Celebrities

Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on Brand Image Introduction Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition by a large share of a certain group of people. Whereas attributes like attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle or special skills are just examples and specific common characteristics that are observed and celebrities generally differ from the social norm and enjoy a high degree of public awareness. The term Celebrity refers to an individual who is known to the public actors e. g. (Nana Ama Mac Brown sports figure e. . Michael Essien, entertainer e. g. Sarkodie e. g. ) for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed (Friedman and Friedman,1979). or having wider influence in public life and societal domain. Attributes like charisma, extraordinary life style or special skills, larger than life image and demigod status can be associated with them. It is safe to infer that within a corresponding social group celebrities generally differ from the social norm and enjoy high degree of public awareness.

While Endorsement, is a channel of brand communication in which a celebrity acts as the brand’s spokesperson and certifies the brand’s claim and position by extending his/her personality, popularity, stature in the society or expertise in the field to the brand. In a market with a very high proliferation of local, regional and international brands, celebrity endorsement was thought to provide a distinct differentiation (Martin Roll, 2006).

McCracken (1989) defined a celebrity endorser as, “any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (marketing communications), is useful, because when celebrities are depicted in, marketing communications they bring their own culturally related meanings, irrespective of the required promotional role.

McCracken’s (1989) view also suggests that a symbolic “match” should exist between the celebrity image and the brand image in order for the celebrity endorsement to be effective. ” Consumers with strong self-enhancement goals tend to form self-brand connections to brands used by aspiration groups, that is, groups for which the consumer wishes to become a member (Escalas and Bettman 2003). On the other hand, self-enhancers will be more likely to reject brand associations created by a celebrity endorsement where the celebrity associations are rejected (i. . , a non-aspirational celebrity), compared to consumers who do not have active selfenhancement goals. Ohanian (1991) supports this definition but further stresses that for endorsement to be truly effective, celebrities chosen as endorsers should be Knowledgeable, experienced and qualified in order to be perceived as an expert in the category. Two models were originally identified to explain the process of celebrity endorsement.

As an endorser, one has to fulfill all the FRED objectives (Rajesh Lalwani, 2006), namely, Familiarity (target market is aware of him, finds him friendly, likeable and trustworthy); Relevance (which says that there should be a link between the endorser and the product as well between the endorser and the audience); Esteem (credibility to the mass); Differentiation (in all his projections, he is seen to be one among the masses, and yet he towers above them. He is different).

The use of celebrity endorsement advertising has become an ever-present feature in modern advertising. These days, it’s nearly impracticable to surf the Internet, open a newspaper or magazine, or watch television without seeing a celebrity selling something, whether it’s cars, phones, medications, cosmetics, jewellery, clothing or even mutual funds and sports apparel. However, the use of celebrity in advertising is not a new phenomenon in Ghana in relation to advertisement; it has been around for several years.

Certain persons in the past recognized celebrity endorsement and understood the importance of linking celebrities to brands, even before this was recognized as an important marketing communications tool e. g. To promote his fashion clothing house La Maison Worth, he sought a high society lady and an influencer of the court fashions, Princess Von Metternich, wife of the then Austria’s ambassador to France and close friend of Napoleon’s wife Empress Eugenie.

This celebrity’s patronage and connection with La Maison Worth, contributed immensely to the success and status of this couture house, as the most influential in the world at its time. Since then, there has been an intricate relationship to people’s identity in such a way in that celebrities are often viewed as a useful endorsement in transferring and communicating the meanings and symbols of a brand image to the general public. Nowadays Companies invest large sums of money to align their brands and themselves with endorsers.

Such endorsers are seen as dynamic with both attractive and likeable qualities (Atkin and Block, 1983), and company’s plan that these qualities are transferred to products via marcom activities (Langmeyer & Walker, 1991a, McCracken, 1989). Furthermore, because of their fame, celebrities serve not only to create and maintain attention but also to achieve high recall rates for marcom messages in today’s highly cluttered environments (Croft et al, 1996, Friedman and Friedman, 1979). Some brands can reject celebrity endorsement outright and emerge in a better off position than their rivals.

The celebrity’s role is the most explicit and profound in incarnating user associations among the above mentioned points. To understand this, it can be analyze by the multiplier effect formula for a successful brand: S=P * D * AV Where S is a Successful Brand P is an Effective Product D is Distinctive Identity AV is Added Values Celebrity endorsements cannot replace the comprehensive brand building processes. As Branding evolves as a discipline companies must be extra cautious to utilize every possible channel of communication rather than just a celebrity endorsement.

This therefore could be said that when all other steps in the branding process is followed and implemented, then channels such as celebrity endorsements can provide the cutting edge as it did for Nike and Accenture endorsement romance with Tiger woods until the resent scandal when Accenture redrew its endorsement. What Nike and Accenture did was to use celebrity endorsement as one of the main channels of communicating their brands to a highly focused set of customers. So, Accenture and Nike’s association with Tiger Woods was one of the parts of an ntire branding process that they have been practicing consistently. There are several thousands of examples of celebrity endorsements, majority of these were mostly very expensive e. g. Italian luxury brand Versace has used music icon Madonna and Hollywood stars Demi Moore and Halle Berry in its print adverts between 2005 and 2006. Also West Africa’s communication giant Glo telecommunication uses most musical sensations such as Samini, Sarkodie, and Asem and other movie stars such as Nadia Buari etc. as the celebrities to endorse their services.

Businesses organizations have long sought to distract and attract the attention of potential customers that live in a world of ever-increasing commercial bombardment. Everyday consumers are exposed to thousands of voices and images in magazines, newspapers, and on billboards, websites, radio and television. It has been estimated that about 20% of U. S. ads feature celebrities (Solomon 2009), and the percent of advertisement using celebrities in other countries, such as Japan, is thought to be even higher. Specific Objectives of the research

Objective of this study is to reveal and re-establish the positive impact of celebrity endorsement on brand image and find out the most prominent factors this play in the key role in the success of an endorsement. To explore the link between brands and the consumer psyche and to identify how a model which can help any brand to identify the critical key areas to concentrate on while going for any celebrity endorsement. Furthermore, the objective of the research is to understand the impact of these celebrity endorsed advertisements, on the evaluation of product after purchase

Any casual user of new (digital) media can attest to the growing popularity of the medium among advertisers. Solicitations promoting goods and services now pepper the newsfeeds of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Paid advertisements introduce most YouTube videos. Ads even sneak their way into the most private and seemingly closed platforms, such as Pinterest.

Among the many advertising techniques employed in the social media space, the user endorsement reigns supreme. Through celebrity testimonials, user reviews and product placements, advertisers are able to directly, and oftentimes seamlessly, reach a broad and sophisticated audience without much effort or expenditure.

Federal Trade Commission attention

This proliferation of social media advertising, coupled with the likelihood for consumer confusion, has piqued the interest of regulators at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 2009, the FTC sounded the initial alarm in conjunction with the release of the revised “.” The publication was designed to provide guidance concerning the use of consumer, expert and celebrity endorsements in both traditional and new media forms of advertising.

In recent years, the FTC has continued to ramp up its enforcement against persons and companies that run afoul of the legal mandates concerning the use of endorsements disseminated via new media — with recent actions against , , Inc. and in 2016 highlighting the trend. As such, before wading into these waters, it is imperative that advertisers be aware of the activities that may trigger FTC attention. They include:

• Posting a “selfie” depicting the use of a product or attendance at an event or other location
• Publication of a blogger’s review of a product or service
• An audio-video testimonial describing a product or service
• A published review or comment relating to a product or service

Disclosure, disclosure, disclosure

According to FTC, if a celebrity, or any other person, is paid or otherwise enticed to promote (e.g., discuss, review, wear, depict, share or compliment) a product or service, then the relationship must be disclosed in the advertisement. Nonmonetary enticements such as the provision of free products or services may also require disclosure depending on the circumstances. The basic test articulated by FTC is “if a consumer knew an endorser was compensated or incentivized in any way, would that materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement?”

Of course, depending on the medium utilized, logistical limitations inherent in platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat may make such requirements, at best, undesirable, and at worst, impossible. Limitations aside, the FTC’s insistence upon remains, and advertisers are advised to avoid media that preclude such disclosure.

The primary goal of disclosure is to ensure that the endorsement is honest and accurate, and simultaneously prevent consumer deception or confusion. As such, disclaimers must effectively communicate the relationship between an advertiser and the spokesperson, which must include the existence of any quid pro quo between the parties. As a matter of course, any failure to communicate that relationship will be deemed misleading and subject the parties to liability under the FTC Act, in addition to various state consumer protection laws.

Who’s responsible?

While the burden to disclose is primarily placed upon the advertiser, both the advertiser and endorser/spokesperson – along with any third-party intermediaries – may be liable for failure to complywith the legal rules. With such risks in mind, all parties should be careful to consider and monitor how their goods and services are being promoted and the methods employed to do so.

We all know that likes his cereal, but was he paid to say so? This is the essential question from the consumer’s perspective. As we continue to encounter new media with increasing frequency, whether through traditional channels or the mini-computers that we carry in our pockets, the lines separating sponsored advertising from news and editorial content will continue to blur. Understanding the FTC’s intention to monitor such interactions and play referee, it remains imperative that the players know the rules.