What Do We Have in Common??
What’s in a Name? Celebrity Endorsements and The Charitable Sector By: Nora MacLeod
Celebrity Culture “people want to be associated with a celebrity, and do so by purchasing the goods or services or donating money or time to a cause the celebrity recommends” (Domino, 14)
Recent Story Vancouver Sun Article (Oct ) Food Network Chef Ned Bell Raising funds for breast cancer research “Celebrity volunteers like Bell are the public face of a fundraising machine that takes in donor dollars and directs the money into life-saving research.” blic+face+fundraising/ /story.html#ixzz12q PHSHoShttp:// blic+face+fundraising/ /story.html#ixzz12q PHSHoS
The Connection “Celebrities are most effective when their life experience is connected to the message” (Domino, 17) Example: Michael J. Fox Raised awareness for stem cell research for debilitating diseases (West, 9) A Credible Celebrity
Young Celebrities Q
Targeting a Group Justin Bieber brings an audience of young female fans Would you want this for your organization? What could be the benefits?
Considerations Costs – is there any cost to having a celebrity endorser? Relevance – are they relevant to the cause? Sustainability – is their fame lasting? Watch out for scandals! Managing – who will manage the needs of a celebrity?
What to Make of This? “Charities can benefit from celebrity endorsements because stars can bring publicity to a cause by creating an emotional attachment with the public” (The New York Times Magazine, 2008 qtd in Park & Cho) Resource:
Discussion Who can you think of is directly connected with a cause that they endorse – do you find this lends credibility to the cause? Can celebrity endorsement become too overwhelming? Is one celebrity better then many or vice versa?
Works Cited drive.htmlhttp:// drive.html West,Darrell M. “Angelina, Mia, Bono: Celebrities and International Development.” Brown University. _blum_roundtable/2007west.pdf _blum_roundtable/2007west.pdf Domino, Tracie M. “Toward An Integrated Communication Theory For Celebrity Endorsement In Fund Raising.” Shore, Randy. “The Public Face of Fundraising.” The Vancouver Sun. Oct ml ml