Using Celebrity Marketing Campaigns

By Author: Melanie Rivers
Total Articles: 223
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Celebrity marketing, for those who are not familiar, is the use of a celebrity (usually referred to as "talent") in a marketing campaign wherein the celebrity speaks on behalf of the company, product, or service, thus tying together the two in the mind of the viewer. The talent is obviously being paid for their services, although in many cases this is not a disclosed fact unless asked by an interviewer. In some cases the public makes the connection even when the interviews given are entirely informational (Bob Dole talked about ED, not Viagra, and yet when asked to identify the Pfizer spokesperson for the drugs, the majority of people surveyed correctly answered "Bob Dole.")

Celebrities should have reasonable interest to begin with, as the public does need to find the relationships believable. The fact of the matter is that people are taking in more and more branding information each day, so if you can capture their attention and lend credence through the use of talent, you're boosting your chances of being successful. The first step is obviously to determine who the appropriate spokesperson would be. The considerations ...
... are many: who will your target audience recognize and connect with, what celebrities might have reason to already be interested in what you have to offer, what kind of background or credibility do you need them to have? Remember, being an A-list celebrity doesn't mean that you have authority to speak on any given subject and the public knows that...mostly.

Once you have landed appropriate talent, you might want to move on to where the best places will be for them to lend their face and voice to your message. Satellite media tours are especially popular as you can give interviews to folks all over the world with several hours in a studio. For many reasons, satellite media interviews, much like talk show interviews, create a freedom (there are none of the same regulations as with advertisements) but they are also much more tricky. There is no script and it relies upon the talent to share the information with the interviewer that you want represented. Obviously, the talent is given information in advance so from that end you will go into it knowing that the information they are working with is what you (or the media marketing company you work with) have provided.
Celebrity marketing builds almost immediate brand recognition and, depending on the celebrity's relationship with the target audience, lends that brand the credibility that will turn that audience into consumers.