Celebrity Marketing

Using Celebrities in Marketing Campaigns

Toya M. Cornelious

Grantham University

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the pros and cons of using celebrities in marketing campaigns. Additionally, this paper will explore Burger King’s decision to utilize Mary J. Blige to promote a new chicken wrap product.

Introduction

According to Businessdictionary.com, celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising campaign that involves a well known person using their fame to help promote a product or service (Bussinessdictionary.com, 2012). Some of the classic celebrity endorsement techniques include television ads, print ads, launch events, and  appearances in the marketing of  products (Bussinessdictionary.com, 2012). Annually, companies spend billions of dollars on celebrity endorsers. The Nike Corporation alone spends nearly half of a billion dollars per year for celebrities to endorse their products (Sager, 2011). This promotion strategy is to help corporations differentiate themselves in today’s competitive media advertising market. Promotion strategies as described by Jain and Haley (2009) are concerned with the planning, implementation and control of communication with the customer (pp.355). It is not simply advertising, but an entire plan by which a product is positioned to a targeted market.

When selecting a celebrity for a marketing campaign, there are both pros and cons to consider. According to Swerdlow and Swerdlow, celebrities can be likeable and attractive. Sometimes their mere presence in an advertisement will make a consumer pay attention (Findarticles.com, 2012). Swerdlow and Swerdlow also point out that a celebrity does not need to be human to be a spokesperson (Findarticles.com, 2012). Geico uses the gecko and Meow Mix uses Morris the cat. Swerdlow and Swerdlow go on to say that a company can also create its own celebrity as in the case of Jared as the endorser...