Ask not what the celebrity can do for the product brand: ask what the product can do for the celebrity brand

For decades, the research of celebrities in marketing has centred on what celebrities can do for marketed product brands. Recently, celebrities are becoming high-equity brands themselves and the traditional research paradigm... [ view full abstract ]

For decades, the research of celebrities in marketing has centred on what celebrities can do for marketed product brands. Recently, celebrities are becoming high-equity brands themselves and the traditional research paradigm of what the celebrities can do for brands is out-dated. We suggest that the academic study of brands and celebrity endorsers needs to catch up with this new reality.

While Seno and Lukas (2007) highlight the relationship between celebrities and brands, and acknowledge that it is a form of co-branding with mutual effects on equity, little research has been conducted on the tangible benefits of celebrity co-branding.

It is argued that in certain markets celebrities can benefit from the awareness, image, credibility and brand equity of products and services, and that these brands can be used as vehicles to introduce the celebrity endorser, and their associated product offer, to new audiences.

A conceptual model is presented which seeks to understand how brands and celebrities, through co-branding, can be used as market entry vehicles for each other. We lay the foundation for future research and offer a theoretical model that attempts to identify tangible benefits that can be achieved through the co-branding of celebrities and products or services.