Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Thoughts About Famous People In Ads

Posted by Anonymous on 11/20/2008 at 12:13 PM ET 25 Points
Hi! My name is Inna and I'm a reporter in a daily newspaper and I'm writing a text about famous people in TV ads. However, in order to make it richer, I need some wise thoughts of advertisers, concerning this topic. Why advertisers use famous people, what is their impact on the audience.. something like that. Maybe a thought by Bob Garfield or David Ogilvy... Please, if you come to something that might be useful for me, write!
Thank you in advance!
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 11/20/2008 at 1:05 PM Member
    The main reason is to lend confidence/credibility to the product/service. I haven't seen any split-run results to prove it works as hoped, but advertisers hope you think...it must be true, or this famous person would not risk putting their name behind it. For instance Robert Wagner in the reverse mortgage television ad of late.

    The key thing is that the person you use is recognized by your target audience.
  • Posted by Paul Kemper on 11/20/2008 at 1:34 PM Accepted
    You might want to read https://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/sma/2001/04.pdf

    It's main conclusion is that famous people in your ad can help, but not in all cases.
  • Posted by MarketGoGo on 11/20/2008 at 4:18 PM Member
    Have you checked out the recent TV ads for Microsoft featuring Seinfeld. I think they played for only about 2 weeks before they were pulled.

    Also - it might be worth buying the David Ogilvy book "Ogilvy on Advertising". I think he has a very good section in that book about the value of having famous people in your ads (or perhaps the non-value).
  • Posted by Paul Kemper on 11/21/2008 at 3:21 AM Accepted
    This is not a direct answer, but might frame your thinking...

    There are probably still some advantages to using famous people in combination with your product. But if, as a marketeer, you are not measuring those effects, the benefit will not show. What I mean is this:

    If I have a famous person in my ad and my objective is to increase sales by 20 million in the next 3 months, then it might turn out that there is no measurable effect.

    But at the same time, the brand image of the famous person might still add to the brand equity of your product. So if you would measure brand value as an objective, you might indeed see positive effects.

    Now, because we live in a 'new' world, especially where marketing to under-30's is concerned, there are other, unintended ways that a famous person might help spread your messages. Just think of all the social sites and sites like YouTube, where snippets of video ads are replicated indefinitely, either by fans or by people finding your ad interesting. This increases brand exposure.

    Additionally, the ad might not be viewed as an ad at all. The case in point is the ultimate product placement: have Oprah mention or show your product. A definite positive association.
  • Posted on 11/21/2008 at 7:41 AM Author
    Thank you for your quick replies! You really helped me!
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)