NewsBytes: Celebrity Endorsements for the Primitive Brain, Making LEED Certification Irrelevant
1) In a New York Times article (6.22.08) on how celebrity sells, reporter Julie Creswell goes into some depth on how both brands and celebrities are getting a lot more creative (and involved) in their mutually beneficial marketing-related relationships. In the piece, Robert Cialdini, a professor of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University notes that even the most skeptical and savvy of consumers may still be susceptible to the celeb endorsement, because “…overloaded with information and stimulation, shoppers’ brains revert to a more primitive, raw association of celebrity and product.” But, be forewarned: identifying and developing the right mix in a celebrity-brand relationship is not simply a matter of “Angelina Jolie is hot right now - let’s have her pitch our garden tools.”
2) The following closes an article by Felicity Barringer, also in yesterday’s New York Times, about the shrinking and greening of trophy homes: “Frances Anderton, a KCRW radio host and Los Angeles editor of Dwell magazine, longs for the day when LEED recognition is irrelevant. ‘Architects should be offering a green building service,’ Ms. Anderton said, ‘without needing a badge of pride.’” Hear! Hear! The same applies to marketing to women - brands should be doing it, and well, without needing a badge of pride.
