Business

Saturday September 5, 2009

Banking on celebrities

Stories by LEE KIAN SEONG


THE strategy of using celebrities – from actors and singers to athletes – as brand ambassadors is popular in Malaysia, but marketers need to realise how to do it effectively and what are the risks.

Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia group managing director Zayn Khan says celebrity endorsements only work when there is a close and obvious link between what the celebrity stands for in terms of his beliefs and what the brand represents.

Zayn Khan ... ‘Positive, influential role models make good brand ambassadors.’

Unfortunately, he says very few brands get it right on this strategy.

“There has to be an alignment of values and, to some extent, personality in order for the partnership to build the brand and resonate with the consumers,” he says.

Khan says this holds true whether the celebrity is used as a spokesperson for the brand or as a talent in the brand’s advertising and marketing activities.

“The best celebrity endorsements are those involving iconic, enduring individuals whose popularity is not subject to the whims and fancy of bloggers and popular media,” he says.

Khan says good examples are Louis Vuitton’s use of Sean Connery, Heineken’s use of Jennifer Aniston, and American Express’ use of Ellen DeGeneres.

“These are positive, influential role models whose high equity is naturally transferred to the brands to which they are aligned,” he adds.

Khan urges Malaysian brands to take into account the benefits and risks of celebrity relationships before embarking on them, and they have to be clear on the objective of the relationship, be it brand-building, relationship building or sales generation.

“The return on investment must be clear and measurable through data and research, both quantitative and qualitative; otherwise, company owners and board members will be unlikely to invest, especially in today’s ultra-cautious commercial climate,” he says.

Kenny Loh ... ‘Perception of the brand is better by using celebrity endorsements.’

G2 Kuala Lumpur activation general manager Kenny Loh says the perception of the brand is better by using celebrity endorsements.

However, he cautions, it is quite hard to control the celebrities as their performance and popularity will change from time to time.

“David Beckham was Castrol’s ambassador in the last World Cup but it has changed to Cristiano Ronaldo for the coming one as the latter is more ‘hot’ now,” he says.

Loh says it is also a problem if the artiste endorses too many brands as it may bore the market.

“Advertisers have to find the relevance between the celebrity and the brand and make sure that it suits to the brand concept,” he says.

Loh also points out that companies can choose to create their own brand icons – for example, the DiGi Yellow Man and Ronald McDonald – instead of using artiste endorsement but it demands more investments and a longer time to develop them into well-known icons.

“Companies will have a better control on the image of the icon that they created themselves and the icon can be packaged to suit the brand,” he says.

Brand perception is better by using celebrity endorsement.

Omnicom Media Group managing director Andreas Vogiatzakis says celebrity advertising does work and it is effective if it is done right, where there is a good match between the character and attitude of the product with the endorsing celebrity.

In the case where the celebrity gets into a controversy, Vogiatzakis says the brand needs to think carefully on how to handle it and proactively take a stand.

Andreas Vogiatzakis ... ‘Local celebrities can work miraculously well.’

“There was an incident a few years back in Taiwan with Nike, where the celebrity involved got into some trouble, Nike tried to let the incident pass by, but it backfired into a much larger public issue whereby Nike was perceived as trying to hide and ignore the fact,” he says.

Vogiatzakis says this would ultimately hurt the brand substantially, adding that it took a while for Nike to bring its reputation back up, and it would have cost it less to take action from the start.

“If you get in bed with a celebrity, it has to be all the way! You cannot just take the good stuff and ignore the bad – be prepared to take a stand,” he says.

He says local celebrities can work miraculously well as with the international ones – it all depends on the brand and the matching with the celebrity and the acceptance of that celebrity by the public.

Meanwhile, Bates 141 Malaysia general manager Adrian Ng says it all hinges on the client’s strategy in applying this kind of advertising, to see if the personality or persona of the celebrity fits with the brand image.

“Everything must check out; else it’s just a waste of time and money,” he says.

Ng says any category can apply this strategy. However, some categories which are more lifestyle-related, that is, personal care and apparel, have a greater tendency to have celebrity endorsements.

“The luxury category, which includes watches, jewellery and fragrances, is also a key market for such activities,” he adds.

Ng says if the brand has an international presence, obviously one would use a famous face recognised by millions. But this can be supplemented with the use of local icons to “localise” the brand in the markets it sells in

He says companies can choose to withdraw the contract or continue to show their support to the celebrity while managing controversies and issues.

“This also depends on the situation and the company. If the controversy impacts the brand in a negative way, the company would have no choice but to withdraw support. But if the company remains unscathed, there is no reason to withdraw its support,” he says.

He points out that controversies might have a positive spill-over effects on a brand and companies can demonstrate loyalty to the celebrity’s fan base.

Related Story:

Pros and cons of using icons

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