Celebrity Endorsement In The Fashion Industry
By: Kody Tibbetts
Advertisers favorite and most widely
known propaganda technique is the testimonial. What better way to influence a
consumer to buy a product, then having their beloved idol preaching to them how
effective it is? Most people grow up trying to follow in the footsteps of their
idol. After seeing that person satisfied with the product, it gives the
perspective customer a reason to imitate and become a customer as well.
There are many successful advertising techniques in
the marketing world. Testimonial is successful because in today’s society, everyone
conforms to what’s “in”. Fashion seekers are always trying to keep up with the
new styles. So, the companies who produce the accessories, clothes, and jewelry
often have superstars or celebrities endorse their product. This marketing
technique has proved successful and will continue to be a goldmine for many
years to come. A prime example of testimonial advertising is the commercial on YouTube
of Phil Mickelson wearing a Rolex watch. Rolex is a very high-class watch; it
often sells upwards to 5,000 dollars. Since the prices of the watches are not
cheap, the company needed a little boost on their advertising, making people
“have to have it” and to disregard the price. Rolex then took the testimonial
route, which is a common technique in the world of marketing. Consumers see
Phil Mickelson, currently the seventh best golfer in the world, sporting the
Rolex watch and they often go out and buy one, simply just because he was wearing
it.
The accessories are a must in fashion today, you
don’t only need nice clothes anymore, and it’s all about what else your
wearing. Therefore, companies have to conform to what is selling. Sunglasses or
“Shades” are a monumental piece to an outfit, mostly worn during the day
because of the sun. Dolce and Gabbana is one of the highest-class brands of
clothing and accessories in the world. So, to portray that image, they chose
Madonna for their testimonial advertising, which is very intelligent if you
break it down. Madonna is a bit of an older woman now; she represents class and
maturity to some extent. Thus, her fan base is that of middle-aged women, who
are trying to make themselves appear “more sexy” in a sense. So, for her to be
wearing the sunglasses would bring in more revenue compared to if Hannah
Montana wore them. Testimonial advertising is all about choosing the right
celebrity or superstar to represent their product. If the wrong one is chosen,
they aren’t going to get their message out to the right consumer group.
“The difference between style and fashion
is quality” a quote by Gorgio Armani, which I feel, represents the company very
well. Their product has always been one of prestige and high-class society. So
for them to use a testimonial technique their superstar has to be one that represents
their company to the best of their ability. The example I found was Christian
Bale wearing a Giorgio Armani Suit. Which is a very intelligent testimonial
advertising superstar to represent their suits. Christian Bale was the main
actor in the box office sensation “Batman”. In the movie Bruce Wayne (Christian
Bale) always wears suits similar to the one worn in the Gorgio Armani advertisement.
This advertisements consumer base is one of middle-aged men. Kids and teens
would rarely spend the money for a Gorgio Armani Suit. The company is trying to
reach out to
middle-aged men and looking at their previous advertisements, I would infer that their company is producing a large amount of revenue.
middle-aged men and looking at their previous advertisements, I would infer that their company is producing a large amount of revenue.
America is not the only country to use the
testimonial advertising technique. The success of this technique has been seen worldwide.
The most recent advertisement I’ve
come across was the new Cristiano Ronaldo underwear shoot for Emporio Armani
Underwear. Cristiano Ronaldo is known world wide as one of the best soccer
players to play the game. If that’s not enough to market, they removed his
shirt so women around the world will be attracted to the advertisement as well.
This is the best way to use a testimonial technique because not only does the
consumer base cover men of any age, but also woman who will outright buy the
product for their men. This advertisement influences men and woman of any age
to buy the Emporio Armani Underwear, thus making the revenue of their company
skyrocket, not to mention that the advertisement is international, so not only
does it portray to Americans, but also anywhere the advertisement is shown. The
technique has proven to be successful in many ways, but often people don’t
realize how much is paid to the superstars that represent companies. A major
part of a celebrity’s income isn’t so much of the movies they play in or the
sports they compete in. The real money is made in endorsements. A company finds
someone they want to represent their company and pay’s them an almost imaginary
number to just wear their product in public. For example, David Beckham signed
a 160 million dollar deal with Adidas (Rovell).
As stated above, the marketing technique
of Testimonial Advertising is almost unfair to deploy. It is exponentially more
useful in today’s ever-changing fashion industry, then any other kind of marketing. Having superstars sell their
businesses products is in many ways more successful than trying to market their
own products. Society is obsessed with trying to look for the next fad or the
newest thing. Testimonial advertising hits on all cylinders, it uses superstars
for the flash, and the type of celebrity to determine the consumer base the
product will be sold to. The fashion industry is one of the hardest industries
to be successful in. The reason is simple-fashion is an ever changing industry;
something that is accepted one week and is gone in the next. America is even
looked down upon in fashion by France. So to start off Americans are in the
hole; but the advertising techniques, especially Testimonial advertising help
the Fashion industry stay well dressed.
Armani, Giorgio. "Giorgio Armani Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 02 Mar. 2011
Rovell, Darren. "ESPN.com: SPORTSBUSINESS - Report of Beckham-adidas Mega-deal Sails Wide."
ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. 11 Aug. 2007. Web. 02 Mar. 2011.
