If there’s one thing that really gets my goat it ‘s celebrity endorsements of products. Accepted of course that for both parties, the product manufacturer and the celeb, it’s an opportunity to raise their profile and thicken the wallet but are the public so naive as to believe that just because a celebrity has a tenuous link to the kitchen industry, the product is perceived as one of quality? I think not and given the disappearance of Moben and others who took the celebrity sponsored route, what does the trend tell us?
It’s one thing if a celeb endorses a product that they formed their reputation on but in our industry the choices are questionable and seem to originate predominantly from two disciplines – interior design and chefs. I think most would agree that both professions have a link to the kitchen but in an unrelated capacity to the many components that defines it’s true quality. Neither profession can offer specialist opinion on the components that make up a quality kitchen.
In all honesty the trend tells us more about the manufacturer’s belief of how naive and gullible they believe modern consumers are rather than the quality of a product. They believe people will buy a product on the strength that their TV hero or heroine actually believes it to be of quality and value forgetting that we might just ask ourselves: “Does Laurence Llewellyn Bowen really have a Moben kitchen?” and if so who will provide him with any missing or replacement parts in the foreseeable?
Most celebrity endorsements are an insult to the intelligence and it would be far better, in my opinion, to utilise the expertise of unheralded specialists who work day after day on the frontline in a particular industry sector.
A-list Celebrities only promote A-list products – B-list celebrities usually promote B-list products and so on until you get to the ex-soap stars who are asked to play a parody of themselves in a soap powder ad. I have no problem at all, genuinely, in people continuing to make a living any legal way they can – all I am saying is that one day, maybe, a manufacturer could combine the two and get a real specialist who believes in the product to talk about it and a celebrity to nod in the background – that would keep everyone happy: the manufacturer could sell his product, the celebrity could get paid, the specialist could promote something he believes in and the consumer gets the whole package.
If I want to buy a new product, for instance, I am not looking for the opinion of a celebrity but of a specialist in that field. If they happen to be a celebrity to boot, I wouldn’t hold that against them but it wouldn’t be my motivating factor. My only question of any celebrity promoting anything is: “What’s your experience in the particular industry and do you have this product in your own home?” If the answer is yes – then I’m all ears.
If we examine the reasoning behind the Ad Man’s thinking – it would explain why retired newsreaders and presenters are asked to advertise insurance: “this can’t be a scam because x,y,z has been informing you all for years…..” but do we stop to ask the one simple question: “does this person have this insurance policy themselves?” if not, why not?
There have been numerous occasions over the years when celebrities retrospectively laugh or keep stum about the ludicrous or failed products they have been asked to promote (once the contract is up of course) – bit late for those who bought them of course but hey, that’s showbiz.
For that reason we will be undertaking a series of interviews with experienced people who know best: installers, kitchen designers, plumbers and electricians. We will be kicking the series off with an appliance engineer. The interviews will not be in the style of leading questions designed to highlight a specific product but questions that will assist consumers in a real sense.
I wonder if there are any manufacturers out there who would like to put their product forward for an honest appraisal by this experienced appliance engineer for his feedback? I think his third cousin, once removed, might have appeared as an extra in Doctor Who – does that count?
Granite for worktops does not have to be expensive as long as certain rules are applied to the buying granite worktop process, with any granite worktop supplier you must insist on a real granite sample so you can see the quality of what is being supplied.
I removed the link to the above comment but approved it just to highlight that when a company hires an off site SEO company or individual to undertake their campaign they really should check out examples of quality content or, in this case, comments.
My advice is to hire someone who is prepared to research your industry and the specific area in which you operate. That way they stand a good chance of obtaining the link if they are able to fool the blog owner into believing it was written by a real specialist.
Better luck next time and for the UK fabricator that hired you, stop throwing your money down the drain and get commenting yourself.