Social reference group is an important social factor that affect our purchasing behaviors, so brands would want to hire celebrities that consumers can aspire to be them by owning the same products. But what happens if the celebrity is Snooki (Nicole Polizzi) from the Jersey Shore? It wouldn’t be a surprise that people wouldn’t want to associate with Snooki. So is the brand practically doomed if it were related to a “bad” celebrity?
A blog that I found talks about the “Snooki effect”, which is a strategy for luxury brands to sabotage their competitors’ image by sending competitors’ merchandise to Snooki in hoping that this will cause anger among consumers since they don’t want to be associated with her. It’s natural that the “attacked” brands would want to separate themselves from Snooki and also from luxury “posers” who enjoy showing off what they buy. But perhaps marketers should see this as an opportunity instead?
The fact that the luxury “posers” are constantly bragging and displaying their love for the brands on the social network (i.e. Facebook, Twitter) and that there are pictures of Snooki holding branded handbags all over the social media could be beneficial to the brands’ online presence. Since the “posers” are already commenting on how good the products are, marketers should generate more conversations along those comments, which enhances the brands’ name. The “Snooki effect” could be completely backfired as a sabotage tactic if only the marketers know how to seize the opportunity.
I am surprised that an anti-endorsement can actually become a marketing strategy. Even though it is not as effective as to hiring an aspirational group, but it definitely helps raise attention about the brand in the social media, which presents a potential opportunity for marketers to enhance the brands’ online identity.
Reference: http://www.socialmediaplayground.com/social-media/luxurybrandsandsocialmediaposers/2010/09/08/