The Power of Celebrity
Celebrity endorsement is a powerful – and sometimes bizarre – thing. From Gary Lineker making mischief down at the Walkers factory to Snoop Dogg giving sage advice on price comparison websites, advertisers shell out millions to associate their brands with the perceived attributes of well-known figures. After all, who doesn’t love the idea of enjoying crumpets down on the farm with lashings of Johnny Rotten’s favourite brand of butter?
Gable - TOO SEXY
(Image courtesy of flickr Creative Commons user twm1340)
And it’s not a new technique by any means, as some of the documents from our forth-coming resource American Consumer Culture: Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 show. While investigating how to improve the sales of Quality Bakers’ bread brand Sunbeam, psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter and his team recommended the power of celebrity.
Ginger Rogers - a great advert for soda and cakes
(Image courtesy of flickr Creative Commons user danceonair1986)
The Institute for Motivational Research often employed ‘depth interviews’, a consumer survey that asks probing, quasi-psychiatric questions to expound the sub-conscious motivations behind consumer choice. In the reports for Quality Bakers, they asked a pool of respondents to describe the qualities they associate with famous actors, with the final report ranking the considered endorsers in terms of appropriateness for the wholesome, energy-giving image they wanted the Sunbeam bread campaign to convey.
Ginger Rogers fared poorly, being seen as “wicked”, too frivolous and more associated with soda and cake. Cary Grant was called sophisticated and affected by the majority of respondents, while Clark Gable received a damning rating of 40% sexy, being more commonly associated in interviewees’ minds with liquor than any other product.
We may never know what kind of data made the executives at Moneysupermarket.com reach for the phone, but the Dichter papers reveal the fascinating process being how at least one such choice came about, and what a fine choice it is. At 61% energetic, wholesome, healthy and natural (and a personal favourite), Gene Kelly was the clear choice for Sunbeam.
Gene Kelly for Sunbeam bread
(Image © Google News Archive. Further reproduction prohibited without permission)
American Consumer Culture: Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 is published in August 2014.
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