In the big bad world of marketing, there are innumerable tools that can be used to successfully capture the attention of the public and to endear one's self to them in some way or another. Most marketing campaigns are composed of at least two fronts: PR and advertising. The PR end is the non-tangible, while the advertising is the paid and obvious. However, it isn't enough just to create visibility and highlight the strong suits of your sell. You also need to gain the trust of the public who is, after all, completely used to the sales pitch languaging. If you've ever been to Seattle, you may have noticed just how many places promised to be the "best coffee in Seattle," which is a town of great coffee consumption to be sure, but it can't all be the best coffee...unless the whole city is completely devoid of anything less than "best" in which case the word loses its meaning.
Coffee aside, the reality is that building a rapport with the public and gaining their trust is something that can take time. The product has to be proven reliable, the company must do well. Fortunately, there are ways to speed this process along. Take media placement, for example. In media placement, a company works with an agency to bring talent in to speak for the product, participate in an advertising or PR campaign, or endorse the product or service. The air of celebrity is one that has not worn off yet, despite a growing number of citizens who are becoming famous for being famous...usually involved a fair amount of tabloid press on their less dignified moments. Those, of course, are usually not the best choices for talent unless the followers and fans are in your target demographic- and then they are one of the best sells possible.
When you hear "celebrity" you might immediately think "movie star" and this is because that is a medium in which we are used to seeing people transition from being on the screen in a show to on the screen telling us about a show and perhaps even appearing in the rare or prestigious ad. Using celebrity faces to give a louder voice to social issues is certainly nothing new. A celebrity can give a call to action that is heard by a much larger percentage of the population than might otherwise hear it. If you want your message to be heard and trusted, media placement should be a considered route of action for your organization.
In the world of public relations and advertising, aligning brands with an appropriate celebrity makes for a good media placement strategy. You can also use celebrity talent to give voice to social issues.
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