For as long as I can remember, advertisers have rented start power. Usually Hollywood actors, professional athletes or musicians that would, in exchange for large checks, appear in advertising, attend key events and use the brands in every day life.
And for the most part we feel like it works... or does it? A recent Ad Age article on the subject shared data that indicates celebrity endorser ads repeatedly under-perform vs non-celebrity ads. Add to this kind of data the obvious risk of the celeb doing something stupid or becoming yesterday's fad (with the public) and you have a high risk, high reward kind of thing.
Which got me to thinking... especially in this digitally focused viral world we live in... is it better for a brand to rent celebrity or help create it?
Take the group above in the YouTube video. They're closing in on a million views. And they should because the video is great. It's funny, engaging and heck, they're quite good I think. So if I was a brand that stood for joy or happiness or engaging fun... would, could I benefit from helping these guys tip? What if I put some money, effort and distribution power behind their video in exchange for some branding? What if I paid them to create a series of these Gleeesque videos?
Would that have power today? Would it generate a greater long term ROI than the traditional celeb endorsement type approach? Interesting question don't you think?
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