First off, in the overall exuberance to get a familiar
face in front of the camera, marketers don't stop to
consider whether there's any natural simpatico between
product and pitchman.
Second, most categories involve products or services
with true differentiation. Celebrity endorsements --
otherwise known as "buy our product because of the other
people who use it" -- don't tend to leave a lot of room
for true feature and benefit buying propositions.
But the most overwhelming reason why celebrity endorsements
aren't effective is that we may like the roles that
actors and actresses play on television and in the movies,
but that doesn't necessarily mean we're inclined to
buy a toaster oven from them.
Key Points
- Tread carefully with celebrity endorsement. Pick
your spot, only use it when there is clear simpatico
between what you're saying and who you've got saying
it.
- Finding a hired gun to pitch your product can
backfire if the familiar face gets in the way of
a strong buying proposition. Conversely, if there
is simply no strong feature or benefit to argue,
a celebrity endorsement can pay dividends.
- Marketers that do invoke the celebrity endorsement
vehicle ought to keep the voice of the familiar
face synonymous with the roles and characterizations
that made them famous. Nobody wants to see Chazz
Palminteri as he is off-camera. If you're going
to put him in your advertisement, let him be the
Chazz that put him there in the first place.
That's why Dennis Franz's Nextel cellular phone advertisements
were such a sham. Sure, we may like the guy in his hard-boiled
television role of NYPD Blue's Detective Andy Sipowicz,
but does anybody really admire the guy enough to buy
a cellphone he uses?
Probably not, which is why the copywriters came up with
a silly campaign where Franz talked on a Nextel mobile
phone while telling his agent and family that he's turning
down celebrity endorsement offers. It's not Dennis Franz
as we know him, it's Dennis Franz as anti-commercial
and overly self-actualized actor.
And the content suffers under its weight.
Which is why I love Vanilla Coke's light-as-air new
television advertisement, featuring original pitchman
Chazz Palminteri and American Idol judge-we-love-to-hate
Simon Cowell.
The drink's initial campaign was a strong play off of
Palminteri's many turns as film tough. The ads portrayed
him trying to spread the good word of the drink, inviting
people off the street to have a taste. In true tough
guy manner, he forced people to take a sip, and essentially
told them to like it.
The soft drink's second campaign reprises Chazz's same
character. This time he's intent on finding a celebrity
endorsement for the product.
In an empty lounge, he offers Cowell a sip. Asks him
what he think. The judge begins to give his answer when
Chazz's henchman raises a handwritten cue card and implores
Cowell to read the opinion that they wrote for him.
Simon, intimidated, endorses the drink. Palminteri:
"Ring the bell ... we got our first celebrity endorsement."
It's funny and fresh. A celebrity endorsement where
the pitchman are not themselves but the characterizations
that we've come to know and love. What fun for American
Idol fans to see most-hated Simon Cowell forced to edit
his opinion. And film buffs pay good money to see Palminteri
play his hard-boiled persona -- why not showcase it
even more in Vanilla Coke offerings?
Even while the execution works, the simpatico between
players helps it even more.
The smart guys and gals at Vanilla Coke understand that
their proposition is a tough sell. Sure, their drink
is vanilla-tasting Coke. That's a feature. But it's
also an obvious one -- heck, the name says it already.
So what else to propose? What else to offer to the public?
The answer's clearly nothing. They can't propose the
drink tastes great because they are smart enough to
understand that consumers who like vanilla and coke
will like it -- and those that don't, won't. Res Ipsa
Louqitor: It is what it is, nothing more and nothing
less.
Faced with this understanding, a smart marketer substitutes
creativity and interest into an ad where there's not
much else to say. They offer a few chuckles, put in
a few friendly and familiar faces and ask consumers
to try it out.
And therein lies the perfect spot for the celebrity
endorsement.
Vanilla Coke's betting that consumers want the taste.
I, for one, like it. And I know plenty of people around
me that do -- and don't. All the company can do is get
as much exposure as possible, and interest enough people
in hopes the sweet soda will catch on.
That's all they can ask for. And that's all they compellingly
do. And they do it with the one advertisement vehicle
that was made for this particular task.
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Lowell Conn is the curmudgeonly voice of Creative Impulse.
