It's not unusual to hear, in agency creative meetings, "Let's get a celebrity to pitch our product."Does a celebrity endorser work?
Evidently not, if you believe the findings of a recent Adweek poll.
Seventy-eight percent of the respondents said a celebrity pitcher does not influence them at all. Only eight percent said a celeb might influence them to buy a product, while twelve percent said it would likely cause them NOT to buy.
Consumers 55+ are even less likely to be swayed by a celebrity hawking a product. Twenty-four percent of that group said it would deter them. Men are lot more likely, at 15 percent, than women (11 percent) to be turned off by a celebrity endorser.
Of course, there are exceptions -- Oprah is on a level all her own. But what advertiser could afford her -- if she would agree to do an ad?
To me, the main benefit of a high-profile endorser is that he or she could cut through the clutter and bring attention to your product or ad -- especially if that celeb rarely does commercials. But after the attention, will he or she bring credibility? That's a hard combination to put together.
And then there's the risk of your celebrity doing something that garners negative attention. These days, it can be a lot more than "just" having an affair. We see celebrities getting busted for drunk driving, tax evasion, shootings, spousal abuse, surfing kiddie porn or promoting dog fights. Some of these things carry a pretty big "yuck" factor with them.
Think of the damage an episode like that can do to a brand. And that doesn't count the cost of pulling ads and quickly creating new ones.
Still thinking of a celebrity endorser? Maybe you should think again, long and hard.