Brands have been using celebrities to promote their products for a long time.
As far back as the 1700s, Josiah Wedgewood understood the benefit of a Royal endorsement to make his brand more valuable.
More than a century later, celebrities were used to promote tobacco with ‘baseball cards’ become highly collectible – so much so that people were buying packets of cigarettes just for the baseball card inside.
Before long, celebrities were endorsing everything from soap to breakfast cereal, and being paid a fortune in the process.
Today, brands are very aware of the pulling power a high-profile celebrity gives them. The rise of social media has made this even more apparent – it only takes one throwaway comment on Twitter by a celebrity saying how much they ‘like’ a product for it to be sold out in minutes.
Celebrity endorsements are not a guarantee of success, but the following five brands have got it sussed.
XTrade
XTrade is a highly successful Forex trading and CFD trading platform for people who want to try online trading, and they have great customer support and a number one mobile app.
But like many big brands, XTrade understands that a celebrity brand ambassador can help it broaden its appeal and encourage a new audience to try trading online. Cristiano Ronaldo has come on board to do exactly that.
Nespresso
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George Clooney is the world’s sexiest bachelor. Or he was until he finally conquered his commitment phobia and embraced marriage to the lovely Amal Allamudin, a renowned human rights lawyer.
Still, Nespresso has done very well out of its association with Mr Clooney. Millions of coffee drinkers are more than happy to buy Nespresso coffee with gorgeous George’s blessing.
Nike
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Sports brand, Nike, has a long history of celebrity endorsements. Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly paid $8 million to endorse the brand, closely followed by Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant.
Maria Sharapova was its top female brand ambassador, although not any longer. Other famous names for Nike include Rory Mcllroy, Michael Jordan, and Rafael Nadal.
Nip + Fab
Nip + Fab was a relatively unknown skin care brand until Kylie Jenner raved about the products online. Her youthful appeal and global fame have since propelled this hitherto unknown brand into the spotlight and she is now the brand’s ambassador.
Kylie is social media savvy, edgy, and always cool, so the perfect face for an up and coming brand looking to conquer the youth market.
Christian Dior
Top luxury brands frequently use famous celebrities to promote their products.
Christian Dior, a French fashion house, has been linked to a number of high profile female celebrities, including Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence.
The advertisements are often very over-the-top, but they work.
A celebrity endorsement can’t guarantee brand success, but it can raise brand awareness in the connected age we live in.
It only takes one small online mention by a celebrity for a brand to experience a huge surge in popularity.
So if your brand is struggling, hire a celebrity to chat about it on Twitter. You may need to give them a discount, though.
