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Celebrity Spokespeople in Public Relations

The fascination with celebrities is increasing in the digital age. The two-way flow of
communication presented by social media has made celebrities reachable, while the demand for
constant communication and 24/7 accessibility has made celebrity news and gossip unavoidable.
Associating a public figure with a campaign has its risks, but if done effectively the relationship
can result in increased visibility, credibility and brand recognition for the campaigning
organization.

Celebrities are members of a privileged and largely impenetrable group within society, and
because they are so admired they wield incredible power. “Celebrities matter to the rest of us,
even if we would have no interest in them were they not celebrities. The most mundane
experiences of celebrities’ lives attract attention, not just by fans but also by anyone else who
happens to recognize their fame” (Kurzman, 356). Celebrity spokespeople can use their influence
to help PR practitioners reach their fundamental goals including (Sierchio, 2):

• Convincing consumers of a brand’s credibility

• Creating appeal with a specific desired target audience
• Establishing a connection with the brand
• Surpassing competition and clutter
• Maximizing media coverage

The key is to effectively match the celebrity with the campaign. There needs to be a natural fit
between the celebrity and the campaign, because the celebrity serves as an embodiment of the
desired values, image and reputation of the brand. Trust is also an important element to consider
when choosing a spokesperson, because “link your fate to a celebrity, and any mistakes your
pitchperson makes become your problem as well” (INC, 32).

Tasting Success with the First Annual Great Steak Challenge is a 2011 Silver Anvil Award of
Excellence-winning campaign that attributes much of its success to its spokespeople, Jamie and
Bobby Deen.

Beringer Vineyards and Ruder Finn initiated the campaign to break from luxury into a market
that values affordability and attainability. The spokespeople were the core of this campaign
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because it was believed the brothers’ approachable attitudes would make the brand appear more
approachable to the common man and woman. Objectives included:

! Raising awareness and quality perception

! Reconnecting with food enthusiasts
! Forming a new connection with stake lovers
! Winning back industry and trade attention
! Making the Beringer brand more contemporary

A key challenge faced by the program was the difficult task of getting press coverage for wine
and liquor products. To overcome this obstacle Beringer and Ruder Finn emphasized the
importance of choosing a spokesperson, or spokespeople for the campaign that could attract both
local and national media attention.

With a magazine launch, TV production and cookbook release in the works, the brothers were
likely to gain media influence and exposure. Beringer and Ruder Finn used online research and
fact-finding to identify the Deen brothers as potential spokespeople for the campaign. It is
important to get a full 360-degree view of the celebrity’s projects, and take into account how
those projects may affect the partnership (Bakshi, 2010). Being aware of their future projects
helped Beringer and Ruder Finn assess the future of the Deens’ image and relevance.

The desired attributes for a celebrity spokesperson are commonly outlined by the TEARS
acronym (Sierchio, 3):

Trustworthiness
Expertise
Attractiveness
Respect
Similarity (to the target audience)

The Deen brothers satisfied TEARS because of their household names, relatable and laid-back
personalities, and Southern family values. They also had the ideal levels of expertise because
even though they are publicly involved in the food and wine industry, they are still seen as
inexperienced “real cooks.” The campaign was targeted at the common man so a trained chef
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would have been less similar to the target group, and therefore less appealing. Their
demographics were also perfect matches to those of the target audience.

The planning revolved around the “First Annual Great Steak Challenge,” with 10 regional
competitions and a finale in Napa Valley. Beyond the actual competitions, there was a satellite
media tour and online promotion. The organization created a website for the contest with
integrated webisodes and contest-based videos. The Deen Brothers utilized traditional media,
social media and blogs to update, interact and share personal experiences with fans.

Results of the campaign reportedly exceeded all expectations, wine sales increasing by 30
percent overall and by an average of 87 percent in the 10 regional competition locations.
Beringer outperformed its primary competitor and made over 186 million media impressions
over the course of the campaign.

The 2009 Silver Anvil Award-winning campaign McDonald’s Global 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games Sponsorship “Bringing People Together Like Never Before” used Olympic athletes as its
celebrity spokespeople. The McDonald’s spokespeople had less of an ongoing role than the Deen
brothers did throughout the Beringer campaign, but all of their individual contributions were
newsworthy and highly publicized.

McDonald’s and GolinHarris set to create a campaign that could overcome the many challenges
presented by the Olympic games:

! Competition and limited media space

! Diverse audience, more than 90 countries
! Restrictions set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Games (BOCOG)
! Coordinating internally with McDonald’s communicators across 90 countries

Research included media audits that revealed the focus of the Olympic coverage was on China
and the athletes, not on sponsors. McDonald’s realized it would have to be non-commercial in its
approach, and defined target audiences as international media, international consumers and
international McDonald’s communicators.
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Much of the campaign’s strategy was in the timing. The campaign was executed over 2-year
period, which allowed the organization to “start, continue and lead stories before the other
sponsors” (PRSA). There were five events that took place throughout the Olympic year, and
three key programs:

1. McDonald’s Olympic Champion Crew- 1,400 McDonald’s crew members from 36

countries selected to staff the four new McDonald’s in Beijing during the Games
2. McDonald’s Champion Kids- 216 kids from 40 countries selected to go to Beijing for the
Games
3. The Lost Ring- Reality game in partnership with IOC

Each of the three programs featured a current or former Olympic athlete as its spokesperson. Carl
Lewis was the spokesperson for the Olympic Champion Crew, Michael Phelps the Global
Ambassador for Champion Kids and Edwin Moses a “surprise gamer” in The Lost Ring. By
using athletes as spokespeople, McDonald’s was relevant to the international audience, timely
and emotionally appealing. The Games celebrate strength, seriousness and hard work,
characteristics embodied by athletes and former athletes. Actors or singers would have been a
poor choice because they do not embody the aforementioned traits. Artists are also not
universally recognized, so American movie stars may not have been recognizable to international
consumers.

The program outlined measurable, empirical goals that were all surpassed. McDonald’s secured
more than 825 million media impressions (more than double the target) and increased local
involvement on in countries worldwide by 85 percent.

Non-profits are particularly successful in obtaining celebrity involvement. This is largely

because cause-related campaigns are less commercial ways of achieving exposure, and they can
boost a celebrity’s reputation. It is a win-win situation, with both the reputation of the brand and
the reputation of the celebrity being strengthened.

In 2006 Proctor & Gamble’s Pantene teamed up with DeVries Public Relations to launch the
Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign. The primary challenge Pantene faced was depressed
growth in the haircare market. The key objectives were:

! Invent a new paradigm in cause-related marketing

! Get people to recognize Pantene as inspiring and inclusive
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! Bring attention to the power of beautiful hair

DeVries Public Relations researched cause marketing to explore ways of linking the brand and
cause. Breast cancer was chosen because studies predict that one in three women will be
diagnosed with cancer over their lifetime, and 58 percent of women consider hair loss to be the
worst side effect of chemotherapy (Holmes, 2007).

Pantene partnered with Diane Lane as the official spokesperson, the Entertainment Industry
Foundation (EIF), HairUWear and the American Cancer Society. Beautiful Lengths launched
when Lane cut off her hair on NBC’s Today Show, which received a great deal of national media
coverage. People were encouraged to follow suit and cut their hair, then send the ponytails to
Pantene for HairUWear to make wigs for donation.

The campaigned saturated local markets by recruiting a woman in each state to cut her hair and
volunteer as “hometown ambassador.” DeVries created an online presence through an official
website that encouraged donors to interact. Women could post stories and pictures about their
hair-cutting experience. At the grassroots level, women supported the cause by setting up
“cutting parties” at schools and women’s organizations. A TV PSA featuring Lane was posted on
YouTube and Google Video as a multimedia element.

The campaign received over 25,000 ponytails its first year, creating more wigs in a year than
other charities do in 10 (Toane). The program sparked a .7% share growth for P&G, and helped
the Canadian Cancer Society raise overall awareness of cancer and cancer prevention. “Beautiful
Lengths” is still a key part of the Pantene brand. Lane did not return as spokesperson the second
year of the campaign, but the campaign has successfully employed several other big-name
celebrities including Hilary Swank.

Celebrities are more relevant and visible than ever in the digital age. Public relations campaigns
have the opportunity to benefit from the power that celebrities wield in the consumer
marketplace. The three campaigns presented in this essay vary on many levels, but each
strategically used celebrity spokespeople to add value. These campaigns demonstrate that
associating a trustworthy, “natural fit” celebrity with a campaign can help a brand reach its goals
and surpass competition to engage its target audiences.