"Last week at the Cannes film festival, Ms. Stone gave a television interview saying she is "not happy" about China's treatment of Tibet, where violent protests broke out in March. "And then this earthquake happened," Ms. Stone said. "And I said, 'Is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?'"Actually, the Journal's report makes Stone sound significantly smarter than she comes across on the video (you can watch her comments here).
So what does this have to do with branding? Too many brands (mostly with weak brand stories) rely on the fame and popularity of a sports figure, model, or actor to lend cache to their product. The problem is, it almost never works. Consumers know celebrities are paid for their endorsements. And when the celebrity goes off message (or worse), it can have serious implications for the brand. A few examples: Kobe Bryant (charged were dropped), Kate Moss, Britney, we could go on... and on.) There's nothing quite like offending a billion potential customers with an off-hand remark.
Dior took a risk, trying to attach its brand to a (somewhat) popular actress, to cash in on her notoriety and fame. And it got stung. Now it's got a bit of a PR disaster on its hands, at least in China. A better solution is to figure out what's unique about the brand and tell that story. But finding and telling brand stories is hard. And hiring an actor with a decent Q score is easy. So there's no doubt it won't be long before we see another brand get stung by questionable celebrity behavior.
Read More:
Boing Boing reports on some of the fallout (video available here too).
More from China Business Blog.
And from the Red Cross...
That's why a Founder or a CEO and not a paid celebrity must be spokesperson of a company!
Posted by: Linas Simonis, PositioningStrategy | May 30, 2008 at 04:45 PM
There are also many examples of how the hired gun has made a mediocre brand into a meteoric force, with no better example than Michael Jordan (see Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism by Walter LaFeber). Gatorade, Nike, the NBA...they owe much of who they are today because of Jordan. With such a tremendous voice for telling the brand story in such recent history, organizations are not anytime soon going to be willing to let go of celebrity endorsers.
Posted by: Brand Logician | June 02, 2008 at 10:41 AM
In all successful cases the star's success was strongly associated with the brand.
Failures occur when the star's success in customer's mind has no strong connection with the brand.
Jordan and Nike - fantastic, Tiger and Chevrolet - sorry...
And, like Rob pointed, when a star is in trouble very soon this trouble can spread to the company too.
A founder or a CEO in the company's spokesperson position is a far better choice. Shortcoming - they must have some characteristics but they can be trained.
One of the best ways to do this - to start a business blog. This is a big benefit not only for the buyer, but to a blogging founder or a CEO too!
Posted by: Linas Simonis, PositioningStrategy | June 03, 2008 at 05:27 AM
I think Michael Jordan is the exception that proves the rule. While Jordan was certainly a big part of Nike's success, he wasn't the brand story. He complimented Nike's story of athletic achievement by his own athletic achievements. Same goes for Gatorade. What exactly does MJ do for Hanes? Except look silly. And what if MJ had run into legal trouble during his run? Fortunately for the brands that used him, he didn't.
As Linas points out, Tiger Wood's endorsement deal with Buick isn't such a great fit. They don't share a story. I'd say the same thing for Sharon Stone and Dior. What exactly is the story this endorsement is telling?
Posted by: rob | June 03, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Seth Godin talks a bit about this today: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/343376091/how-not-to-pick.html (okay, he is talking about a spokesman, but still).
Posted by: Russell Fisher | July 23, 2008 at 08:08 AM