| Throughout advertising history, there have been a | | | | persuasiveness, and physical characteristics should |
| myriad of celebrity spokespeople pitching everything | | | | also be considered while making your selection. One |
| from cereal to cellular phones. I'm sure you can all | | | | good example that comes to mind is Dennis Hopper |
| think of a few celebrity pitchmen and women both | | | | for Ameriprise Financial. The "Dreams Don't Retire" |
| past and present: Bill Cosby for Jello, Joan Cusack for | | | | campaign talks about how Ameriprise is redefining |
| U.S. Cellular, Sam Waterston (of Law and Order | | | | financial planning, and encourages baby-boomers to |
| fame) for Ameri-trade, and more recently William | | | | achieve their retirement dreams. As a symbol of the |
| Shatner for come to mind. | | | | revolutionary spirit of his generation, Hopper is the |
| At a glance these spokespeople would seem like | | | | perfect choice to address baby-boomers about |
| obvious fits, but for advertisers the selection process | | | | redefining their financial planning. |
| is much more complex. Studies suggest that celebrity | | | | 3. Remain Relevant to Your Target Demographic |
| ads garner higher awareness than non-celebrity ads. | | | | When choosing a spokesperson, you must identify |
| And while I don't doubt that awareness may | | | | someone who will appeal to the demographics of |
| increase, it's imperative as marketers that we choose | | | | your target audience. |
| a representative who can carry the brand message | | | | In a recent example, Suddenlink Communications, a |
| and be a persuadable force to your consumer. That's | | | | national cable, Internet and home phone service |
| why I've outlined 3 simple strategies for choosing an | | | | provider, wanted to gear their brand messaging |
| effective spokesperson. | | | | towards a younger, more tech-savvy segment of |
| 1. Identify the Brand Personality | | | | their audience (Adults 18-34). Our firm proposed |
| What do I mean by "brand personality?" At our firm | | | | nationally recognized comedian, Mike Birbiglia, as their |
| we define your brand as your unique claim of | | | | spokesperson. As a regular on Comedy Central, |
| distinction. Your brand personality then, would be | | | | Birbiglia has a strong following on college comedy |
| characteristics that define that claim. For example, | | | | circuits and effectively markets his act through the |
| the Volvo name is synonymous with safety, security | | | | Internet and social networking sites such as YouTube |
| and confidence. By attributing human characteristics | | | | and Facebook. The campaign became a huge success |
| to the brand, we identify key traits to look for in an | | | | for Suddenlink. With Birbiglia, their brand message |
| effective spokesperson. | | | | suddenly became relevant to their target audience, |
| 2. Determine Celebrity Credibility | | | | and the results proved it. |
| In the end, the goal of any brand and its | | | | Celebrity Spokespeople and Brands can be good for |
| communications strategy is to influence purchase | | | | each other |
| behavior. That's why the credibility of a given | | | | In the end, pairing the right spokesperson with the |
| spokesperson plays a crucial role in convincing an | | | | right brand can amplify your marketing |
| audience to select your particular brand. Your | | | | communications. A good candidate should be based |
| message becomes more powerful and believable | | | | on the relevance and believability they bring and |
| when an endorsement carries some perceived | | | | whether they can be a persuasive force in getting |
| authority. | | | | the consumer to consider purchasing the product or |
| While expertise certainly contributes to credibility of | | | | service. |
| the spokesperson, I think traits such as likability, | | | | |
