Word of the week: ENDORSEMENT
Related expressions
1. a celebrity – someone who is famous, especially in the entertainment business.
Michael Jackson is an all-time celebrity.
2. credibility – when someone or something can be believed or trusted.
John tried to undermine my credibility in front of my team.
3. campaign – a planned group of activities which are intended to achieve a particular aim.
The school launched a campaign among young people against smoking.
In context
It must be nice to be a celebrity. You not only earn big bucks starring in films or singing hits, but additionally you can be asked by a company to advertise its product. For example, Madonna earned $12 million in 2005 when she became the new face of Versace. However, the question I’d like to ask is does endorsement advertising work?
Endorsement is an advertising strategy that establishes a company’s brand credibility. If Tiger Woods trusts the quality of the product so can I. If Jane Fonda has a wrinkle-free face, so can I. There is, however, a certain danger to advertising in such a way. The company has to choose its star wisely, otherwise the whole campaign can go very wrong. Kobe Bryant’s endorsement deals with Nutella and McDonalds had to be terminated because he was accused of rape. When Magic Johnson admitted to being HIV positive his endorsement deals were not renewed.
An advertising campaign tries to sell an image, therefore if the image of the celebrity is distorted the company’s reputation is tarnished. However, if the celebrity is successful marketers will stop at nothing to sign a contract with the person. A good example is Michael Phelps, Olympic gold medalist, who has signed very lucrative deals with Omega, Visa, Speedo and AT&T, to name but a few.
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Getting celebrity endorsment for your products
Michael Phelps
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