).

But leveraging celebrities through PR is not the plastic exercise that it was through advertising.  The opportunities for reaching consumers may be great, and it may have more credibility than advertising.  But the risks are greater.  Control is more difficult and there’s the potential for things to go wrong - and actually damage the brand you are trying to promote.

Here are some points to bear in mind if you are thinking about celebrity marketing through PR

1. Don’t assume that what makes a good celebrity for advertising will work for PR.

   • What someone says in advertising is controlled, in PR it is not because to make it work they actually have to front and speak to audiences (including the media).

2.  Make it relevant and believable

   • An athlete promoting a healthy product may not work in PR because the athlete is unable to speak on the issues that make it relevant to media.

3. Establish the boundaries and their area of competence

   • Celebrity endorsement is not just about media.  Someone who can’t front the media may be great at special events that are still viable ways to reach your target audience.

4. Recognise that media want a performance

   • Media internationally were clamouring for the story from the heroes from the Beaconsfield mine rescue - until they proved they were not articulate, at which point the story - and media interest - simply died.  (Not a ‘celebrity’ endorsement - but a graphic example).

5. Who is endorsing who?

   • Marketers who choose a celebrity to promote a little-known (or uninteresting) product often face the danger that the celebrity will dominate the product. Most PR people have had that experience - lots of media coverage for the celebrity, but the product is nowhere to be found.

6. Do your homework

   • Before you embark on celebrity PR think of all the angles that might derail your campaign -  what are their beliefs/hang-ups, what have they spoken on (or been reported on) previously, what other things are happening in their lives that might impact, who else in their ‘space’ might do something that competes with your activity?

7. Put the PR in the hands of people who understand brands

   • If the celebrity is being used to promote your brand, put the PR in the hands of someone who understands brands and will make it work for you - and protect your interests.  There’s lot of celebrity PR specialists - they know all about celebrity publicity - and they should be used as a resource.  But their area of expertise may not be sufficiently broad enough to entrust them with control of the entire project.

8. Think audiences - not just about publicity

   • Don’t think just publicity.  Think carefully about your key audiences, demographics and stakeholders.  How can this celebrity be leveraged as widely as possible eg staff can be a key audience but often are completely overlooked because of a focus on pure publicity.

9. Prepare, prepare, prepare

   • The key to successful execution - and leverage - of any celebrity is their ability to deliver messages and reflect the attributes of the brand.  Given they will be in the public gaze, they will probably need training - on messaging, how to deal with the media, how to deal with issues.  Most would prefer not to do this - but why should you trust your brand to them without it?

10. Do a plan before you sign the contract

    • Don’t even think about a celebrity PR effort without a detailed plan with clear objectives, agreed priority audiences, a timetable, a full messaging book and a contingency plan for the ‘what if’ scenarios.  Be sure to do the PR plan before you sign the contract - and agree the fee - so the celebrity is contractually bound.  You would be surprised how many sign the contract and then call PR in - only to find that a lot of the leveraging can’t be done because it’s outside the scope of the agreement.

At the end of the day the aim of any celebrity endorsement PR program is to not only catch the attention of consumers who might not have otherwise noticed the product, but to support or change perceived attributes or perceptions about the product. That means the single most critical factor is identifying a celebrity that ‘fits’ with your brand.  That’s an exercise just by itself!