Sporting icons have long been used in B2C advertising. Thierry Henry for Renault, David Beckham for Adidas and dare I say it George Foreman for the….ahem….Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine.
Initial thinking might lead you to the conclusion that B2B, and high technology marketing in particular, has been slower to adopt the celebrity endorsement. But actually the reality is that this is not true. For instance since 2003, Tiger Woods has been the centrepiece of Accenture’s advertising. The sporting world’s “ultimate symbol of high performance” serves as a metaphor for Accenture’s commitment to helping companies become high-performance businesses. Cute.
And low and behold today, in Computing Magazine another sporting celebrity with cause to endorse an I.T. product. It’s an enormous pity Minolta’s campaign isn’t quite so well thought through though.
Somehow taking a picture, capturing a toothy grin and adding the strapline “The Skills to win” doesn’t quite cut it. Even if we are talking Ronaldinho. And that Minolta Football kit. OMG!
Lets face it. Accenture wins hands down. Now in its fifth year, the campaign is no doubt widely recognised by IT buyers around the globe.
Accenture has clearly spent big on this initiative. And their research and findings are no doubt the outcome of comprehensive studies. But lets face it, the creative idea “We know what it takes to be a Tiger” surpasses a cheesy grin from the worlds best footballer any day of the week or year.
Filed under: Advertising, B2B, BBC, Branding, Business, marketing, technology , Accenture, Advertising, B2B, B2C, celebrity, endorsement, Milnolta, Ronaldinho, Tiger Woods
They’re both terrible pieces of celebrity endorsement. Poor executions and a poor brand investment. In this day and age, we want experts, not heroes. If anything most celebrity endorsement says – “our products are average & we couldn’t think of anything else”.
Steve.
Thanks Steve.
I’d really like you to expand on the Accenture execution if you can?
It’s a no brainer that Minolta’s is…er…ugly and awkward, but why do you feel Accenture’s is terrible? I have to say I think it is very good.
I hear what you are saying about ‘Heroes’, but their analogy with regard to High Performance’, using Tiger in the creative execution works for me……..
Steve has promised more info. Based in Australia, he is getting some sleep and will return. Just thought I’d pass it on :-)
Chris, here’s why don’t like either of them, but firstly, the Tiger execution is certainly better than Ronaldinho.
In my view it has really poor cut through. It’s a page turner, unless you’re into golf. Then, if you are into golf, the link to the advertising idea is tenuous at best. Although it’d probably feature in a business or airline magazine, the target is still time poor. How oftn do we read a page worth of text for an adv? It also doesn’t lend itself well to a campaign idea. I’ve seen the light filled billboards in the airport with the ‘be a tiger’ line alone and it doesn’t say much at all for Accenture. is it a Nike Ad? Most important I don’t think it has a single minded proposition. It doesn’t tell me why to change who i’m using in a succinct manner. It’s more like a corporate brochure than something which will ultimately get attention, change behaviour and get a potential customer take notice of Accenture.
This is of cource, just my view.
Cheers, Steve.
Thanks Steve. I respect your view, and the time you’ve taken to comment fully. Certainly food for thought and I will take a look at the ad again ‘through your eyes’ as it were.
All the best
[...] Ronaldinho versus Tiger February 14, 2008 at 11:48 am | In advertising | Tags: advertising, ronaldinho, Tiger, woods Good post about the difference between getting a pitchman and making an advertisement. [...]