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June 7th, 2011 by sarahapps

Celebrity endorsement – ego pieces vs customer loyalty?

With a new single recently launched and yet more promotional deals under her wing there is little doubt that J Lo is officially back!

With a bag of million dollar companies giving her their full backing, Mrs Lopez will never again need to purchase Gillette Venus razors, Gucci Clothing, L’Oreal shampoo or mascara again!

After seeing an article in the Daily Mail about Jennifer Lopez ‘flaunting’ her long legs whilst promoting L’Oreal’s new mascara there has been a backlash as to why she continues to keep herself in the lime light. The most obvious assumption would be to keep her at the forefront of people’s mind but it does bring into question the impact this may have on the brands she promotes if consumers start to find her overexposed.

Big brands love the idea of using celebrities to endorse their products because there are so many people out there who will buy products hoping to achieve the look of their favourite celebrity icon. I myself have bought fake eyelashes in the past to achieve the long luscious lashes of Cheryl Cole. There are quite a few products on the market that have been created by the same company and repackaged but I am a firm believer that if the same product was also promoted by Davina McCall I would still opt for the one with Cheryl on the packaging, even though I think Davina is hilarious. The reason behind my choice would simply be because she is almost double my age and married with kids. This is why she is a perfect for a product like Garnier Nutrisse where the advertisement showed her on the phone to her ‘mum’ discussing how to cover grey hair. Although this did backfire a little bit when it came to light she hadn’t spoken to her mother for years…

Brands like Garnier clearly value their customers but it is starting to become quite worrying how some brands are appearing to forget that they need the right face for their audience, leaving them isolating their original fans.

Take Nivea, for example. To celebrate 100 years of skin care Nivea chose Rhianna as their official spokeswoman. Nivea was originally seen as a prominent skincare range for the older, mature woman. By introducing Rhianna it became apparent they were trying to attract a younger clientele. In order to entice a new audience but by still making themselves come across as appreciative of their loyal followers they would have been better off introducing two spokespeople, as opposed to someone half of their original consumers would never have heard of or can relate to.

This makes me question their loyalty. Are they trying to sell products, sell the stars as ego pieces to the company directors or, for once try to really give their loyal customers more bang for their buck.

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January 27th, 2011 by Marie Efthymiou

The NTA Awards & ‘that’ tattoo . . .

Our favourite British soap stars and best loved TV personalities hit the red carpet in full force last night to celebrate the annual National Television Awards. The crux of the competition as always rests on who will take home the ‘Best Serial Drama’ prize, Eastenders or Corrie? But actually this year’s biggest battle took place on the red carpet, as TV’s hottest residents donned their glad rags for all-out glamour.

As each starlet posed and pouted in front of a wall of long lenses, the fashion and beauty editors of the popular tabloids and glossies had their pens poised to paper, capturing who wore what, or more importantly who wore whom. Which stylist shouldn’t answer the phone this morning in fear of being sacked and what shade of lipstick should we be popping out on our lunch break to buy.

Unsurprisingly, the nation’s sweetheart Cheryl Cole dominated the headlines today. Not for her bondage style backless dress but the new expansive tattoo across her lower back. It begs the question if she’ll now do for Henna ink what she did for red-hair dye? We shouldn’t underestimate the influence that celebrities have on everyday women’s purchasing habits. Cheryl alone has the ability to make sales rocket of any product – just ask L’Oreal or Wolford!

When she dyed her luscious locks red with L’Oreal Casting Crème Gloss, sales of the product went up by a whopping 114%. Her performance on the X Factor wearing Wolford Sahara Bondage tights resulted in fashion mecca Selfridges issuing a statement to the press that week admitting they had completely sold out. Women who would usually purchase a multi-pack of M&S Black Opaque Tights for a fiver were now clambering over each other to buy one £32 pair of tights. Hopefully they weren’t too disappointed that their legs didn’t look quite like hers – but who cares when they’re one step closer to looking like their favourite star.

That’s the power of the ‘me too’ approach – we want a little slice of their world (or wardrobe) just for ourselves and it has brands clamouring after the elusive killer deal with just the right celeb with the all-important ‘x’-factor.

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March 1st, 2010 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Speed Quiz: @BeccaJW wins a Llama trekking experience for two

Rebecca Wheeler (@BeccaJW) has won Speed’s weekly quiz. She correctly identified that Cheryl Cole’s maiden name was Tweedy. Rebecca wins a llama trekking experience for two.

She will spend the evening walking a llama through beautiful woodland paths just outside of London before enjoying a meal at the award-winning Merry Harriers pub.

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

Click here to find out a bit more about our weekly competition.

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