A recent posting on marketing blog brandchannel describes the widespread fame of R.J. Kelly III. What? You’re saying you have no idea in the world who he is? Hey, I’m saying that if you watch U.S. broadcast TV, you’ve seen a lot of the guy.
Think Ally Bank ads in which Mr. Kelly, through perverse reverse psychology, endorses straightforward customer agreements. He plays the jerk who gives one little girl a live pony, while giving the other little girl at the table just a toy pony. In another commercial, he aims to convince us that the amazing flavor of Trident Layers chewing gum justifies his unrestrained excitement when telling his family he got a raise of not $20,000, but rather 20,000 packs. And his role as the husband in the Lowe’s ad dramatizes how Lowe’s is the place to go for home improvement advice.
Ally Bank, Trident Layers, and Lowe’s aren’t in direct competition with each other for the shopper’s dollar, so multiple endorsements might seem to be fine. But consider the spirit of a consumer’s comment posted in response to the brandchannel piece: “And what about the woman with reddish brown hair that’s in a current Toyota commercial. She’s been in boatloads of other commercials…. (W)hen the message is tied to the person (such as the Toyota commercial where the actress says she’s a mom) it does make me think about whether she really is….”
Credibility of the endorser and the brand drop a notch.
Worse, though, is when someone with more celebrity recognition than an R.J. Kelly III endorses both you and your competition. Take Shaquille O’Neal’s past endorsements of Burger King, but also McDonald’s and Taco Bell. Or the realization that we might have overlooked the early signs of infidelity when Tiger Woods pitched Rolex’s Tudor wristwatches for about five years and then suddenly took up the cause for rival Tag Heuer.
Expect endorsers in your advertising to refrain from also endorsing your direct competition. One approach is to use your own staff as endorsers in radio, television, and Internet ads. This builds credibility from the time the ad is viewed until the shopper comes into your store and can talk face-to-face with the endorsers. Research findings from University of Missouri–St. Louis, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Michigan State University, and Louisiana State University suggest that this cultivates self-efficacy in staff which makes them better salespeople.
Click below for more:
Get Endorsements from Groups
Select Celebrity Endorsers Who Have Credibility
Make Your Sales Staff Celebrity Endorsers
Consider Using a Business Character Icon
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