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 saw a Vanessa Hudgens ad on TV the other day for Neutrogena and was completely unaffected; I felt no incentive to purchase that product based on the fact that she – a celebrity – uses it. At first I thought that it was because I wasn’t a fan of Hudgens, but when I asked my room mates’ opinion, she was also unaffected even though she is a fan.  I will admit that being a huge fan of a celebrity does affect ones opinion, but only to a degree. I feel that good ads are good ads, and are capable of being effective without a celebrity endorsement.

I think that brands don’t need to spend their entire budget on a celebrity endorsement, rather they should put it towards creating a strong, creative, and memorable message, as well as having a good marketing intermediary.