Is it time to stop using celebrities in advertising?

I used to think that the worst thing that could happen with celebrity advertising was that people would be so distracted by the celebrity that they would forget to notice what brand they were pushing.  Then I started to be concerned about the shill factor when the same celebrities seemed to be selling many products, most of which they didn't even bother to use. 

But this week a new possibility emerged -- what happens if your celebrity turns on you?

Amitabh Bachchan, an Indian movie icon, who has been associated with Pepsi for eight years had a change of heart after a school girl asked him "why he was promoting a drink that her teacher maintained was poisonous."   Hmm.  After some soul searching Amitabh has decided to end his relationship with the brand noting that he doesn't endorse tobacco or alcohol either.  Wow.  I'm sure that is an association that Pepsi doesn't need. (Forbes, 2014)

So what do you think?  Have you ever bought something because a celebrity endorsed it?  Do you think the use of celebrities in marketing is a good strategy?  Or is it time to find another approach?

Forbes, T. (2014, February 4)  Furor Over Bollywood Star's 'Deendorsing' Pepsi.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved February 7, 2014, from  http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/218785/furor-over-bollywood-stars-deendorsing-pepsi.html

Will emphasizing durability be a successful strategy for VW?

After a year of declining sales, Volkswagen is taking a variety of steps to get the brand back on the acceleration track.  Strategically, they have decided to focus on the fact that they have more cars on the road with 100,000 miles or more than any other brand. (Greenberg, 2014)

It's an interesting strategy, but will it get them on the consideration list for Gen Y?

Greenberg, K. (2014, January 29)  VW's Brand Strategy Hones In On Product.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved January 31, 2014, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/218405/vws-brand-strategy-hones-in-on-product.html?edition=69380

If you want to communicate with young African-Americans send them a tweet.

As Twitter evolves we are seeing a definite minority skew for the medium, with African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans accounting for 41% of total users versus 34% for Facebook and 33% for total Internet users.

While the company is focusing on growing its Latino audience, its current sweet spot is young African Americans.  40% of African-American Internet users between the ages of 18-29 use Twitter compared with 28% of Whites in that age group. (Koh, 2014)

Advertisers that have taken notice and are doing something about it include AllState, Home Depot and "12 Years A Slave."  I imagine that others will soon follow.

Koh, Y. (2014, January 21)  Twitter's Racial Diversity Becomes Plum Selling Point.  Wall Street Journal. p.B1, B4

Finally, someone gets it!

Every year when I read the post game commentary about the Super Bowl ads I am appalled.  Apparently most of these so called experts have forgotten that the purpose of advertising is to sell stuff.  Instead of commenting on perceived effectiveness they stoop to the level of non-marketers and discuss which commercials they found most entertaining.  Who cares?

So a big thanks to Communicus for trying to see if any of the ads actually work.  And, guess what?  Most don't.  Based on a new study which tracked purchase intent, pre and post, four out of five Super Bowl commercials failed to deliver.  At $4 million a pop (plus production) that sure is a lot of wasted money. (Loechner, 2014)

I was not surprised to read that the Mercedes "Soul" commercial, which was at norm for likeability was a winner in terms of purchase intent.  It featured a clear message that I thought young men would find appealing.  I was actually surprised that it wasn't better liked.  Here it is so you can take a second look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGcaqQnqTJI

And this year, when you watch the Super Bowl ads think a bit about whether they make you want to buy something before you decide which ones you think are good.  You may be surprised at the answer.

Loechner, J. (2014, January 16)  But Will The Dogs Eat It?  mediapost.com.  Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/217209/but-will-the-dogs-eat-it.html

Do you want to buy some underwear while you watch the Super Bowl?

H&M has announced plans to run an interactive ad for David Beckham's bodywear products during the 2014 Super Bowl.  Viewers watching the commercial on a Samsung Smart TV will see a pop-up menu  offering product information and the option to buy product on the spot. (Friedman, 2014)

Wait, won't that interfere with watching the game?  Just kidding.  Everyone knows how dull Super Bowl games usually are. 

The bigger issue is the low penetration of smart TV's.  I attribute that to poor advertising and the annoying fact that a keyboard is not included with purchase and finding one that actually works with any given model requires an extensive Google search. 

But just the same I am intrigued.  With an expected audience of over 100 million people sales could be impressive.  I hope they will share the results. 

Friedman, W. (2014, January 6)  H&M Super Bowl Spot Lets Viewers Buy Beckham's Bodywear Via TV Remote.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved January 9, 2014, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/216694/hm-super-bowl-spot-lets-viewers-buy-beckhams-bo.html?edition=68513

You can still reach rich people on tv -- you just need to know where to look.

Over the past few years data has been released showing that television is becoming an increasingly downscale medium.   Here is a blog I wrote about the topic back in 2009.  

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2009/12/is-tv-becoming-downscale-medium.html

When you think about it, it make a lot of sense.  Since most wealthy people work full time how could they possibly devote 7-8 hours a day to watching tv?  And then there's the fact that the richer you are the more likely you are to read, so these folks are spending their mornings with The Wall Street Journal.

But, as it turns out, there is a television network that is the ideal place to reach people with household incomes of $100,000+.  Any guesses?  The answer is HGTV.  In the third quarter of 2013, HGTV was the most watched cable network for this target -- during prime time, daytime and weekends.  (Johnson, 2013)

I suppose I should have guessed when I read that Hillary Clinton said her favorite show was "Love It or List It."  I'm not so keen on that one.  But, whenever we're bored my husband will say -- "Let's watch some people buy houses."  So we too are part of the trend.  What about you?

Johnson, K. (2103, November 8)  Canada Has Its Close-Up.  Wall Street Journal.  pM3

So why isn't the FTC doing something about vitamin and supplement advertising?

According to their website the mission of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC for short) is "to prevent business practices that are anticompetitive or deceptive or unfair to consumers..."  Really?  You could have fooled me. 

On December 16, 2013, the Annals of Internal Medicine published an editorial accompanied by two original studies and a review of existing research entitled "Enough is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements."  Why?  Because they don't work.  (Forbes, 2013)

This is hardly new news.  Evidence has been mounting for years.  In 2009, the Wall Street Journal published Jennifer Corbett Dooren's article "Vitamins Fail to Reduce Health Risks for Women," detailing the results of what was then the largest multivitamin study in postmenopausal women conducted to date.  The results of the NIH sponsored study were published in the Feb. 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, and they showed taking vitamins and supplements resulted in  "no meaningful benefit."  (Dooren, 2009)

In 2011, Peter Murray writing for SingularityHUB published an article entitled "Studies consistently fail to show benefits of dietary supplements -- experts think it's time to reevaluate," which discussed several studies (Iowa Woman's Health and SELECT) which actually showed increased mortality and prostate cancer for those who took vitamins/supplements versus those who didn't.  (Murray, 2011)

And then there's my personal favorite, posted by Alice on her wholegrainalice  blog in September 2011 entitled "Vitamin Pills Don't Work," which lists, with references, all of the studies published which not only failed to show positive effects for vitamins but also unearthed some negative ones.  (Alice, 2011)

As far as I know the only study to date that has showed a positive result was the 2012 Centrum study of multi-vitamins on healthy 50+ male doctors.  And given the selectivity of the participants included in the study, I think their advertising should carry a  legal disclaimer  -- which of course it doesn't.   (Rabin, 2012)

But that doesn't begin to compare with the hundreds of false ads we see daily for these products.  Ads that lead to $30 billion in sales in 2011.  Even while the public continues to get sicker.  What's the point of funding government agencies to protect consumers when they are clearly not doing anything of the kind?

The FDA says it doesn't regulate vitamins and supplements because they are not drugs.  Really?  If people are taking them to prevent disease and increase longevity then it sounds like they are drugs to me.  But hey,  I'm an advertising maven so I say it's time for the FTC to step in where the FDA has let us down and protect the public from these false claims.  Isn't that what they're supposed to be doing?

http://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc

Forbes, T. (2013, December 17)  Journal Recommends 'None-A-Day' Multivitamins. mediapost.com.  Retrieved December 17, 2013, from, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/215706/journal-recommends-none-a-day-multivitamins.html

Dooren, J. (2009, February 10)  Vitamins Fail to Reduce Health Risks for Women.  wsj.com.  Retrieved February 10, 2009, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123423307340266303

Murray, P. (2011, October 31)  Studies consistently fail to show benefits of dietary supplements -- experts think it's time to reevaluate.  singularityHUB.com.  Retrieved October 31, 2011, from

http://singularityhub.com/2011/10/31/studies-consistently-fail-to-show-benefits-of-dietary-supplements-%E2%80%93-experts-think-its-time-to-reevaluate/

Rabin, R. (2012, October 22)  Curbing the Enthusiasm on Daily Multivitamins.  nytimes.com.  Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/curbing-the-enthusiasm-on-daily-multivitamins/?_r=0