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Opinion Piece – Promotions & The Power of
the Celebrity
Article - Andrew Cook, director of sales
at leading prize promotion specialist, Unmissable,
gives an insight into the world of the celebrity led
promotions…
Celebrities have been used to endorse brands for
years both through advertising and below the line
promotions, often very effectively. But their use
within the incentives market has been less pronounced
– until now that is.
Driven by insatiable consumer interest, which has
in turn been fuelled by the phenomenal growth in the
celebrity magazines and tabloid gossip columns, we
are now seeing a new type of ‘celebrity experience’
emerging, which tends to fall into two categories:
Meet the Celebrity - Where you get the chance to
meet your hero face to face whether it is playing
table football with an England soccer star, participating
in a training session with the New Zealand rugby team,
rubbing shoulders with stars of the silver screen
at movie premiers or going back stage to meet the
band at a VIP concert.
Live like a celebrity/be a celebrity - Rather than
meeting the celebrity for this you actually get to
live the lifestyle. This can be dinning at the top
star spotting restaurants, staying at a 5 star hotel
frequented by famous faces, or shopping at the designer
boutiques.
These can even go as far as stepping into their lives
for example staying at Mick Jagger’s house in
the Caribbean, or a trip on Eddie Irvines yacht in
the Mediterranean. Or it can be taking on the day-job
with a walk on part in a Hollywood blockbusters or
re-enacting famous movie scenes. One particularly
popular promotion we ran was to re-stage a game of
Quidditch at Shepperton studios.
Who’s The Audience:
Although this sector has fairly broad appeal it’s
really the teen and twenty year old age groups where
it is most effective because they aspire to imitate
their celebrity heroes whether they are movie stars,
pop idols or sports personalities.
As well as brand promotions, staff and corporate
motivational programmes also lend themselves to celebrity
experience promotions. Travel, cash and car promotions
have dominated this market, but celebrity themed incentives
are growing fast within the sector.
The Pros and Cons:
As with any promotion there are pitfalls to watch
out for
Pitfalls:
- Finding a celebrity that doesn’t endorse
a competing brand or has in the past endorsed a
rival brand
- Finding a window of time when the celebrity isn’t
tied up with sponsors engagements or work commitments
- Recognising it’s not always the most famous
person that is the right person. Often the bigger
the star the bigger the ego and the less inclined
they are to make an effort
- Celebrities are susceptible to bad press, which
can reflect badly on the brand
- Ensure the celebrity s representative of the
brand and the brands core values
- Ensure that everything you want the celebrity
to do is in writing and previously agreed before
they turn up
As with any promotion it’s also important to
get the match between celebrity and brand right. Reflecting
core brand values and messages remains crucial and
the celebrity you pick will need to appeal to your
brand’s target audience.
…And, For the Future
With our appetite for all things celebrity showing
no signs of waning this is a sector that will only
grow and develop over the next few years.
Done well these types of promotions tick all the
right boxes – you can create a money can’t
buy experience, inject as much wow factor as you could
wish for and develop experiences that you just couldn’t
buy on the high street. Ultimately you can fulfill
dreams and that is what the experience market is all
about.
- ENDS -
For further information,
please contact:
Jane Lowen, The Press Office, 01580 764721
jtlowen@aol.com
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