Commentary

Hey Agencies, Millennials Don't Give A Crap About Your Celebrity Endorsement Campaigns

by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 28, 2016

How many studies will it take to convince brands and agencies that, for the most part, consumers don't give a crap about their celebrity endorsement campaigns? In fact, using a celebrity actually detracts from whatever it is you are trying to accomplish with your campaigns.

This is especially true in the case of Millennials. According to a recent survey by Collective Bias, 70 percent of 18- to-34-year-olds prefer peer endorsements over celebrity endorsement. The survey was conducted in March among 14,000 U.S. consumers.

As for how these peer endorsements compare to "regular" forms of advertising, they pale in comparison. In the Collective Bias survey TV advertising ranked 7.4% followed by print at 4.7% and, yes, digital, at 4.5%. The study also revealed that 60% of respondents have taken a blog post or social media post viewed on a mobile device when making a purchase decision in-store.

Of course, Alloy Media + Marketing came to this very conclusion way back in 2006, as have many others over the years. Alas, no one seems to be listening. Kim Kardashian is very happy about that.

So, yeah, brands and agencies, save your money. Peer influencers are way cheaper than celebrities. Plus, it seems, they are far more effective.

agency, brands, celebrity, endorsement, research

4 comments about "Hey Agencies, Millennials Don't Give A Crap About Your Celebrity Endorsement Campaigns".

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Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, April 29, 2016 at 9:03 a.m.
An over the top generalization based on the usual generalized type of research that begs the answer. It all depends on who the advertiser selects, whether the celebrity carries any weight with the target audience, the cost factor and how believeable the endorsement happens to be. Pick the wrong celebrity and you fail. That's not exactly news. The idea that you should never use a celebrity endorser---especially if you are after those precious "millennials", who account for only 25-30% of an average product's sales by the way--- is just plain silly.
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Anglyn Hays from Free Lance Writer Hire Me! replied, April 29, 2016 at 12:30 p.m.

Failing to figure out those "precious" millennials is to sacrifice the only market we have coming to us besides their children, sir. You aren't comfortable with the generalization that celebrity does not fool the young like it did the old, but snidely believe the generalization that since the young only buy 30% of the "average product" (whatever that could be? are you thinking widgets like someone 100 years old???). The world has changed and I plan to sell to it. If that's not your plan, enjoy your retirement.

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, April 29, 2016 at 3:26 p.m.

Hey, Anglyn, you go right ahead and "sell" millennials whatever you want to, however that's not going to change the world for the better, I'm afraid. As for the "average product", this is simple math. To listen to all of the bluff and bluster about millennials you would think that they are the only ones that marketers should care about. My point is that older consumers---those over 34 years of age-- represent, by far, the largest share of purchases for most products or services. If you aren't aware of that what planet do you reside on? By the way, I assume that you are a big fan of the old sci-fi movie "Logan's Run". The organizers of that futuristic city sold their millennials on lots of good ideas didn't they----until the youngsters finally wised up and saw that oldsters can exist. Have a great weekend.

Laura Driscoll from Whosay, May 9, 2016 at 3:16 p.m.

They do when you do it right!

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/influencer-marketing-sucks/303887/