by Marc Bakker
SO MARIGOLD had this genius idea to engage some of Singapore’s most “influential” bloggers to promote their PeelFresh fruit juices. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as it turns out, pretty much everything.
Marketing through celebrity endorsements isn’t a new phenomenon; brands have been associating themselves with influential figures for decades. While this typically entails latching on to a celebrity (actor/musician/sports pro), this needn’t always be the case. The trick is basically to use an alpha type that people look up to and who will enlighten the general public about the benefits of a product. Like a guy in a lab coat for example.
The advantage of using a celebrity to endorse your product is that you immediately gain the attention of their fans/followers in addition to the instant credibility that you gain from the association with someone at the top of their craft. All of this is predicated on the assumption that people are prone to listen to authority figures. Incidentally this is also why men wear suits and ties in the office; it makes us look more authoritative.
Social media has changed the game somewhat in the sense that you no longer need to be a celebrity in the traditional sense of the word. With a bit of knowledge, some luck and hard work, anyone can build a following online (arguably it’s harder than it sounds, but it’s still easier than becoming a platinum-selling recording artist or Olympic gold medallist). The point is that, thanks to social media, celebrity status is something that more people can aspire to nowadays. On the other hand, this does not change the fundamentals of a) how people are influenced by things and b) how marketing works.
In the case of the MariGold influencers, moments after posting pictures endorsing the product, they were bombarded by criticisms and the campaign is being widely parodied. So what happened?
There are two areas in particular where the campaign falls well short:
First, picking “influencers” to represent your brand is not just a question of picking the most popular people you can get your hands on. Just because anyone can become an influencer nowadays does not mean that anyone can front your brand. There should be a reason (beyond money) why someone would want to be associated with your product. That is the entire point of celebrity endorsements: “You should listen to me because you know that I know what I am talking about.” or “If you want to be like me and be able to achieve the things that I have achieved, you should do/use what I do”. So choosing someone because they have a popular blog on juicing or health and fitness might have been a good choice for MariGold. Choosing a bunch of lifestyle bloggers, not so much.
This also begs the question, what possessed these influencers to agree to promote MariGold products anyway? This leads nicely into the second issue with this campaign, which is authenticity. Given the profiles of their chosen spokespersons, the only conclusion we can come to is that the motivation from both sides was simply to make money. Helping someone else make money has never been a good enough reason for me to buy anything. That’s not how marketing works. We all understand that companies need to make a profit and that celebrities are paid for their endorsements, but at the very least we need the fig leaf of being able to believe that said celebrities actually use the product. In this case, there was no fig leaf. It just feels like a cynical attempt to make a buck at our expense. Hence the vitriol.
In a nutshell, MariGold’s creative juices weren’t flowing when it came to this campaign, causing them to fall into notorious trap of confusing the medium with the message. Yes, we live in a brave new world and paradigms are shifting all over the place thanks to new technologies. However, people haven’t changed all that much and the fundamentals of marketing haven’t disappeared overnight. Just because you’re using influencers on social media to spread your message, doesn’t mean that years of best practices of conducting marketing through celebrity endorsements can be ignored.
If this seems like a harsh take on the situation, it’s not meant to be. In fact I am saying this as someone who drinks a lot of MariGold fruit juice (it’s refreshing! Especially in this heat!) #youcanpaymenow
The writer is the Marketing Director of Right Hook Communications, a boutique PR agency that pushes boundaries… and buttons.
Featured image Growing Social Media by Flickr user mkhmarketing. (CC BY 2.0)
If you like this article, Like the Middle Ground‘s Facebook Page as well!
For breaking news, you can talk to us via email.
The post When influence fails to impress appeared first on The Middle Ground.