Decent Marketing: Celebrity Marketing Overkill

About

Subscribe to this blog's feed

Marketing Blogroll

Business Blogroll

Technorati

Incoming Links
Technorati Profile
Technorati Profile
Search This Blog Using Technorati

Technorati search this blog all blogs
My Technorati Profile

Creative Commons Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Blog Search Engine

Blog Search Engine -Search Engine and Directory of blogs.

Decent Links

Blogstreet

Get Blogs

« Marketing Copy for the Heat Activated Urinal Billboard | Main | Save the Blackberry! »

January 24, 2006

Celebrity Marketing Overkill

Corporations of America, listen up! Please stop giving awards and free stuff to celebs in an effort to get us to buy. It doesn't really work. To wit, consider this post on Reveries.com's Cool News of the Day about celebrity gift bags, Bag Swag:

Lavishing gift bags on celebrities may be doing more harm than good to brands and stars alike, suggests Hilary de Vries in a New York Times essay (1/14/06)... it’s now at a point where celebrities “expect to receive thousands of dollars worth of merchandise — jewelry, perfume, sunglasses, cosmetics, vacations, electronics and other assorted bling — in exchange for even brief appearances at glamorous events.” Problem is, “the gift bag industry has become so over-saturated that it no longer works as advertised.”

... what are the chances that swag will stimulate sales? Not very good, apparently. Even if the celeb likes and uses the product, what are the chances consumers will care? Not that good, either. As Hilary observes: “You don’t need to look at the dismal state of the movie industry, the declines in ticket sales and the growing ennui among audiences to know that stardom has undergone a serious devaluation, that celebrity has become another commodity and a pretty cheap one at that.”

Amen. The only people this kind of marketing really benefits are the stars who get lots of nice free stuff when they are in the best position of anyone to be able to afford it. It drives me crazy to watch multimillion dollar heiress Paris Hilton poring over the gift tables and picking out opulent goodies like she's at some rich person's version of Goodwill. Check out this video to see swagness in full swing right now at the Sundance Film Festival (click on the "Sundance Swag" video and watch Rob Lowe and Terrence Howard with armfuls of merchandise -- can you believe they're promoting this?).

I can see every now and then that getting products in the hands of celebs can help their cool factor. But celebrity marketing seems to have hit the apex of silliness. Wait, no. There's even more silliness to attain. The new genius is the presentation of fake awards by brands to celebs at award shows. At the Not Billable blog, Irene Done observes:

"How was your People's Choice Awards watching party? Mine was fantastic! And in case you missed it, these were the big winners:

-- Crest Whitestrips Fans Favorite Smile: Cameron Diaz.
-- Nice 'N Easy Fans Favorite Hair: Faith Hill.
-- Olay Total Effects Fans Favorite Look: Jennifer Aniston

So seamless, so integral to the content -- it's like you couldn't even tell it's a Procter & Gamble production! And even though they have to admit that the winners are notified in advance, the whole thing was still filled with suspense and genuine excitement. Right?

Right. "Entertainment Tonight" (yes, I'm shallow and am sheepishly willing to admit I watch Entertainment Tonight) has been doing this with the brand Pantene. A cheesy announcer comes on the show and informs us that so-and-so won the Pantene Award for shiniest hair or whatever -- Charlize Theron was lucky enough to win for her tresses at the Golden Globes. I wonder if she displays her Pantene Award right next to her Oscar.

Please stop the madness. For more information on this, check out Grant McCracken's great piece on product placement as marketing malfeasance.

Tags: marketing product placement celebrity swag

January 24, 2006 in Marketing | Permalink

Comments

It is madness. Are brand managers more star-struck than strategy-minded? Giving away swag means you get to schmooze with celebs in the sponsor tents at award shows and film festivals, which is probably fun for someone from Cincinnati. But I think it's all off-putting. I eagerly await the backlash.

Posted by: Irene | January 24, 2006 at 03:58 PM

Isn't there a saying that goes "them that has, gets"? Well, I have NO awe for celebrities. They are people doing a job - and that job is to provide us with entertainment. The real heroes are people like Fire Fighters and Police Officers and DayCare Workers and other such folks -- now, when the brand people begin to lavish THOSE kinds of folks with free gifts - THEN maybe I will take notice and consider buying more of their stuff.

Also -- why is it that celebs think that they have the right to "speak for us" and make public declarations against the government? True, Americans have the right to each their own opinions - but - what ever happened to the concept of 'social responsibility'?

Posted by: Anthony | January 25, 2006 at 08:56 AM

People, including celebs, collect swag, with total disregard for the company sponsoring it.

All we know is: we got something for FREE. And that excites greedy, self-centered, arrogant movie stars, who contribute zero to humanity.

Posted by: steven e. streight who is mean old Vaspers the Grate, defender of the Blog Revolution! | February 15, 2006 at 03:05 PM

From the company’s POV there is the idea of bragging rights. ‘Ooh, look, Charlize Theron has our product!’ However, I do agree that a well publicized effort for charity is more meaningful, and longer lasting, than a ash-in-the-pan gift to a celebrity who mightn’t care less about yet another expensive pressie.

Posted by: Jack Yan | February 18, 2006 at 12:22 AM

To Whom It May Concern:

I tried yoga for a month. I gained weight and got a bit flabbier. Thus I’m led to believe that yoga, as a form of exercise, doesn’t work. Oh wait, that would be a preposterous extrapolation. Yet that’s exactly the type of sweeping generalization that Hilary de Vries, author of “The Gift Bag Chronicles,” made in an article recently printed by the New York Times. De Vries apparently has many views: celebrity marketing doesn’t work; accepting a gift is greedy; fame has become a cheap commodity; and swag is generally unnecessary. The dangerous thing about opinions is that they don’t have to be based in truth to disseminate them. So rather than make a string of unfounded retorts to De Vries’ commentary (which I daresay was meant more for its shock factor than its verity), I thought I’d share concrete examples of how entertainment marketing and celebrity gifting has worked for me and my clients over the past six years.

Like De Vries, I too am an author. My book, “Fabulous Gifts: Hollywood’s Gift Guru Reveals the Secret to Giving the Perfect Present,” was published by Penguin in October 2005. I happen to have founded a celebrity marketing and corporate gifting firm named Distinctive Assets. I’m living proof that celebrity marketing at least works well enough to get a book deal. I have created the oft-discussed “gift bags” and “gift lounges” for award shows like the GRAMMYs, the Tonys, the Kids’ Choice Awards, the People’s Choice Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards and help celebrities like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sharon Stone, Holly Robinson Peete, Elisabeth Rohm and Leah Remini shop for the perfect present (all of whom I met backstage at award shows despite the fact that De Vries claims that it isn’t an effective way for companies to advertise their services).

Celebrity marketing so clearly works it’s hard to know where to begin my rebuttal. Sharon Stone once wore a t-shirt from the Gap to the Oscars, and the item sold out in Gap stores nationwide the following day. Most people in America didn’t know the designer Elie Saab until Halle Berry won an Oscar wearing his gown. Fashionable L.A. boutique Kitson sells hundreds of thousands of dollars of product to the public based entirely on magazine placements mentioning what Paris, Jessica and Lindsay came in and bought. My own company actually sold over 1800 pairs of $170 crystal flip flops based on a single mention in InStyle with a picture of Debra Messing wearing the bedazzled creations.

But what about those misunderstood gift baskets and gift lounges? Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of clients (ranging from emerging companies looking to establish themselves among the Hollywood elite to household names like Escada, Casio, Bratz, Altoids, Tumi, Procter & Gamble and Lalique) who have participated over and over in this form of celebrity seeding . . . often referred to as swag. Many of our Fortune 500 clients are presumably too savvy to continue to pursue a marketing strategy that simply doesn’t work. As with any marketing endeavor, there is certainly not a 100% success rate. However, the industry and the leverage it provides as a driver of publicity are even more effective today than they were six years ago when I started my company (and the gift bag industry in many ways). De Vries’ assertion that the industry is “a hoax” is both inaccurate and absurd. There are certainly companies who offer a higher return on investment than their competitors, and there are better award show opportunities than others. But just because you get food poisoning doesn’t mean you never eat again; you’re just more careful about the restaurants you choose. Let’s look at just a few of my clients’ success stories:

At the 44th Annual GRAMMY Awards, Salton donated over 150 George Foreman Grills for the presenter gift bags (and paid my company a fee of $5,000 for the privilege). That year, Ray Romano and Kevin James pulled the grill out on stage during the live telecast while presenting a GRAMMY to Alicia Keys and proceeded to fight over who would keep it. Although the value of such a coup is difficult to precisely establish, the company’s stock price did rise the following day. Kevin James loved the grill he was given so much, he wrote it into the script of an episode of his long-running sitcom “The King of Queens.” Alicia Keys was so impressed with the Gail Hudson Ceramic Silk Iron when introduced to the amazing product backstage during rehearsals for the 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards that she asked Gail to do her hair for her actual GRAMMY performance that year. This feat would have been next to impossible for any of the hundreds of hair stylists who would cut off a toe for such a prestigious honor and résumé boost (which is one of the biggest benefits provided to participants . . . much like that unpaid internship I did for a Senator many summers ago). When George Lopez and Constance Marie -- stars of ABC’s “The George Lopez Show” -- were gifted with ThéChos t-shirts backstage at the 4th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, they liked them so much that they later wore them in an episode of their hit show. Sandra Bullock loved the Maurice Lacroix watch she was gifted in one of her many presenter gift bags and subsequently purchased more of them as wrap gifts for her co-stars in Miss Congeniality. Donald J. Pliner’s PR executives sent Oprah Winfrey shoes; the box was returned with a gracious note stating Ms. Winfrey did not accept unsolicited product. Their disappointment subsided when Oprah visited our Daytime Emmy gift lounge and selected numerous pairs of Donald J. Pliner boots and shoes to add to her extensive collection. After receiving a gorgeous diamond toe ring from Soho Gem backstage at the Tony Awards, Sarah Jessica Parker personally popped into their store the following day to purchase six more for her girlfriends. I’m nowhere close to being done, but I’m sure you get the point.

For the uninitiated, what happens as the second phase of the “swag process” is that the product companies donating goods and paying those four and five-figure fees for the opportunity (which often includes photos with celebs) then send out press releases to major news outlets and magazines about which celebrities scooped up their wares. Hundreds of press mentions have appeared in People, UsWeekly, InStyle and even Time and the Wall Street Journal touting these celebrity affiliations. E! and VH1 extensively discuss the products and services used by celebrities (let’s face it, the public is interested), and I have provided hours of television exposure for clients when I appear as a guest on “Access Hollywood,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “Extra,” “Inside Edition,” “SoapTalk,” and the like.

The payoffs for participating companies abound. Yet, it is true that as with anything in life, just because you buy a ticket doesn’t mean you win a prize.

One of De Vries’ most ridiculous statements is that celebrities are greedy for accepting gifts. Just because someone is rich and famous does NOT mean they cease to be eligible for gratitude. The gifts they receive for presenting at award shows are just that . . . gifts. It’s the show’s way of saying thank you for getting dressed and showing up for their telecast. After all, it’s the presenters and performers that audiences tune in to see. The event’s success depends on them in many ways. More importantly, it’s a win/win situation for all parties involved. The stars get fabulous free stuff. The product companies receive tons of celebrity PR ammo, and the gift bag organizers get paid for their time, effort and access. Although De Vries’ urging that award shows “step forward and publicly drop [their] use of presenter gift bags” may seem just shocking enough to get her a little press, her suggestion is tantamount to telling you to stop bringing wine to your friends’ houses when you show up for a dinner party. I hope thank you gifts and thoughtfulness are never jettisoned by Hollywood or anyone else for that matter.

Carpe Diem,

Lash Fary
President & Founder

Posted by: Lash Fary | February 22, 2006 at 01:37 PM

Thank you Lash. All these negative anti-celebrity gifting opinion pieces are just sour grapes.

So an opinion piece in the New York Times makes it fact? Please. Rhoomba have never gifted and it appears the article is more about those who send products directly to the publicists. You do that and you will never know if the star got them.

The Journal of Advertising Research in March 2004 had peer reviewed research showing a correlation between what sports stars wore and used to directly correlate to teenager buying habits.

There are tons of antidotal evidence too.

What's funny is all these journalists/reporters/etc who have this anti-gifting attitude are the first to grab a swag bag at a party or demand to be allowed to be gifted at Sundance, Oscar Week Gifting Lounges and others.

Posted by: Chris | August 27, 2006 at 07:08 PM

The issue of celebrity swag has both positive and negative connotations, but everyone knows that swag has become a bit of a monster and has lost its main focus. What people may not know is that at one time, free gifts and gift baskets were meant to merely thank hosts and celebrities for presenting at their award shows and events. In those golden days, celebrities had to actually work and maybe didn’t necessarily expect anything extra in return. To a regular person, the media has convinced me that swag is completely unnecessary and why give people who can afford to buy anything they want a $100,000 gift basket filled with expensive jewelry and exotic vacations? What companies fail to understand is that publicity and exposure is extremely hit-and-miss. There is a huge chance that these gifts end up in the hands of the unintended. Celebrities like Gabrielle Union, Eva Longoria and Garcelle Beauvois-Nilon readily admit that swag is divided up among friends and family and everything else that can’t find a home is tossed out. Celebrity itself is not like it use to be. With the success and onslaught of reality television and the decline of scripted shows, anyone now can be an overnight sensation. So what are companies really getting out of this? What once use to be a mutually beneficial relationship has now become completely one-sided. If I was a celebrity, I’d feel like I should be entitled to free gifts if companies expect me to use my celebrity to garner them sales. But let’s not forget that celebrity swag can and should be used for good. Some celebrities like Keanu Reeves and Oprah Winfrey to accept free gifts and George Clooney auctions off his swag to charities. Now if celebrities feel obligated to have swag then they are also obligated to pay up to the IRS. As of August of this year, swag gifts will be taxed. I guess the best things in life aren’t free.

Posted by: Chenile | December 06, 2006 at 09:59 PM

sexy prince of the world
L'ABANDON DESOLE EST content de 'Ersin Faikzade.'
Nous sommes tout né pareil, alors nous seperate Alors les chutes de monde à part et virages de blâme pour Nous
détester ne doit pas contempler, comment loin à part nous sommes il y a toujours une façon à cet endroit dans
votre coeur. ... (more)

Posted by: AMANDA LEWS | December 07, 2006 at 07:41 AM

PRINCE ERSIN FAIKZADE
IDOLE MOYEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hm4v3il8Z4

Posted by: jane | December 07, 2006 at 07:44 AM

Le quel est tout de ? Les bons regards surnaturels, le talent de supersize -- et la voix si agréable, il pourrait vous embrasser juste si vous avez le demander.qui de nerf L'est ? Ersin Faikzade !

Posted by: SUZANNE Daves | December 07, 2006 at 07:45 AM

Posted by: annett | January 18, 2007 at 08:32 AM

http://orge-con-trans.ghsae.info
http://piede-nudo-calza-velata.sdg-cvn.org
http://tetta-enormi-foto-gratis.ghsae.info
http://figa-pelosa-di-donna-cicciona.sdg-skb.org
http://ischia-coppia-agosto-foto-singolo.ghsae.info
http://grande-tetta-video-gratis.sdg-skb.org
http://video-porno-diciottenni.hdaag.info
http://porno-italia-donna-matura.sdg-qbm.org
http://chatta-con-casalinghe.ghsae.info
http://video-sesso-anale-free.sdg-skb.org
http://gallerie-uomo-nudo.hdaeg.info
http://racconto-storia-sesso-maschio.sdg-skb.org
http://spezzoni-transessuali-gratuiti.hdaag.info
http://troia-con-fica-aperta.sdg-fhd.org
http://tutto-trans-gay-hard.ghsae.info
http://rivista-annuncio-foto-sesso.sdg-wxf.org
http://amatorile-coppie.arhsa.info
http://teenagers-porno-free.sdg-cvn.org
http://video-musicali-eros-ramazzotti.hdaeg.info

Posted by: http://www.ynggwe.org/ | July 01, 2007 at 06:46 PM

I also think that marketing companies don't need to use celebrities so much to make people buy something.This won't make the consumer change his mind about something.I think one good advertisement is a better choice.

Posted by: Cara Fletcher | September 08, 2007 at 01:34 PM

celebrity must read ebook
www.magioz.com

Posted by: zenetabeneath | September 18, 2007 at 11:44 PM

Posted by: njracks | October 02, 2007 at 08:29 AM

Posted by: njracks | October 02, 2007 at 08:36 AM

Posted by: njracks | October 02, 2007 at 08:41 AM

Posted by: njracks | October 02, 2007 at 08:43 AM

Posted by: alanti | October 31, 2007 at 04:27 AM

Posted by: alaric | October 31, 2007 at 04:43 AM

Hi marketing companies should use celebrites it raises there profile

http://kristen-davis-sex-tape.wedding-review.info/main.htm

Posted by: kristen davis | March 21, 2008 at 12:14 AM

I hate all the celebrity nonesense, just because someone is well known does not impress me. It's all about the way you behave. You have to have the right attitude. It's as simple as that. Honour and integrity come from within. You either have it or you don't.

Anyway I'm a big fan of erotica sapphic ebooks. I just cant get enough. Just plain sapphic or bdsm sapphic ebooks. Just as long as it's eroitic and well written.

Posted by: Chrissy Erotica Sapphic Fan | April 20, 2008 at 08:25 AM

I beleive it is a enormous marketing faux pas!

Posted by: Grace | July 28, 2009 at 11:10 AM

The only people this kind of marketing really benefits are the stars who get lots of nice free stuff.when they are in the best position of anyone to be able to afford it.

Posted by: birmingham car recovery | July 30, 2009 at 06:48 AM

Thanks for the article. I hear there appeared new rapidshare search engines( http://www.rapidsharemix.com ) . I'd like to learn more about them

Posted by: Quinn | February 08, 2010 at 03:02 PM