Today I read the article “The Trouble with Celebrity Endorsements”, which states that the celebrity spokespeople are actually expensive and risky, and they don’t always pay off.  From my opinion, I totally agree with this point.

Popular wisdom claims that getting a celebrity endorsement is key to maximizing marketing effectiveness. This may have been true at one point, but in today’s fickle and highly opinionated society, I do not believe that it is an effective marketing strategy. It is a pricy option and is limited in terms of adding value to the product and ultimately winning over the consumer.

Consumers are not what they were five years ago. I feel that we are more influenced by people in our own network than those in the media; we are not so easily won over by a famous face. For example, today’s generation is more likely to buy something knowing that their best friend has it, than if a celebrity allegedly uses it. Celebrities offer no validity to a product, and the more commercials, magazine and bus ads I see, the more phony they seem. Besides, what are the chances of a celebrity using an $8.00 drugstore product.

I believe, instead of spending money on a celerity endorsement, companies may need to refocus its efforts on making its brand more appealing, more affordable, or more easily available. Or they may simply need to find a way to develop a more attention-getting, interesting and compelling appeal.

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2008/sb20081114_106175_page_2.htm