Brand ambassador

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Marketing

Marketing

Marketing management

Key concepts[show]
Promotional content[show]
Promotional media[show]

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Brand ambassador is marketing jargon for celebrity endorser or spokesmodel, a

person employed by an organization or company to promote its products or services. The
brand ambassador is meant to embody the corporate identity in appearance, demeanor,
values and ethics.[1] The key element of brand ambassadors lies in their ability to use
promotional strategies that will strengthen the customer-product/service relationship and
influence a large audience to buy and consume more. Predominantly, a brand ambassador
is known as a positive spokesperson, an opinion leader or a community influencer,
appointed as an internal or external agent to boost product/service sales and create brand
awareness. Today, brand ambassador as a term has expanded beyond celebrity branding
to self branding or personal brand management. Professional figures such as good-will
and non-profit ambassadors, promotional models, testimonials and brand advocates have
formed as an extension of the same concept, taking into account the requirements of
every company.

Contents

1 History
o 1.1 Rise of brand managers

1.2 Era of change

1.3 Evolution of brand managers to brand ambassadors
2 Contemporary terms
o 2.1 Celebrity branding
o 2.2 Self-branding
3 Professional figures
o 3.1 Goodwill ambassador
o 3.2 Promotional model
o 3.3 Testimonial
o 3.4 Brand advocate
4 See also
5 References
o
o

History
Rise of brand managers
The concept of brands and brand marketing have evolved over decades. Traditionally,
consumers were familiar with only a few products that were available in the market.
Beginning from the 1870s a number of companies began pushing 'branded products,'
which familiarized consumers with more brands. From 1915 through the 1920s,
manufacturer brands were established and developed further, which increased companies'
reliance on brand advertising and marketing. However, the Great Depression led to a
severe drawback in brand progress, as companies were left with few ways to increase
revenue and get their business back on track. For the sake of their brand and survival in a
hopeless market, companies such as Procter and Gamble, General Foods and Unilever
developed the discipline of brand management.[2] The "brand manager system" refers to
the type of organizational structure in which brands or products are assigned to managers
who are responsible for their performance.[3]

Era of change
From the early- to mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, more firms moved toward adopting brand
managers. The sudden boom in the economy, followed by a growing middle class
population and birth rate, increased the demand for products within the market. This led
to a steady competition among a number of manufacturers who found it hard to get their
products noticed amidst the pre-existing brands. By the year 1967, 84% of large
consumer packaged goods manufacturers had brand managers.[3] Brand managers were
also being referred to as "product managers" whose sole priority shifted from simply
brand building to boosting up the company's sales and profit margin. "The product
manager is man of the hour in marketing organizations.... Modern marketing needs the
product manager," raved one 1960's article.[4]
Over the course of several years, brand managers continued to exist as a medium that
would help boost company revenue. In the 1990s, Marketing UK highlighted that brand

managers are a part of an "outdated organizational system" while "the brand manager
system has encouraged brand proliferation, which in tum has led to debilitating
cannibalization and resource constraints."[5]

Evolution of brand managers to brand ambassadors

From the 1990s to early 2000s, brand management itself evolved as brand asset
management. Davis defined Brand Asset Management Strategy as a balanced
investment approach for building the meaning of the brand, communicating it internally
and externally, and leveraging it to increase brand profitability, brand asset value, and
brand returns over time.[6]

Contemporary terms
Celebrity branding
Using celebrities as brand ambassadors is hardly a new concept. Creswell highlights that,
"film stars in the 1940s posed for cigarette companies, and Bob Hope pitched American
Express in the late 1950s. Joe Namath slipped into Hanes pantyhose in the 1970s, and
Bill Cosby jiggled for Jell-O for three decades. Sports icons like Michael Jordan and
Tiger Woods elevated the practice, often scoring more in endorsement and licensing
dollars than from their actual sports earnings."[7]
Large corporations realized that the overall image of a brand ambassador within society is
an integral element to attract consumer attention. As a result, there was a substantial
increase in celebrities as brand ambassadors, it was assumed that integrating a celebrity to
a brand would increase chances of it being sold, which made companies value the
business ideal of a 'brand ambassador.' The case study of the famous watch brand Omega,
illustrates that the brand faced a severe crash in sales in the 1970s due to the Japanese
Quartz phenomenon. Michault believes that, "by the time Omega had seen the error of its
ways, the damage to its reputation was done. From the 1970s to the end of the 1990s, it
was no longer seen as a luxury watch company." [8] It was then for the first time in 1995,
that Ms. Cindy Crawford became the new face of Omega, introducing the age of the
celebrity brand ambassador. The man behind this marketing ploy was believed to be JeanClaude Biver, whose strategy changed the entire landscape for branding in the future.
During this time, many companies expanded their annual budgets to meet the financial
liabilities that came with celebrity endorsing.
Celebrities are popular and followed by many people so it makes sense that marketers
benefit from using them in order to get their message across. A celebrity can capture
consumers' attention link the brand with their own personal image and associate their
positive attributes with those of the product concerned. However, in some cases celebrity
branding could go terribly off the script and affect product revenue.For example, recent
doping charges on Lance Armstrong cost him $30 million in endorsements. Celebrity,
world-famous athlete, he stepped down as the chairman of Livestrong. On the other hand,
Nike sponsor to the athlete and U.S cycling team stated in a press release,"due to the

seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and

misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our
contract with him."[9]

Self-branding
According to Giriharidas,"the personal-branding field or self-brand traces its origins to
the 1997 essay The Brand Called You, by the management expert Tom Peters."[10]
Contemporary theories of branding suggest that brand ambassadors do not need to have a
formal relationship with a company in order to promote its products/services. In
particular the Web 2.0 allows all individuals to choose a brand and come up with their
own strategies to represent it. Biro believes that "everyone owns their own personal
brand. Companies and leadership must see the value of this concept for a successful
social workplace recipe. If a brand ambassador chooses to represent the company and/or
its brands, the individual should do so in a transparent way." [11] Self-branding is an
effective way to help new businesses save the hassle of hiring brand ambassadors,
training them and then realizing they are not good enough for the company. In addition, it
is an effective tool in order to target a niche audience and allows one to take sole control
of their own brand representation. On the other hand, branding one's own product/service
creates an instant connection with the audience and helps the brand stand out in
comparison to other known brands that use popular celebrities or hire brand ambassadors.
Reis propagates her branding mantra, "think about other people. Think about the
impressions you are making on friends, neighbors, business associates. Think about your
brand."[12] Creating a personal branding strategy is an effective way to attract audience
attention. She gives the example of Marissa Mayer, CEO Yahoo. According to Laura
Ries, Marissa is successful because she has what most people dont "she has a brand."

Professional figures
Goodwill ambassador
A Goodwill ambassador is an honorary title and often linked with non-profit related
causes. Their primary function is to help non-profit organizations spread their message
across. Predominantly, goodwill ambassadors are celebrity advocates or known
personalities, who use their fame and talent to get funding, donations, encourage
volunteers to participate and raise awareness towards the organization's cause. In the past
many organizations such as UNESCO have endorsed their cause through UNESCO
Goodwill Ambassador. These celebrities or known personalities are picked according to
the organizations' intended audience and if fully invested in the cause they are promoting
they can greatly influence the process of persuading others. Goodwill ambassadors make
widely publicized visits to the world's most troubled regions, and make appeals on behalf
of their people and the organization. For example, the United Nations Goodwill
Ambassadors include famous celebrities like Angelina Jolie for UNHCR, David
Beckham, Shakira for UNICEF, Christina Aguilera for WFP and Nicole Kidman for UN
Women.

Promotional model
A promotional model exists in the form of a spokesmodel, trade show model and
convention model. Each of these models carry out functions beyond representation of the
company in a positive light. The main difference between a brand ambassador and a
promotional model is in the way they represent the product/service. In many cases, unlike
brand ambassadors, a promotional model may give the audience a live experience that
reflects the product or service being branded. They may be required to promote the brand
at simply one to many occasions while a brand ambassador is often tied down to one
particular brand through the means of a contract over a period of time.Promotional
models are required to be physically present at the venue as per the requirements of the
marketing campaign, however brand ambassadors are most often referred to as the face of
the brand. Promotional models are most often found in trade shows exhibits (in some
cases referred to as "booth babes"), conventions and in print, digital or selected
advertisements for the brand from time to time. The employment of so-called "booth
babe" models at trade show exhibits and conventions has been criticised by some.[13]

Testimonial
Testimonial is simply a way of conveying assurance, in this case assurance is provided by
the testimonial of the company or product/service in question in a written or spoken
manner. A testimonial does not advertise the product freely unlike the role of the brand
ambassador. A brand ambassador performs the function of a testimonial but a testimonial
is not a brand ambassador. By simply providing a testimonial for a product/service, one
need not be an ambassador for the same. For example, a customer can be a testimonial,
since a testimony could be formal or informal "word of mouth" advocating the positive
facets of the product. On the other hand, a consumer could not always be brand
ambassador, since the latter is more commercial and is often considered as a position
bound by monetary and professional liabilities. To a certain degree, celebrity
endorsements provide testimonials for the product/service they are marketing. However,
with the advent of the digital age testimonials have reached an all time high. A large
number of websites feature a "go to" tab where one can put down reviews or testimonials
for the product/service. This has led to an increase in fake reviews, where companies
have chosen to pay people to get their positive feedback. According to a study conducted
by the research firm Gartner, "one in seven reviews/testimonials posted online by the end
of next year is likely to be false. Other estimates put the number as high as one in
three."[14]

Brand advocate
Fuggetta highlights that a brand advocate is a marketing term for "highly satisfied
customers and others who go out of their way to actively promote the products they love
and care about, they are a different breed altogether.[15] " Further, he states that they are
50% more influential than an average customer. Often a positive experience with a brand,
successful customer-service relationship motivates a brand advocate to express their
positive feelings towards a brand. Traditionally, a brand advocate would sing praises of a

brand and this would circulate through 'word of mouth' or other similar channels.
However, in the digital age social media tools have allowed brand advocates to express
themselves on forums such as Twitter, Facebook by 'tweeting' about a brand experience
or 'liking' the brand itself. Rubin believes, "when customers seek you out via social,
theyre looking for an opportunity to build an emotional connection. So give it to them."