»Michael Jordan, David Beckham, and Terrell Owens are all famous athletes that people look up to. If they wear a specific shirt, drink a specific soft drink or even drive a certain car everyone will copy them. No matter what they do people will mimic them in the hopes of looking cool. Because of this, athletes are commonly used in advertisements«.
I read this post on http://www.pronetadvertising.com/ . In somehow I have to cast doubts on the statement.
Who is a star, who is a top athlete, who is a role model? Does local hero concept work?
Stars of this kind, of course, they function as role models, no doubt about this. But what’s a fact too, is that you don’t create a star by using him or her in advertising. You are a star, a idol before you become a role model in advertising.
I doubt the fact that if a product which is not a brand yet or is still unknown, that even then if it is placed somewhere small on a famous athlete’s body (you won’t be able to afford more than a tiny presence somewhere) that this can bring a breakthrough for your product.
Here, we find ourselves in a vicious circle: only established brands can afford famous athletes, athletes that are stars. I think only stars are suited to become role models for a brand. To be a brillant, successful athlete is simply not good enough.
The pay-off to have a star gearing your advertising campaign is a multimillion enterprise. In no way a passable way for a small business. And athletes who are no stars and are paid for advertising your product are very quickly coined as those guys who anyway only get paid to promote your product, and this is definitely counterproductive.
The average athletes and also the non-star top athletes tend to overestimate their abilities to influence customer habits. This is at least our experience. Credibility of athletes overtly promoting products is decreasing steadily, if they don’t belong to the small group of untouchable stars.
And the Untouchables are also untouchable for us, the small businesses. We have to think about other ways to promote our products. For us sponsoring therefore is out! Networking and communicating, this is the hard way, the slowly way, but it gives a solid base, and builds up credibility.
Might be that for the local dealer the local hero concept works, but not for us small businesses working after all on a national and even international basis.
