What it Means to Pitch Products Today
Came across an interesting post on Grant’s blog on Celebrity Endorsement. Like Grant I also read this article in NYTimes about the increase in endorsements and how certain brands/companies are finding it effective.
Looking past the fact that 14% of ads last year included celebrities and this is an increase over the previous year. Grant’s thoughts below are telling about what it really means to grab a celebrity and have them be your “pitchman/woman” in 2008.
One Davie Brown category in which most celebrities appear vulnerable is trust. Celebrities are recognizable and appealing, but are often viewed with skepticism. “Trust always seems to be the lowest score among celebrities,”
This is a puzzle. If consumers buy products because celebrities are endorsing them, doesn’t this imply that they must trust the good opinion of the celebrity. But if they don’t trust them, um, why do they buy the product so endorsed?
I believe that this puzzle tells us something useful It says that we are wrong to think about celebrity endorsement as endorsement. The celebrity is not speaking on behalf of the product. They are not declaring their approval. This is why the consumer can find the celebrity untrustworthy and effective. The model has a muddle because the model is wrong.
So what is the celebrity doing here? When Rihanna appears with Totes, when Ellen DeGeneres speaks for American Express, what is happening? I believe that what the celebrity does is lend their meanings to the brand. Some part of Rihanna’s glamor is made resident in Totes. Some part of Ellen’s humor is made resident in American Express.
- Photo from NYTimes article
