If you read Ad Age, PR Week, or any of the other media outlets for brand managers you will find hundreds of theories on advertising strategies, public relations techniques and the occasional complex mathematical formula which will help you build your brand. It is often informative, but almost always long winded.
There is only one common truth in all successful brand building strategies from the dawn of time until now: “Reference Power Builds Brands.” When other people tell you a brand is good, you tend to believe it is good. How strong is the power of their reference? That depends completely upon how much you value the opinion of the person who is giving you the reference. For example, imagine you are asking a professional basketball player to recommend a good shoe for playing basketball. You would probably value their opinion and their reference power would be very high. You could ask the same basketball player which mobile phone is the best, but you probably wouldn’t value their opinion and therefore not be influenced by their reference.
Let’s take a look at the use of a celebrity spokesperson in advertising. Advertisers know the power of reference. They could use an actor or an executive from the company, but they get better results from a celebrity spokesperson. Why? Because of reference power. If you recognize the celebrity spokesperson the advisement is off to a good start. If you like the celebrity spokesperson the advertisement is doing even better. If you feel the celebrity spokesperson has a valid connection with the product the advertisement is almost a success. For these reasons you have established some value for the opinion of the celebrity spokesperson and have given them some reference power even before they begin to speak about the product. Prepare to be influenced. But wait….. Your brain is not that quick to give up too much reference power. Why? Because you know this is a paid endorsement and the celebrity spokesperson’s reference was highly influenced by money. You still may value the sales pitch of the celebrity spokesperson, but you do so with caution.
People are often influenced by products they see on film and television. This again is all about the reference power. You may like the character or the celebrity on the show and feel influenced by the brands they wear. This has proven to be a very powerful way to build a brand. Again it is all about you observing a celebrity and forming opinions on brands based on the perceived like or dislike of the celebrity. Reference power is again powerful, but again you may have some reservations. Like advertising there is a reason to hold back on giving too much reference power to what you see on TV and film. It is acting. The celebrity has been told what to do and say. In some cases you may hold back some of the value you give to this reference.
The pure reference power comes from a natural endorsement. If someone whose opinion you value is using a product, it is very powerful. For a brand manager there is nothing better than getting people to tell other people about their brand. The problem is getting this process started and keeping it going. The solution is to find a small group of people who can reach a large group of consumers. This problem is solved with celebrities, but we already discussed how celebrity spokespeople are only somewhat effective. The solution is not in the paid endorsement, but rather the implied endorsement. An implied endorsement is when a celebrity is photographed using a product. They have not said they officially like the product, but it is implied. Implied endorsements are viewed as being more honest and therefore have more reference power than paid endorsements.
Strategic brand managers will leverage implied endorsements to build any brand. At Social Hill we have a very simple formula which is the core of our business. It is the law of celebrity association: “If people like a celebrity, and a celebrity likes your brand, then people will like your brand.”
Check out Socialhill.com to learn more.
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