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We asked our youth community for their thoughts on whether celebrity endorsements are effective?
In general, youth don't see celebrity endorsements as playing a major role in their purchase decision but it can affect the product's image both positively and negatively.
There were a number of interesting comments:
"I am usually not swayed into buying something just because a celebrity uses it; however there are certain instances in which I have been more inclined to buy the product."
Take, for example, Sponsors of Women's World Cup ads these are beneficial to young children who look up to Mia Hamm. It shows them that their dreams and goals can eventually come true. Lots of the Nike ads show children becoming athletes, or overcoming disabilities, this can empower and inspire youth. On the other hand, there are ads featuring celebrities who blatantly try to sell products you know they don't really use. I think of Head and Shoulders with Wayne Gretzky; I'm quite sure that Wayne Gretzky doesn't really need Head and Shoulders! The main difficulty with paying celebrities is it's almost always fake. They don't always love the products they are selling, it's usually about the money. Although most people look down on using celebrities to sell a product, I have to admit in some cases it works".
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"I think celebrity endorsements can be effective but it depends on how realistic the endorsement is."
Teens can be fairly skeptical about companies saying, "well if so-and-so uses it then so should I". We are fully aware of the marketing gimmicks shoved at us. An effective ad campaign I like is Sprite (I think), where they make fun of the whole endorsement phenomenon. First they show a celebrity doing something cool, and then some kid trying to do it, and falling on their face. At the end saying, "Image is nothing, thirst is everything," which is a balance between involving a celebrity with their brand and being savvy.
"It is effective marketing when a company uses a celebrity to endorse a product directly and have deals that involve the celebrities."
An example is the Backstreet Boys and Burger King cross-promotion (I was an extra in one of the commercials!). This is effective because it allows the target market to have an added bonus in buying the product, i.e.: a contest or free prize".
"Celebs can often embody the image that a company hopes their product will project, and when establishing or re-establishing brands it can be highly efficient way to get the image across, using a known face and personality. Lancome is currently using Uma Thurman as their spokes model, and her regal beauty is exactly what the brand is.
In my opinion, when celebrities do something funny in a commercial or something out of the ordinary, the product in question will do relatively better than an ad with a celebrity simply plugging a product shamelessly just to collect a pay cheque".
"As far as I'm concerned, much of the celeb endorsement craze is a big hoax. It's usually fairly obvious to the average joe that celebrities do not endorse products because they honestly believe in their utility or superiority over other products."
"In several cases, the celebrity endorses more than one product. The endorsement doesn't seem valid when it is obvious that he/she is doing it for the paycheck. For example, Britney Spears endorses Sketchers, Polaroid, Herbal Essences and soon Pepsi. This doesn't give me any reassurance towards the quality of the product. It only makes me feel that Britney is selling out".
Synopsis?
Keep it real and different. Youth may be initially attracted to a celebrity spin but if you don't think beyond simple "celebrity placement" the results most often will be neutral to negative.
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