The First Steps to Choosing a Brand Ambassador
A year ago, specifically on the 28th of January, 2020 my colleagues and I resumed at the office and as PR girls, the news at the tip of our tongues was the announcement of Burna Boy as the brand ambassador of Star Lager Beer.
My colleagues and I usually engage in discussions on happenings in the Advertising & PR industry home and abroad. It’s always a great opportunity for learning, as we discuss the PR approach and possible outcomes of these brand decisions.
These discussions have fueled in me the need to rationalise, research and understand a brand’s personality before suggesting an influencer or celebrity to collaborate with. A brand personality is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name. A brand personality is something to which the consumer can relate; an effective brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits that speaks to a specific consumer segment.
Why is understanding a brand’s personality important? Because of each brand’s personality, an ambassador might fit one brand and not fit the other. To create more of a background, I will be using Apple, Nike, Tesla, Hennessy, and Jameson.
Apple: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” — Steve Jobs. His dream was to combine simplicity, creativity, and design to create gadgets that people would use very easily. An Apple user understands sophistication in simplicity, they are creatives who are constantly innovating and amplifying the use of their IOS products.
Hennessy: This is a vibrant and complex drink that goes well with mixers. It’s great straight and great as a base. A Henny drinker is complicated and has an interesting and complex taste bud, they believe the Henny way is the only way.
Nike: When you think of Nike, you think, I can do it, just like their popular slogan “Just Do It” A person who uses Nike has an active lifestyle, is inspirational, striving to be better, to smash goals, motivating others along the way.
Tesla: This is sheer luxury. A person who drives a Tesla understands what it means to live a luxurious and conscious life, consumption with a conscience. The person is heavily invested in the earth and sustaining the human life force by buying an eco-friendly car.
Jameson: Currently in Nigeria, Jameson is the drink for artsy, the complex, the introvert, the crossdresser, the alte crew, it's a drink that invites all with quirky and oftentimes misunderstood identities.
All five brands, Apple, Nike, Tesla, Hennessy, and Jameson can appeal to the same target market as there might be some overlaps, but not necessarily the same target audience. Here is where I tell you the difference between a target market and a target audience? which might overlap into each other so it’s important to choose a person who best encapsulates your brand personality.
What should you consider when choosing a brand ambassador? A brand ambassador is a person, especially a celebrity, who is paid to endorse or promote a particular company’s products or services. So it’s important that your choice fits the brand’s personality. I will be highlighting three important things to consider — Character, professionalism, and believability.
Character — `This is the distinctive quality of a person, moral and physical. From the earlier breakdown of the brand personality of certain brands, we were able to ascertain that Omotola Jolade Ekeinde or Mercy Johnson Okojie would not fit a brand like Hennessy due to her wholesome character but will work perfectly for a family-oriented brand.
Professionalism -It’s important to consider the work ethics of your chosen ambassador to ensure it aligns with your brand. How available will he or she be to fulfill all their roles?
Believability: To write this article, I put together a questionnaire, the major question was “Have you ever bought anything because a celebrity was the ambassador — Yes or No. — If no, why?” The majority of the responses I received were centered around the lack of believability and authenticity. This can only be achieved if the ambassador fits the brand personality, and influences the brand’s target audience. Proper training on brand ethics, mission, vision, communication language, brand image and in-depth knowledge of the product makes for transparent and informed content creation and audience engagement.
