Celebrity
spokespeople helpful or hurtful towards a brand?
The times (2014) wrote that the phrase “any publicity is
good publicity” is regularly applied to celebrities and products alike, and it
makes a pretty argument for why paying celebrities to endorse products is money
well spent. What happens, though, if an association with a celebrity does more
harm than good in consumers ‘perception of the product or brand? There is no
doubt that celebrity endorsed products attract attention and draws the
attention of consumers (who wouldn’t want to smell like Beyoncé or dress like
the Kardashians or look like David Beckham in underwear?)
The problem comes in when celebrity’s bad public image gets
associated with the brand. Nike has had many of those problems with their
celebrity spokespeople. The world were in shock when the scandals surrounding
Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and Oscar Pistorius. Nike had to quickly respond
because consumers started reacting badly towards the brand (well I reacted
badly and kind of felt bad for Nike).
Some fake companies or false products use celebrity
endorsements to attract customers and get them to buy their products. This can
harm the credibility of that celebrity because those products almost never
works.
Using celebrity endorsements also means paying out millions
to these celebs for their status so in my opinion celebs should at least have
the decency to behave in public and not land themselves in the tabloids for
negative behaviour and they need to endorse the product or brand that the
companies are paying them millions for (think about it Beyoncé endorsing Pepsi
but seen drinking Coke for example now that’s just rude #hypotheticalexample)
Whether you believe celebrity spokespeople hurt or help a
brand one thing is sure they will always bring publicity to any brand good or
bad.
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It's sad that celebrities stupid mistakes can damage a good brand & they just couldn't care less.
ReplyDeleteits true and those celebs who make the bad decisions that potentially hurt the brand gives those celebs who actually have a positive role in building the brand
ReplyDeleteThe image of a brand means everything today. 1 wrong move from its celeb endorsment could prove fatal to the brand itself. Nike has had alot of fires to put out due to its celeb's making a wrong turn
ReplyDeletewell Nike has handled these mishaps well I just hope it will be a lesson not only to brands using celebrities but celebs themselves to behave because people look up to them
ReplyDeleteReally interesting article. I believe it just depends on the consumer looking at the brand and if they like the celebrity that is endorsing it. It makes you look twice at the brand in my opinion which is a plus for the brand in order to get attention and to create greater and more associations
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good article. I agree with you till some extent. I think it is all relative. Brands that have a very good consumer base wont be that affected or will know how to handle times of crisis. On the other hand brands not so strong will have a hard time coping and will learn from that. Consumers will reevaluate everything they know about the brand and if the nod is very strong they wont let that be in the middle.
ReplyDelete