Chapter 2 of 14
Making sure the Celebrity will be the right fit for your audience.
One of the biggest mistakes made when contemplating the use of a celebrity endorser is choosing a celebrity that does not complement your business or product well. For example, sticking a retired baseball player into a kids video about baseball could be a sure failure. Kids dont recognize players from the past. If, however, the target market audience of the video was the kids father (who would be considered a baby boomer) then using a retired player might make a lot of sense. Using a retired player offers a very distinct advantage when it comes to the financial side of the equation. However, while choosing a player from yesterday can cost a lot less money there is also the significantly higher risk of the kid not knowing who the player is and not caring about the video. Along with the reward comes the risk of this type of endorser not being able to make inroads because of lack of a name brand or little current recognition.
When making your final selection, always weigh in heavily on the specific demographic of the end user. While the buyer may seem like the initial target, the end user might ultimately decide the fate of the product. Make sure you do your homework and know who your market is.
Currently, we are working on a major pain relief spray project with a public company on the East Coast. They had originally decided that they were going to use a one year retired NASCAR driver. Initially, it seemed a good decision. Once we looked at the market a little closer it became apparent that this product was aimed at people 55 and older (although it has applications for all ages). After much thought we have decided to use a retired HOF baseball player for a number of reasons. First, he is very recognizable, believable, squeaky clean, attractive, provides his own brand awareness, and most importantly, can relate to getting older and experiencing pain. He is a satisfied user of the product and therefore can tell his story on a very sincere level, one that the over 55 group can relate to, as they remember him being one of the top players in the 70s and 80s. We have a perfect fit for a product that is very targeted. By choosing the baseball player over the NASCAR driver, we have a broader audience. A lot of over 55 individuals do not follow NASCAR but most have followed baseball.
NASCAR is a relatively new sport and thus its following tends to be of a younger age. In this particular deal we also did something very compelling for both the athlete and the company. Most of his compensation is tied to the actual sales of the product. With this arrangement, we insure that we have the undivided attention of the athlete throughout the contract. A proactive athlete helps to sell himself and the product and is extremely motivated to go the extra mile to make sure they become a household name. In fact, we have already seen huge dividends in the form of athlete contacts. This would not happen if we had not signed him to a performance based royalty payment schedule.
copyright 2006 Ron Tyler
Ron Tyler has been in the creative marketing business for the past 20 plus years. He has consulted with small companies all the way up to public companies. He has extensive experience in the strategy and benefit arena and actual implementation of laser targeted marketing plans. He can be reached via email at rtyler51@comcast.net
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