I have never been a fan of using celebrities in
advertising. While they may be effective
in getting your brand noticed, they often overwhelm it and ultimately distract
from it. That’s exactly what’s happening
now with Macy’s and Donald Trump.
In case you haven’t been following the story, many people, including
me, have been highly offended by the disrespectful comments Mr. Trump has made
about President Obama and the American election process over the past several
years.In response, on October 24th a petition was started on signon.org urging Macy’s to part ways with this ill-fitting spokesperson. And as of this morning, 678,789 people have signed that petition. (Carusone, 2012)
Moreover, a recent survey by YouGov BrandIndex shows that since
the beginning of November the store’s loyalty measure has dropped from 31 to
19, its lowest levels in more than a year, putting them behind all their
competitors -- even J.C. Penney. (Mahoney, 2012)
(Strasser, 2012)
And last, but not least, there’s the boycott. It will no doubt take a while for the company
to assess the damage, but when they do, I imagine they will find that I am not
the only Macy’s shopper who took my business elsewhere this holiday season.
Advertisers beware.
You can’t have it both ways, when you partner with a celebrity you have
to take the good with the bad. Why risk
it?
Carusone,
A. (2012, October 24) Urge Macy’s To
Dump Donald Trump. signon.org. Retrieved
December 12, 2012, from http://signon.org/sign/urge-macys-to-dump-donald
Mahoney,
S. (2012, November 29) Is Trump Chasing
Women Away From Macy’s? mediapost.com. Retrieved December 12, 2012, from
Strasser,
A. (2012, November 29) Donald Trump Partnership Ruins Macy’s
Popularity. thinkprogress.org. Retrieved
December 12, 2012, from http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/11/29/1258001/macys-popularity-trump/?mobile=nc
No comments:
Post a Comment