Celebrity power as a Marketing Tool

Who will open the new mall?

The above sentence is something that I note everywhere: outdoor posters, local newspaper ads, flyers, etc. My immediate reaction: “Who cares? Isn’t celebrity power a thing of the past?”

Celebrity power as an advertising strategy

Celebrity power has always been an advertising strategy, mostly known as the “celebrity endorsements phenomenon”. The logic is sort of the following: The coercive power of a celebrity results in all people wanting and buying that good.

Everyone a celeb?

In today’s world, everyone is a celebrity – or at least they have the ability to become one using their own power. Just look at reality TV-shows such as “Idols”, “Master cook” , “Big Brother” , “Expedition Robinson” , etc.

Everyone a celebrity within a specific ‘market’?

In today’s digital network society people are all celebrities within a certain “market”. Maybe this will prove to be the genuine coercive power of advertising instead of global stars? We’ll see…

A powerful example of celebrity marketing?

Despite the above, I found an ad where I believe the celebrity is used effectively: an ad for “Hanes” panty starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. This ad uses the celebrity in a good way because of the powerful copy (baseline: “look who we’ve got our hanes on now”). What’s more: it uses the “sexiness” of the celebrity. Nice :-)

Jennifer Love Hewitt as "celebrity endorsement"