Celebrity Endorsments

It seems that most companies are starting to try and get celebrities to endorse their products. For most sporting companies they look to have athletes endorse their products. When it comes to dietary supplements they look to attractive slim celebrities to represent their product. They do this to make it seem like the professional athlete is so good because he is wearing a certain product. They also use them for dietary pills because they want you to think that they got skinny with this pill and so can you. When in reality most of the celebrities that endorse certain products don't use those products at all. They just get paid for saying that they do use the product.

Celebrity endorsements don't always work in a companies favor though. The company never knows when something a celebrity does could impact what people think about them. It could then reflect upon the company. For example, the Tiger Woods case. Tiger Woods was caught having an affair. He was endorsed by a great deal of organizations such as Nike, Gatorade, and EA Games. Although Nike and EA Games did not drop him Gatorade did. I am not entirely sure why they dropped him, but it would seem to me they wouldn't want their customers to think that they support him cheating. By continuing to support his career some may see it as they are over looking his infidelity. Nike didn't drop Tiger Woods because they think that in the long run, people will forget and the profit in the future is more than the loss they may be experiencing right now. So, although celebrity endorsements have the potential of creating great wealth for a company they can also cause loss.

Do you think that you are more attracted to products that are endorsed by your favorite celebrities? Have you ever stopped using a product that was endorsed by a celebrity who acted in a way you didn't agree with?

In response to Elizabeth's Question

"What do you think about brand loyalty? Are you guilty of it as well?"

I think everyone is guilty of brand loyalty. Whether it be for status purposes or because one has come to find that a certain brand works best. I think that brand loyalty can help and hurt a company. When one person is loyal to a brand they are feel strongly about it and at times can convince others to become loyal of that brand. They also probably have been using a certain brand for a longer period of time so they hold a lot of information on the brand.

The downfall to brand loyalty is if your brand isn't considered one that many are loyal too. This would make it hard to attract customers because they may not be able to find a person who uses your brand and will say good things about it. Also the problem with brand loyalty is that it makes it harder to change your brand. Usually people who are loyal to a specific brand like it the way it is. When a company changes their brand they run the risk of losing those customers who have been so loyal to them for so long. This may also make it hard for the company to try and reel in other customers who may be loyal to one of the competitors.

I would have to say that I am guilty of brand loyalty. I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing though. Those brands that I am loyal to have come to have my constant business because of their reliable products. For instance, I am loyal to the store Coach. I have a very hard time purchasing a purse that isn't from that store. Since they are expensive I may not be able to buy an new purse each year but the reliability of their products, and long life of their products is what makes me loyal to them. Also, I am guilty of becoming loyal to brands that are popular. Which is another reason why I am loyal to Coach.

Do you have any brands that you have any brands who you have been loyal to and the company then changed things and lost your loyalty?

"iPad apps, 1,350 and counting"

This article is focusing on the amount of applications the iPad already has compared to the iphone. The iPad just recently was released but is not yet sold to the public. This article talks about how a certain website had gained insider information on what the new applications for this new technological device are. It also provides the prices for these applications. Although most of them are similar to the ones found on the iPhone that fact that they can also now be transferred onto the iPad provides more incentive for those with the iPhone to upgrade to this new device.

The article states that the website they got this information from is one of the websites that always seems to have the most reliable information from the Apple store. It seems to me that Apple is allowing this company to get this information probably because they want it to be released. It may seem like it is insider information but in reality I think that that the Apple store is leaking this information in order to get the iPad to have more appeal. It also gives a consumer more information on this product before it has even come out. By stating the number of apps that on the iPad and that the number is growing, they are trying to relay the information that the iPad will have even more apps than at the current time.

It seems that Apple is trying to make the iPad similar to the iPhone so that people who have the iPhone will upgrade to the iPad and won't have to worry about losing any information that they maybe have paid for to put on their iPhone. Do you think that the iPad will eventually become the iPhone and the iPhone will eventually phase out?