Can Ryan Reynolds convince you to switch to Mint Mobile?

 

I was a bit surprised when I saw Ryan Reynolds pitching a phone service in a commercial the other day. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvW5YS6iXPA

After the industry agreed that the $10 million dollars T-Mobile paid Catherine Zeta Jones to be their spokesperson in 2007 was a colossal waste of money, people shied away from celebrity presenters for years.

But celebrities have clearly made a comeback since then.

A bit more research unearthed the fact that Ryan is more than a spokesperson as he has an equity stake in the company.  But what does a college dropout know about phone service?  And does it matter?

Have you bought a brand that a celebrity sells?  Which one and why?  Was the celebrity an expert on the product or just someone that you like?  Which MBTI preferences might be more easily persuaded by celebrities?  Why?

 

(2019, November 25) Ryan Reynolds Purchases Ownership Stake in Mint Mobile.  globalnewswire.com.  Retrieved October 6, 2020, from  https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/11/25/1951947/0/en/Ryan-Reynolds-Purchases-Ownership-Stake-in-Mint-Mobile.html

Will celebs help Voya convince Millennials to save?

ING has rebranded themselves as Voya.  Interesting name selection, don't you think? 

And they have secured Allison Janney and Jesse Tyler Ferguson to help connect with their target. (Faw, 2016)

A few weeks ago when we discussed Prudential's Gen X focused effort, which attempts to use social proof for persuasion,

 http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2015/12/is-using-social-proof-secret-to-getting.html

several Millennials expressed the opinion that the ramifications of not saving might be more persuasive.  And, that given their attraction to celebrities, it might make sense to use one.  At the time I thought - it should be pretty easy to find a down on their luck celebrity to feature, they're probably on a new reality show.

But, as this commercial shows that is not the gist of this effort.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNZAsh9zsfw

Which makes me wonder why they picked the celebs they did.  What do you think?  Do you relate to them?  Will you save more with Voya?

Faw, L. (2016, January 5)  Celebs Help Promote Voya Financial in New Ads.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved January 8, 2016, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/265960/celebs-help-promote-voya-financial-in-new-ads.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=89155

Do you want to drink it like Beckham?

In today’s celebrity obsessed world, it makes sense that companies would try to link their marketing efforts to celebrities.  But will consumers really buy drinks just because a favorite celeb does?  Sofia Vergara doesn’t seem to have done much for Pepsi.  (And yet she is in this campaign as well.)

But hope springs eternal and now Burger King, who dropped to the number three player in the fast food category recently, is using David Beckham to push smoothies.

Alex Macedo, VP North America admits that since Burger King’s products are the same as McDonald’s they needed to find a way to stand out.  (Schultz, 2012)

So what do you think?  Will you be buying a smoothie at BK any time soon?

Here’s the ad if you haven’t seen it yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f8qz2Ssr6c

Schultz, EJ (2012, April 2) Burger King Enlists Celebs To Call Attention To New Menu.  adage.com. Retrieved April 5, 2012, from
http://adage.com/article/news/burger-king-enlists-celebs-call-attention-menu/233882/

Does it make you want to buy an LG phone?

4/20/09

LG has announced that it is launching 2 focused campaigns for its phones based on the company’s brand positioning which is “all about self-expression”.

The first campaign, for the Xenon phone, is targeting “social networking-happy Gen Yers” with a tv, print, and online campaign featuring 19 year-old Heroes star Hayden Panettiere and placement in Jason Timberlake’s MTV series The Phone.

The second campaign, for the Rumor2 phone targets “style conscious teens and young adults”. It features Heidi Klum who designed custom backplates for the phone. (Wasserman, 2009)

The fact that they have a good sense of who their target is and have created plans that should speak directly to their interests/emotions is definitely a good start.

But, as we have discussed previously the use of celebrities is tricky. While they may stimulate interest, they also can easily overwhelm the message. And of course over exposure can be an issue.

What do you think? Will either of these campaigns prove to be effective?


Wasserman, T. (2009, April 18). LG Ready for Its Close-up. brandweek.com. Retrieved April 20, 2009 fromhttp://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/direct/e3if46ca983d59bcb8f960417fa8f52a9c6