These days, everyone in marketing is trying to figure out how to make their brand stand out. More often than not, we’re seeing more brands that rely on celebrity endorsements. Sometimes this works, other times, celebrities are viewed as being unrelatable – a negative when trying to sell to the common consumer. So, we’ve come up with some top brand spokespeople (celebrities and non-celebrities) that made their brand big bucks.
The “Old Spice Guy” – Isaiah Mustafa was not a normal celebrity. His claim to fame were the viral “Smell Like a Man, Man” campaigns. According to SymphonyIRI’s data, Old Spice Red Zone hit $1.6 million in sales during a 4-week period. Overall, Old Spice saw an increase of 106% since the campaign launch (during a 6-month period).
Stephen Colbert, PSY, Snoop Dogg, Honey Badger, and Keyboard Cat – Wonderful Pistachios started their “Get Crackin'” campaign in 2007 and consumers have gone nuts ever since. Their ads feature a variety of trending spokespeople that contribute to their growing advertising popularity and most of all – sales. In 2009, the company saw a total sales increase of 233% (PR Newswire). According to the company’s site, Wonderful Pistachios has dedicated $30+ million to their advertising budget ever since.
Charlotte McKinney for Carl’s Jr. – Another non-celebrity, the Floridian model left jaws ajar and blew up social media with her promotion of the “All Natural Burger.” Because this ad is still very recent (premiered during Super Bowl 2015), there’s no official sales data out just yet. However, Adweek states that this bold, risque commercial generated 2.5 billion media impressions in less than two weeks. Not only that, but it also helped generate 4,500 Carl’s Jr.-related tweets, leading to 41 million total impressions. Chew on that!
Ellen DeGeneres’ “Selfie Pic” – Samsung got more than they bargained for with Ellen’s famous selfie that literally broke Twitter. This is best case of a maxed-out celebrity ad. After posting, the picture of Ellen and a variety of other A-list celebrities was retweeted 3.37 million times. According to Forbes, this simple promotion for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was estimated to be worth up to $1 billion in advertising dollars. Next time, Ellen and crew should use a Selfie Stick and get even more celebrities in the photo.
