What If Spokespeople Sold Brands Short?

At the height of his career, Billy Joel was hawking Sony products—in Japan. Today, his daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, is repping Gap, singing his hit song “Just the way you are” for their latest #BacktoBlue campaign. It goes to show that the more things change, the more brands rely on celebrity spokespeople.

Brands sign with celebrities all the time: from Julia Roberts for Lanc?me, to Tina Fey for American Express, to Danica Patrick for Coke Zero. For the most part, these partnerships are win-win for both the brand and the celebrity. Yet, having your brand incarnated by a single person has many perils. Below, I highlight three different scenarios where brands need to proceed with caution.

First Problem: Value Shift

What happens when your brand is associated with someone who no longer represents your values? This can be a difficult question. For example, when beer manufacturer Anheuser-Busch hired rock legend Eric Clapton to represent Micheloeb Beer, with an ad featuring him playing his hit song “After Midnight”. However, it was ill-timing, as production on the ad was winding down, Clapton sat down with Rolling Stone and admitted that he had a drinking problem. A recovering alcoholic is perhaps not the best idea for a brand representative. Needless to say, Anheuser-Busch terminated Clapton’s contract, despite having to abandon a multi-million dollar campaign.

Second Problem: Age

It’s tough to say, but sometimes a spokesperson can age out of their role. Or at least, is perceived to age out of their role. A classic example is that of anchorwoman Jane Pauley. From 1976 to 1989, Jane Pauley was co-host of NBC’s popular morning news program “The Today Show”. Although younger than her (male) co-anchors, Pauley ended up resigning right before her 40 birthday amid speculation that the network forced her out because of her age. This was only confirmed when she was replaced by the much younger Deborah Norville.

While there may have been a rational reason for why Jane Pauley left the Today Show, having her leave suddenly and replacing her with a younger woman angered the program’s key audience: women, who felt keenly the sexist double standard. When a popular spokesperson leaves a brand (voluntarily or not), the institution must manage the person’s departure. As for the Today Show, they have made great progress, nurturing the careers of Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira, allowing them to age into their roles as anchors. Of course, the institution was in hot water once again when it unceremoniously fired Ann Curry.

Likewise, it can be a very touchy subject when a brand that was represented by say, its founder, gets purchased or merges with another company. For example, when Diane Von Furstenberg sold her eponymous fashion label in the 80s, she not only ceded her creative control, but also her image (that of an independent, sophisticated woman) that had been so vital to the brand’s success. Is it any surprise that when she bought back her label in 1997, we started seeing much more of Von Furstenberg on the newsstands, wearing fabulous wrap dresses?

Third Problem: Scandal

Brands with celebrity spokespeople are at a great advantage, except when their chosen celebrity gets in hot water. When I look to brands that rise above scandals committed by their spokespeople, I look at athletic gear brands. Nike, despite having philanderers like Tiger Woods, dopers like Lance Armstrong, and convicted dogfighter Michael Vick standing for the brand, is able to remain a well-loved market leader. Why is this? Well, for one thing, Nike has a revolving door of spokespeople, there is never one single athlete representing the entire brand. What’s more, Nike has no problem rapidly severing spokespeople’s contracts when a scandal breaks.

On the other hand, when I look at Kate Moss’s cocaine incident in 2005, there was much talk of the damage that she was doing not only to her personal reputation but also to that of the fashion companies she worked for, and who immediately dropped her. However, fashion is not a sport, and a frisson of the taboo has always defined the industry. What’s more, Kate’s run-in with the law only cemented her Rock’n’Roll fashion image (she did bring in ‘heroin chic’, after all). Is anyone surprised that after the obligatory stint in rehab, all was forgiven and now she’s making more money than she ever has in her career?

Celebrity spokespeople is a big business. Brands still clamor to ride a star’s coattails to better top of mind awareness from key consumers. I believe that by carefully examining a brand’s values and matching that brand to a celebrity or person of note, great things can happen. However, I encourage all brands interested in star sponsorship to proceed with caution and to remember that a spokesman is first and foremost a human.