by Andrea Mason

If you’re like me, you’ve flipped through the television channels and a commercial for Calvin Klein comes on with Justin Bieber in his underwear, accompanied by Lara Stone. You may wonder, with an exasperated sigh, “What is Bieber doing now?” The answer is that Justin and Lara are promoting the campaign, My Calvins. Though is it actually helping the brand?

Recognizing the brand

What do celebrities and companies have in common? They are both looking to gain publicity and brand recognition.

As many consumers and fans are aware, Beyoncé is the face of Pepsi. This gives Pepsi the advantage of attracting Beyoncé’s fan base. This ongoing partnership that began in 2012 helped Beyoncé appear at the top of Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list in 2014. Beyoncé is a very well-known celebrity who creates a positive reputation for herself, Pepsi and the other brands she promotes. Putting two well-known brands together, such as Pepsi and Beyoncé, is bound to generate recognition.

Celebrities cost money

Celebrity endorsement is nothing new. A company’s main goal is to increase sales. Some brands even feel the need to take on more than one celeb, such as Nike using Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and a long list of other athletes. After surveying a group of consumers in 2014, Ace Metrix found that 55 percent believe celebrities are actually a wasted investment due to the damaging impact they can have when promoting a product or service.

Although Jordan retired in 2003, which is more than 10 years ago, the Air Jordan’s Brand is still a highly sought out shoe. When thinking about the investment Nike pays, Jordan still receives an estimated $90 million a year. This is obviously a lot of money, especially if you add Jordan’s $90 million to the other salaries of athlete endorsers who partner with Nike. It is evident that the money Nike funnels into these partnerships exceeds some companies’ worth. A brand has to go through an immense amount of research and planning before a company decides to hire a celeb endorser.

The importance of credibility

Consumers buy a particular product or service for many reasons. The Ace Metrix research study also found that 57 percent of consumers are more willing to buy a product or service they see advertised, if there are statistics with supportive evidence.

For example, during the 2015 Sunday Super Bowl, one commercial that stuck out was T-Mobile’s ad with Kim Kardashian as its celeb spokesperson. Kardashian tries to gives some information to back up her message by saying, “Each month millions of gigs of unused data are taken back by wireless companies…” Though, knowing her reputation for celeb drama, viewers likely wonder if she’s really that credible.

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