ThinkNoLimit Marketing Coaching

BRAND'S essence of chicken has launched a new TVC. Still remember the last campaign with Eason Chan in it ? If we put the two TVC side by side, you will see the new one is a disappointment. Why ? By the use of big celebrity like Eason Chan, certainly you will get fast spread awareness, create credibility and generate word of mouth. Yet when you can't afford the celebrity at later stage, all the magics will be gone at once. It's worth a second thought about using celebrities indeed. Somehow it's a road with no return. What you get is inconsistency at the end.

Speaking of shampoos and shampoos specifically for men, Head & Shoulder has yet again launched a new formula, Strong Hair. It's said to protect you from dandruff as well as keep your hair strong. 甄子丹 is employed as the spokesperson. Although he may be the man role model and admired by the women who buy shampoos for their men, he doesn't really have the thick hair to sell strong hair... LOL ...

The whole category of slimming supplements seems dead. Consumers have got smarter. They know weight management is all about diets and workouts after trying so many types of these things that don't work. Shelf spaces for the category have shrunk while some brands are gone and some are struggling to survive. It seems there is only Fancl that is still advertising big money in it. The trouble is that using celebrity endorsement is a faddish way of increasing credibility. If the product doesn't work as what consumers expect for the price they pay, it will still die.

Is this an endorsement or a testimonial ? Let's not try to define it with textbook definitions. I only know that it takes someone credible, someone who can connect with consumers. In either case, we can use an expert, a professional, a celebrity or "person on the street". An organic farmer is not any one of them to speak for a pain killer. Medicinal residue may be a concern for people taking medicine and I can see the attempt to connect natural nature of organic farming with the natural discharge of medicinal residue. Yet the link is way too weak to be credible.

Credibility is the key to selecting celebrity for product endorsement. Sounds logical to pick someone who is a renowned chef and gourmet to endorse a health supplement for cholesterol control. Yet I really don't know why one would employ To To although he is a renowned chef and gourmet for sure. There are many others you can choose. Why choose an overweight celebrity who doesn't have a healthy image ? I just can't help scratching my head...

Maxim's seems to have identified a positioning to compete with Cafe De Coral and Fairwood. Homemade meals can be a good positioning potentially but the execution of the ad is rather poor. When we communicate a positioning, we need to spell out the benefit specifically. In this case, be it more healthy (rational) or sharing together (emotional) or both, tying in with the appeal of homemade meals. Also there should be reasons to believe. The obvious selling points may be less oil, no MSG, variety, value for money and so on. All these are missing in the ad while the appearance of Ah So is not adding value at all. She is over-exposed and consumers is confused with what she is endorsing : Towngas ? Park'n Shop ? Swanson's Chicken Broth ? Even I can't remember it right ...

Is this a well-known jockey ? Those who are not into horse racing may not know him (I don't, anyone ?). Does he suffer from nasal allergy as being a jockey ? Not really. At least it's not something we can relate with. Then why use a jockey ? Maybe the boss is fond of horse racing... or the boss bought it because the slogan , 羸番個鼻, 點只贏個馬鼻 sounds great...

Ads are meant to sell. Yet we need to be tasteful. "讓妳做一個令男人雙手握不住的女人", I bursted into laughter when I saw this line. It's can be treated as a joke in advertising. And I wonder what 楊思琦 thinks when see this ad. Does she agree she is a 令男人雙手握不住的女人 ?Sorry I just can't help laughing... If we ever have a joke book about ridiculous ads of HK, many of these beauty and slimming house ads should be in it.

Health supplements are high margin products. That's why they can afford big advertising and celebrities. Like this Nu Pharm bilberry eye supplement, it is retailed at HK$600+ for a pack. Being organic and its French origin are the two unique selling points. However, it's just some concentrated bilberry juice after all and it's profiteering. Are consumers ignorant ? Would they be convinced that it is worth the money ? Health supplement is not medicine. It will not give you immediate effect. So the chance is that people may buy a pack or two to try and give up quickly because of high costs. So I expect this brand will only survive for a short time or remain very niche in the future. In a way it's a reflection of the short-term orientation of most health supplement marketers.

I'm putting this TVC for you to "investigate". Is it 林憶蓮 in the TVC ? I keep watch it many times. I guess it is 林憶蓮 but I can't be 100% sure. I 'm puzzled as I don't see her adding any value in the TVC selling pizza. Maybe it's not her at all. I'll leave it for your investigation.

This is a 4-page ad of Estee Lauder in Next Magazine. One page of teaser, then a double-page spread of testimonials and one page of product selling. That's a typical arrangement to achieve size and grab attention in magazine (given you have the money). One special thing is its use of real career women instead of models and actresses as the spokespersons. They look ordinary and they are not as pretty as the celebrities but they make the ad more credible. Estee Lauder is known as a brand for more mature ladies. There are bound to be so many affluent thirty-something career women out there working days and nights needing some replenishment to their skins. Given the target audience, using career women for testimonial should be more appealing and convincing than using pretty celebrities.

Let's carry on our discussion about the use of celebrities in mooncake ads. Aaron Kwok is the endorser of St. Honore, including its mooncake. Yes, Aaron is 型,英,帥,靚,正 but what has he got to do with mooncake ? Does he make cake or eat a lot of mooncake ? The link is weak and it doesn't add to the credibility of the brand. As for the the Maxim's mooncake ad (below) featuring Kelly Chan, it's a typical celebrity + jingle kind of an ad but at least it is related to mooncake : family reunion, showing your love and care, the Chinese tradition and so on. All these are related to the mid-autumn festival and the purchase of mooncakes. In the ad we can identify Kelly as a caring daughter (I guess she is in real life).

When there is no new products or new news about your brand, cross-over or special edition is the way to go to generate sales and publicity. This is a good example from LG with quite a massive campaign. On one hand, fans of Andy Lau may buy it as a collectible. On the other, even if you are not a fan of Andy Lau, you will still perceive that he is the endorser of the brand. Andy Lau can have some exposures of himself and his new album too. Not a bad win-win idea at all.

A print ad about hair loss remedy. My favourite topic. This is a quite a remarkable ad. It's not just yet another ad that uses celebrity endorsement. If you are thirty something and have a bunch of friends who grow up together, you would echo with what it is saying. Its entry point is derived from a valid consumer insight. It is also an example of how celebrity can be more cleverly used. First you judge whether the ad still works without celebrity. Yes in this case. The consumer insight and idea are there as the backbone . Then you ask yourself whether having a celebrity would add value of credibility. Yes in this case. 陳豪 is not a super star but he is thirty something and someone the target audience can associate with. The link is strong. So let's use celebrity to add value to your idea. Bare use of celebrity is not a creative solution.

If you happen to pay attention to the campaigns of those Macau casinos, you would find the works are quite amateur. Like this promotion ad by StarWorld, it just looks like an ad from the 80's even though Tony Leung is the endorser. Definitely they need more marketing professionals to bring up the standards. In fact they are recruiting from Hong Kong and elsewhere as there is a lack of marketing professionals locally in Macau to support the increasing demand by the casinos. I'm sure pay is comparable to HK or better. But like many people said, the casino bubble will burst sooner or later. I wouldn't bet my career on this industry. Would you ?

A reader has chatted with me about celebrity endorsement last night. Here is an example of mis-match. Accuracy and on-target is the key message but what does 何嘉麗, a fencing champion, have to do with security trading ? The link is rather weak. In fact the money for the endorsement could have been better spent on creativity, i.e. hiring a good ad agency to develop a creative solution to convey the message. Speaking of celebrity endorsement, Laura Ries has just happened to talk about it lately in her blog . Check it out too.

One of the readers asked what I think about the latest TVC featuring 詹端文. Too bad I couldn't find this TVC but it's alright. We can still talk about it. First of all, I have to say the execution is good and the key message is clear : we have different needs at the different stage of life and HSBC is here to support you. A testimonial approach is used with 詹端文 telling us his different needs. The overall feeling is warm and touching. It focuses on image building rather than selling what its wealth management is about. The problem is that this "every stage of life" proposition has been used by many banks although spokespersons, creative and execution are different. Remember there was an ad from Hang Seng featuring 李麗珊 ? It was also about wealth management and I can still recall something like "養大個仔要成四, 五百萬" ...

Sometimes I really wonder how some advertisers justify the spending on celebrities. Aaron Kwok, big celebrity, big money. Celebrity works because if we choose the right one, he or she could provide the brand with credibility. Now the question is whether Aaron Kwok is the right one for Saint Honore, a cake shop which sells cakes and dumplings. The link is weak because as far as I know, Aaron is a singer and actor, not a gourmet. In both ads, you find Aaron is pretty "detached" and he's like appearing on his album cover. He's not even trying to sell anything. Is it worth the money ?

PolyU has a subsidiary company that sells Traditional Chinese Medicine health supplements. The brand name says it all : 理大精研. Let's not argue whether it is right or wrong for an university to go so commercialized. We all have to agree that university is a powerful endorsement to gain trust and credibility. But funny enough, their advertising also uses celebrities to endorse their products, like everyone else. Is it necessary at all ? If it sells, it should sell on the name of the university. They don't need to waste the money on celebrities while potentially diluting their professional/research-based image.

A miraclous wrinkle remover said to make you 10.1 year younger and it is clinically proven to remove 10% of your wrinkles in 7 days. Don't believe it ? There are celebritiy endorsement, testimonials from the users and statistical charts. Still don't believe it ? You can give them a call and make an appointment with them to give it a try. Too much information and trying too hard to make believe. Actually it is working the other way round. Let's think about the consumers. Too hard selling turns people off.