week 6: Celebrity Branding
06:20
Sunday 13th November
In 2009, Britain saw Geordie pop singer Cheryl (formally
recognised as Cheryl Cole) as the poster girl for L’Oréal Hairspray products. Starring
in their TV advertisements, Cheryl used her illustrious glamour to represent
the product which saw her enveloped within gold, shimmery tones, which mirrored
the image of L’Oréal’s standard hairspray cans.
During 2009, Cheryl was
an extremely relevant figure within Britain’s popular culture. Having broken
away from Girls Aloud, the band that shot her to fame, Cheryl went solo within
her musical career and was also recognised as being the charming, glitzy judge
on ITV’s X Factor. Cheryl was later branded as ‘Britain’s Sweetheart’ by many
medial viewpoints, which makes her representative towards the brand even more
alluring to consumers. A major element to the products selling point is of
course the particular product in question: hairspray. Since appearing as a
judge on the reality show, Cheryl was always memorized for her glamourous
style, with the focus being on her chosen dress during live shows. The L’Oréal adverts
generally see Cheryl getting ready for a big night out, which is suggestive of
her getting ready for the X-Factor live shows for which she is adored by the
public. However, you also see her with minimal makeup and casual attire for an ‘everyday’
look, which significantly appeals to the wider audience of ordinary, working people. Since her familial association
with the brand, Cheryl has released her own type of hairspray with L’Oréal,
which is advertised as ‘Cheryl Limited Edition’. This appeals to its audience
as it implies that Cheryl herself uses the hairspray, attracting others to buy
it too. In the past, L’Oréal have used similar actresses who convey and are
recognised for their glamorous appeal, such as Julianne Moore and Eva Longoria.
We are surrounded by celebrity endorsement on every social
scale, including television, billboards and social media. It is evident that
social media has impacted a greater scale within celebrity branding, as its
purely easier for many celebrities to use personal social media platforms, such
as Twitter and particularly Instagram to advertise a product. Instagram for
example advocates many celebrities and even YouTube stars to caption their
photo with ‘#AD’ so it is clear that they have been paid to market a particular
product. The Kardashian’s are renowned for using their Instagram accounts to
sell products, including diet pills and waist trainers, to their eager fans. Many
YouTube stars who have a large number of impressionable subscribers are also
targeted to film videos indorsing a particular brand or product. Living in both
a heavily consumeristic society, as well as a digitalized one, will I believe
only see a greater rise in celebrity branding and adverts. Cheryl is a great
example as a celebrity brand as her face is still heavily printed upon
campaigns for L’Oréal.
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