KomodoPR PR london agency

In today’s society, we are immersed in a state of ‘celebrification’.

Celebrification is now part of our culture. Thus public interest in celebrities lives has peaked. What with gossip magazines, TV and the growth of internet media, celebrification is hard to avoid.

The ‘celebrification’ process is reciprocal – the public want to know more and therefore the media feeds them more. This has made celebrities unarguably powerful within the media, and gives them the ability to strongly influence public attitudes and behavior.

Celebrities are used in PR to do just that.

It is quite likely that you have a celebrity idol – be it Beckham, Lady Gaga, etc., someone who you would look to for fashion and clothing trends – what products and brands to buy.

Does your child want the most expensive, hi-tech football boots because Rooney wore them in the World Cup?

The Public must be able to relate to the celebrity and be able to trust their choice of product – ‘If Rooney wears them, they must be good.’ However, if a celebrity such as, Ricky Gervais was to play football in the very same boots, it’s unlikely that the endorsement will have quite the same effect.

The celebrity must be a good match for the target audience that you wish to influence, be it personality, image, style, or simply what they do.

Endorsement is particularly important in retail PR as goods can often be fairly homogenous in saturated markets. Therefore celebrity endorsement plays an effective part in making the consumer choose your brand, by creating a point of differentiation.

Gillette’s sponsorship of Tiger Woods’ made them stand out in the homogenous razor market. Without Tiger and Gillette’s other athlete ambassadors, it is unlikely the brand would be anywhere near as strong as it is today. Celebrity endorsement is a quick and powerful way to grow a brand, however, there are potential downsides.

Using celebrities can be expensive…The total value of Tiger Woods’ 9 endorsements in 2008 was just under $100m. But, if you do your research, you may find access to celebrities through the causes that they support, but just make sure that the campaign you’re suggesting raises a decent amount of money for that cause. Fees can range from £5,000 for a day, to £100,000 per hour. So whatever you have planned, make sure that you get the best return on spend.

If you’re considering using a celebrity for a campaign, here are a few tips to help:

- Find out if the celebrity has any prior engagements for any other brands

- Do an audit to find out how recently they were featured in the media previously. Editors won’t want to speak to someone who has just been heavily featured for doing work for other brands

- Research the celebrity’s background and ensure that they’re appropriate for your brand

- Pre-agree media before signing any contract

- Find out if the celebrity has any travel plans booked in the near future

- Be as detailed as you can when briefing your celebrity about your product, service or brand

- When arranging features, pre-agree brand or product mentions with the publication/show before letting the interview take place

- Allow budget for buying pictures and expenses for interviews and photo shoots