I’ve honestly never paid much attention to products that were celebrity endorsed, in high school, maybe a little, however there have been plenty of my friends who live by what products “Celebrity A List” says are the best. There was a time, back when I was very young, that I did follow what my favorite celebrities endorsed. One such product was Pepsi, simply because I was a very big Michael Jackson fan. Luckily, I wised up.
So when I saw one of my favorite fashion designers, Isaac Mizrahi, pitching StriVectin-SD in a commercial the other day I felt such utter disappointment. Strivectin-SD, which claims to be an anti-stretchmark cream turned anti-wrinkle cream, is trying to pitch their product to men through Mizrahi's popularity. Isaac is a talk show host and thus a "lifestyle advocate" however, as a person who admires Mr. Mizrahi for his outstanding fashion, I wonder why he had to go this route. Seeing him in a commercial promoting an anti-wrinkle cream made me lose a little bit of respect for him and I didn't want too. I'm sure I am not alone.
I believe there was a time when celebrity endorsements held clout, but the times have been changing, most especially as blogs have become more and more popular. There are so many blogs out there that review products and I am more apt to listen to the average Joe tell me their likes and dislikes over a product than to run out to buy a product because Mischa Barton has been using it. According to a survey done by Allure and Essence, the same holds true for many of their readers.
According to the survey, women were more apt to purchase a beauty product due to trying out samples, because of an occasion or simply because a friend recommended it. The celebrity endorsement held little or no value in their decision to purchase a particular beauty product. While I am sure most brands love to have a celebrity touting their products, hopefully they aren’t spending their bottom line to make that to happen. Instead marketers should be focused on how else to reach their target audience. Part of that focus should be on involving part of their target audience into their marketing campaign.
For example, Frito-Lay has a contest going on for the best consumer-submitted TV ad for Doritos. The winner will have their commercial played during the Super Bowl. Many other brands (Converse, Cadbury Schweppes, Master Card, etc.) are following suit for consumer promotion of their brand. They understand that sometimes the average person touting their wares can sometimes drive up more sales than a celebrity endorsed product can.
What are you doing to promote your business? Are you leery to involve Bloggers in the promotion of your products? If you have, has your experience been positive or negative?
Posted by Shannon Nelson on December 11, 2006 10:24 PM
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