The Side Note

A friend sent me an article this morning on neuromarketing from 80percentmental.com. In a nutshell, neuromarketing is the study and evaluation of consumer brain responses to marketing stimuli. Therefore, we can learn how certain tactics affect consumers biologically. Nifty, right?

When used to measure product endorsements by celebrities, there are three categories:

Source Credibility—the more you believe the celebrity knows about the product, the more credibility he or she has earned from you
Source Attractiveness—this pertains to how much you identify with and like the celebrity
Product Match-Up—how logical is it that the celebrity should endorse the product

Now then, let’s apply this.
80percentmetal.com used the doomed Tiger Woods / Buick and David Beckham / Pepsi endorsements for it’s analysis. (Both contracts were ended prematurely.) But here is some content we analyzed on our own:

Brooke Shields and VW

This is a totally credible endorsement. If Brooke Shields were doing this at the start of her career, some 25 years ago, there would be little credibility coming from her. But she is age appropriate for the product and she has kids of her own.
You also have to believe that Brooke has a sense of humor because she pulls the sarcasm off so spot-on that it matches her perfectly with VW branding. And as for attractiveness, who doesn’t either identify with or want to be Brooke Shields? Even guys want to be her. (Stop looking at me.)

Jessica Simpson and Pizza Hut

I don’t believe Jessica Simpson is an expert on any food, especially after the infamous Chicken of the Sea misfortune during her reality stint on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. Furthermore, after this aired, Jessica apparently told Elle magazine that she was allergic to cheese, wheat and tomatoes. So, why should I believe her endorsement of Pizza Hut? And no, I don’t want to be her.

Check out the full 80percentmental article here and see how it went wrong with Woods and Beckham. (Thanks Daniel)