Marketing Communication: Celebrities

Abstract This paper will argue the use of celebrities in marketing communications. What is the rationale for the use of celebrities in advertising and other marketing communications? Why do firms' marketing guns choose to employ celebrities, often at considerable expense, rather than use other forms of marketing communications? What advantages do celebrities offer, and what disadvantages or risks do they entail? Finally, what is the effectiveness of celebrities in marketing communications, and how can it be measured? These are the primary questions and issues that will be examined in the following pages.

Marketing Communication: Celebrities The use of celebrities in marketing is as old as marketing itself, at least in the organized mass communications sense. Picture histories of advertising show that as soon as true advertising campaigns emerged from the background of storefront signs and the equivalent of classified ads, in the 19th century, they began using the images and endorsements of actors, sports stars, and other public figures who in modern terms we would describe as celebrities. It may be appropriate here to define the term "celebrity." A celebrity has been described as a person who is famous for being famous, who is well known even beyond the realm in which he or she became famous in the first place. To take a relatively recent though no longer quite contemporary example, Michael Jordan's name and image remain well known to many millions of people around the world who are not basketball fans. They may not know any facts whatsoever about his basketball career: what his on-court record was, what teams he played for, perhaps even that basketball is the sport that made him famous. Nevertheless, they know his name and associate a positive image with him. The "positive" aspect should perhaps be emphasized here, since we