Just in case Tiger Woods coverage is confusing you about the value of celebrity endorsements — for the record, they’re not very effective.
Global marketing research by Universal McCann answered the question in October 2008. It indicates that people have more trust in virtually every other marketing tactic, including e-mail spam, for goodness sake.
In the last 72 hours, everybody from Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a professor at Harvard Business School, to Emily Fredrix, a marketing writer at the Associated Press, has weighed in on whether companies will rethink celebrity endorsements in Tiger’s wake. (And in the UK, Marketing Magazine published a humorous list of brands that won’t be sponsoring him.)
News flash: Starting with new social media and word-of-mouth tactics, and continuing with recession-based re-evaluation of marketing initiatives, companies started rethinking celebrity endorsements a long time ago. It does appear, however, that the Tiger Woods name provides a good hook for selling year-old marketing analysis.
Celebrity spokespeople make sense when there’s a connection between what they do and what the company sells. Mario Batali endorses cookware. But even then, they don’t really work, because people making buying decisions are smart enough to realize that endorsers just sell the stuff. They don’t really use it.
However, if I take a class with Mario Batali and see him actually using specific tools, I will be influenced to buy those tools. That becomes a word-of-mouth recommendation from a professional, which is very effective.
Chart from “When Did We Start Trusting Strangers?”, an October 2008 presentation from Universal McCann. Marketing tactics at 12 o’clock, beginning with celebrity endorsements, are least trusted by consumers. Tactics at 11 o’clock, including word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, are most trusted.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Relevancy is key here. As a teenager I was thrilled to own a pair of Air Jordan or Kobe Bryant sneakers because I worshipped these stars but seeing those Tiger Woods Accenture ads or seeing everyone (including our previous employer) jump on the Liu Xiang bandwagon prior to the Olympics is just lazy marketing.
Sheji Ho
Beijing