Brands often put a lot of emphasis into their celebrity spokesperson, especially since there's a lot of risk involved when you choose to have a high-profile person represent your brand.
According to a new analysis from Women at NBCU’s Brand Power Index, it's not about finding the person who perfectly fits your brand anymore; it's about finding that person who is irrevelent and catches someone's attention, an unexpected mashup.
As Melissa Lavigne-Delville, VP/ insights for NBCUniversal Integrated Media, explains, "Unexpectedness is resonating with women. The biggest movers this quarter were brands with a surprising celebrity spokesperson, like rock legend Bon Jovi for Advil. It was this unusual pairing of celebrity and brand that gained the most traction among women.”
Check out the brands that made big moves up the Brand Power Index, using spokespeople:
- Kinect for Xbox 360 used a handful of different famous faces, including musician Selena Gomez, actor David Hasselhoff (who makes appearances in both a chicken suit and cheerleading outfit) and Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster, with an assist from Elmo. The brand leapt 119 notches up the 500-brand index.
- Minute Maid jumped 121 spots on the index, powered by Ty Burrell, who plays the hapless husband Phil Dunphy on “Modern Family.” (In the spots, he loses a stare-down competition with a navel orange.)
- Retailer The Gap rose 49 spots, using YouTube’s 11-year-old star, Maria Aragon, in its holiday commercial, “I Want Candy.” (The tween’s cover of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” has over 47 million hits.)