Celebrities are no longer confined to the big screen. From reality TV shows to Instagram, famous and infamous people alike are prominent on every screen. As over 114 million viewers recently witnessed during Super Bowl 50, marketers from a wide array of industries relied heavily on celebrity endorsements and appearances in their multi-million dollar commercials. And while Alec Baldwin and Lil’ Wayne may have provided Amazon Echo and Apartments.com with some instant recognition, marketers have to ponder: will their famous faces actually result in increased sales and brand loyalty? Or are these guys just good for a laugh?
Recent research from The Nielsen Company (Global Trust in Advertising Report, Sept 2015) identifies “winning strategies for an evolving media landscape” through online survey responses from consumers in 60 countries. Nielsen’s list and data detailing “Advertising Themes That Resonate Most” provides one of many eye-opening statistics. US consumers are big fans of humor (score one for Alec and Lil’); however, the study says that celebrity and athlete endorsements are two of the three themes that resonate the least.
As marketers, we rely heavily on data to help us shape strategy. When determining how to most effectively allocate your budget, insights like the ones in the Nielsen Report are especially valuable, so we were stunned to see so many celebrity endorsements utilized during the Super Bowl this year. In this case, the data seems to suggest that while celebs’ flashiness may attract attention, their appearance in the middle of an ad may take away from the brand and its message. But do these multi-million dollar marketers know something we don’t?
Sure, these celebrities benefit from the exposure the paying brands provide, but we can’t help but wonder if the brands receive the consumer connections they hope for as a result. For fresh produce marketers, the data suggests that celebrity endorsements aren’t necessarily the way to go when it comes to inspiring people to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. For marketers of FRESH, appealing to real-life situations, humor, family and health related themes are proven to be the way to the consumer’s heart. But as more FRESH campaigns like Team FNV take advantage of the celebrity appeal, it will be interesting to see if the data might be off. Perhaps consumers are more influenced by celebrity opinions than they are willing to admit?
