So, Accenture is the first company to drop Tiger Woods as their spokesperson. It got me thinking about companies that use celebrities to promote their product or service. I mean, do we really rush out to buy a Gillette razor, Buick or Nike product because Tiger was in their commercial?
Now, if Tiger is pushing a product to make you golf better, I'm all over that. I mean, he is the world's greatest golfer afterall!
Obviously, these companies are selling the image of Tiger Woods. They're trying to associate the image of Tiger with their product.
On a local level, businesses will sometimes use a local "celebrity." Maybe the local TV newsman or sportscaster. Typically, these "celebrities" will have to introduce themselves, particularly in the radio commercials. The typical viewer or listener doesn't pay as much attention as a media critic like me. So, they're probably spending more time trying to figure out who this "celebrity" is and paying no attention to the meat of the message.
Unless it makes sense and/or the "celebrity" is truly a bona fide celebrity, avoid using local endorsers. Spend your :30 or :60 selling your product, educating your potential customer and giving the listener or viewer a call to action. Don't waste time having your spokesperson explain who they are and why they are famous. You really have to ask yourself if the image of this local celebrity is really enough to carry over on to the product to help it sell. Or, do they really have an image that's strong enough to evoke a positive reaction from the potential customer.
Time will tell how many other companies drop Tiger Woods. Time will also tell how many other companies will start to drift away from using celebrities to push their products.
Instead of using a local "celebrity," how about the owner of the business doing the commercial? To me, that is much more memorable than a voice or name that might be known for something else.
All very good points Don. Although,I've run into situations with the owners of businesses doing their own spots,where the owner has a terrible voice, does a terrible read in spite of how much coaching I'd give them, or they try to re-write the copy and add things that make it way too long. There were a few exceptions,where the business owner was a natural for doing their own spots.
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I agree Denny. Sometimes you have to talk a business owner OUT of voicing their own spot. But, on the other hand, you can also have fun with it - especially if they have an interesting quality to their voice that might help aid in memory. I'm not always a 100% believer that the voice has to be "perfect." Sometimes, you can use a not so perfect read to your advantage. As long as it doesn't end up sounding like someone just didn't care and put a lousy commercial on the air! Thanks for the posting!
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