ENDORSEMENT
I. Definition of product endorsement
A product endorsement involves a celebrity, a relevant professional or a
business giving its approval for the virtue of a product and recommending it to the
customers as a good and safe product. Endorsements can be effected by means of a
statement to the public or by the endorsing party using it for all to see. It is common
to find handwritten endorsements from celebrities citing how a certain product
changed or made their lives better.
In today’s modern advertisement, these celeb testimonials are found as excerpts
which are printed directly on a product’s packaging. The use of photographs to form a
visual connection between the product and the endorser is also a way of product
endorsement. Authoritative and prominent figures endorsing products constitutes a key
element in business advertisement and the overall marketing campaign. Product
endorsement goes a long way in generating a brand’s awareness and drumming up
the sales revenues.
Product endorsement works on the idea that consumers will get drawn in and
fascinated by the idea of using the same products as a prominent, wealthy or
influential person who is trusted or idolized. Consumers feel that they become
affiliated with the said prominent figure if they use the advertised product.
It is important to note that product endorsement doesn’t guarantee that a product
is good unless the endorsement is given by a trusted quality regulating organization
or company.
II. Why do celebrity endorsements work?
1. Have you ever purchased a product because you knew a celebrity was also a user
of the item? Maybe you bought a brand of lipstick because your favorite
actress expressed in a commercial that it made her lips plumper? Or did you
buy a pair of sneakers because you thought it would make you jump as high as
the pro athlete pictured in the magazine ad?
When we turn on the TV or flip through a magazine, surf the Internet or
scroll through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, … it is impossible to consume
media without seeing a celebrity plugging, promoting or pushing a product.
This is not new. Celebrity endorsements have been around for a long time.
It has been practiced since the 18th century, as Josiah Wedgwood, the
founder of Wedgwood, used royal endorsement to create a heightened value for
his products. Thanks to this strategy they increasingly take much more their
customers and profits than other competitors in that year.
