When to Avoid/Use Celebrities

Endorsements

Prepared by J. Scott Armstrong (details on him at jscottarmstrong.com). Please inform Scott about errors and also make suggestions (armstrong@wharton.upenn.edu) Scott has taken these slides from adprin.com, a site that he founded. That site contains interactive versions of these slides, along with linked references, videos, and webcasts, all in PPT and PPTX format that you can download.

Adapted from AdPrin.com 2

When should you avoid celebrities?Go to the next slide for the answer.

Celebrities

Consider celebrity endorsements for gaining attention.

But calculate the projected Return-on Investment – and include an escape clause.

When an ad contains strong arguments, avoid the use of celebrities (6.6.1)

Gallup and Robinson non-experimental studies of TV commercials showed that customers understood:

2.4 selling points for ads with no celebrities

1.4 points for ads with celebrities.Analyses of non-experimental data on TV commercials

found that those with celebrities had lower persuasion scores.

Adapted from AdPrin.com

Based on this exercise, write a small application step for yourself, and set a deadline, preferably within one week. If you are working with someone else, share your application plan and the results of your application.

• For example, examine celebrity endorsements for your firm to see if you have strong arguments.