Celebrity endorsements have become a popular brand communication channel over the years. They work by extending the celebrity's popularity, influence, or expertise to the brand to solidify its market position.
Some of the major celebrity endorsements of all time include George Foreman's collaboration with grill-making company Salton, Inc. and Maria Sharapova's endorsement of Nike. Over time, endorsements have become even more popular, and these days we can find celebrities endorsing products across all channels, from social media campaigns to print advertising to social initiatives.
Let's look at six examples of how celebrity product endorsements can boost brand recognition.
#1 Tiffany & Co. (Beyoncé)
In 2021, popular American singer Beyoncé partnered up with fine jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. for its campaign "About Love."
As part of the campaign, Beyonce appeared wearing the iconic 128-carat Tiffany diamond, which the company acquired in 1878. Beyoncé was the fourth woman in more than a century and the first black woman ever to wear the diamond.
Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z, was also included in the campaign, and the couple also posed in front of a 1982 Jean-Micheal Basquiat painting that was never shown in public before.
The campaign allowed Tiffany & Co. to leverage Beyonce's popularity (and social media channels) to boost its visibility and brand recognition, attracting new customers through the association between its long-standing prestige and a major modern star.
Moreover, the involvement of Beyonce and Jay-Z, as one of the most famous married couples in the industry, was a great opportunity for Tiffany & co. to display its commitment to celebrating love and lasting relationships, which are two major drives behind customer behavior of jewels' buyers.
#2 Gucci (Harry Styles)
Renowned Italian fashion brand Gucci and English singer Harry Styles joined forces for the HA HA HA. This collection aims at showcasing a shared vision of a man's world as an instrument of the avant-garde for the everyday use of a dream wardrobe.
Styles is known for creating iconic fashion moments while wearing custom-tailored prices from the Italian fashion brand at red carpet events. Now, his long-standing relationship with Gucci, and particularly creative director Alessandro Michele, has been further solidified with their first collaborative collection open to purchase.
The idea behind this collection is to break free from the rigidity of man's gender identity, thus boosting Guccis's recognition in the fashion industry as a powerful advocate for freedom and self-expression.
#3 JUST Water (Jaden Smith)
Some celebrities don't limit themselves to endorsing existing brands. They take a step further and start their own company, leveraging their popularity to help the new brand gain traction.
This is the case of the boxed water brand JUST Water, founded by young rapper, singer, and actor Jaden Smith, the son of celebrities Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.
JUST Water sells infused water in multiple flavors, but its mission goes beyond the commercial one. JUST Water is sustainably sourced, and it's sold in plant-based cartons that are fully recyclable and require much fewer emissions than plastic for their production.
By associating a commercial brand with his commitment as a celebrity to increased sustainability, Jaden Smith was able to boost JUST Water's recognition while setting an inspiring example for his generation.
#4 Nike (Billie Elish)
Over the decades, celebrity endorsements played a crucial role in making Nike the world's major shoe manufacturer, with a market value currently above $30 billion.
Lebron James, Dwayne Johnson, and Steph Curry are just a few names on Nike's long list of celebrity endorsers.
Pop star Billie Eilish is one of the latest additions to the list of famous people who put their name behind the American manufacturer. Their collaboration revolves around the launch of Air Jordan Silhouettes, a 100% vegan leather product obtained by using more than 20% recycled materials.
Billie Eilish took it to her social media channels to promote the sustainability mission behind her collaboration with Nike.
With this collaboration, Nike hit two birds with one stone: leveraging the popularity of a teenager idol while setting another example of its commitment to creating sustainable products.
#5 Uber Eats (Mark Hamil & Patrick Stewart)
A great example of how to bring two celebrities in a TV commercial was provided by Uber Eats, the online food ordering and delivery platform launched by Uber.
Uber Eats found a way to use the Star Wars vs. Star Trek fan base rivalry to its advantage.
In this series of commercials, the stars of the two respective franchises go head-to-head over food orders.
According to marketing experts at global insights firm Interpret, hiring celebrities doesn't always guarantee the success of a campaign.
However, in this case, Uber was able to execute a clever pairing of celebrities that are beloved by different generations and even more among fans of the two major science fiction franchises in movie and TV show history. It's estimated that 40% and 31% of US consumers are fans of Star Wars and Star Trek, respectively.
#6 Pokémon (Ed Sheeran)
An innovative way for celebrities to endorse brands involves them creating art that will be included in the brand's products or services.
One example is Ed Sheeran's Pokémon-inspired song Celestial, featured in two of the brand's video games, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.
The song was released in September 2022 and was also accompanied by a music video featuring Ed Sheeran interacting with numerous Pokémons. A fan of the videogame himself, Sheeran expressed his joy at the opportunity for this collaboration.
It's not the first time that Ed Sheeran has created songs that were also an integral part of another product. Back in 2013, the English singer and songwriter wrote and sang the song 'I see fire,' which was featured in the closing credits of the movie The Hobbit - The Desolation of
Smaug, with the lyrics directly referencing events of the movie.
Recently, Rihanna's song 'Lift Me Up,' produced for the movie 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' was even awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
