When it comes to China, they all look the same. Celebrity endorsements, that is.
That's the findings of a new report from Millward Brown with Ogilvy China, titled "Middle Kingdom’s Celebrities-to-be: Faceless People and Unsung Heroes – Imperatives for Celebrity Advertising in China."
It seems that the celebrity endorsement has become so popular in China that overlapping shilling is causing mass confusion.
Generally, brands' concerns over their celebrity endorsements extend only to the current cultural currency of the celebrity in question. As is the case beyond China, brands want to be associated with a hot celebrity that consumers want to positively identify with.
In China (and Jennifer Lopez's house), the paradox of this is that the hot celebrity of the moment can haphazardly accrue numerous, simultaneous endorsements. In China, this flood of celebrity pitch people appears to have muddled the message and confused consumers.
The Financial Times, a little cattily, explains the problem laid out by the report: "Actress/singer Jolin Cai, for example, endorses 14 products from McDonald’s to Levi’s – despite the fact that her ability to fit into the latter might be impaired by too much consumption of the former."
The end result is a marketplace so flooded with familiar faces that, at the end of the day, leaves consumers unable to recall which brand is endorsed by which celebrity.
A chart from the report lays out exactly why this is a particularly large problem in China.
Yet, it's understandable why brands trying to reach Chinese consumers would choose this path. For example, a 2008 study titled "A Comparison of American and Chinese Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Athlete Celebrity Endorsers" found that "relative to U.S. consumers, Chinese consumers are considerably more receptive to ads featuring athlete celebrity endorsers, especially toward the information contained in these ads. Thus, in today’s business climate, China seems to offer a large and receptive market for ads with ACEs."
Ogilvy and Millward Brown's new findings aren't entirely surprising, in this regard. As early as 2009, the China Market Research Group found similar results in a study. Looking at celebrity Liu Xiang, a Chinese star hurdler, the group set out to test consumer recall for Liu's dozen or so endorsements. Results did not speak well to Liu's partners:
"Nike was a lock, since people could make the connection between a star athlete and Nike products, but Visa, Cadillac and Yili, among others had single- and low-double-digit recognition rates as brands Liu Xiang represented. Furthermore, fewer than 20% said that an endorsement by Liu Xiang would make them buy products from any of the companies except Nike."
My own firsthand experience reinforces these findings. While in Shanghai last month, it seemed every turn was met with a new three-story-high ad featuring Jackie Chan or Karen Mok, until I completely forgot which brands the stars had been associated with. This despite a scathing review last year chronicling the questionable quality of the numerous products Chan has lent his face to.
Notably, Ogilvy contributed to that piece, with a spokesman saying Chan's continued popularity was because "It's rare to be in the industry for so long and also be clear of controversy." Meanwhile, we recently noted Mok's role in Cadillac's new China campaign here on brandchannel.
Even the often-behind-the-curve China Daily has jumped on the "too many celebrities" survey of China's advertising, noting last week that "40 percent of advertisements geared toward youths feature at least one celebrity."
Celebrity endorsements in the China marketplace will not vanish anytime soon, but if even the China Daily is coming down on their effectiveness, it might be time that brands demand more out of their respective stars' paydays. The report suggests that future endorsements use celebrities not as models but as “value based role models" who will help guide and shape consumer character, instead of just standing in for a two-dimensional "buy this" message.
Reader's Note: The author of this piece appeared in Jiang Wen's 2000 Cannes Festival Grand Prix-winning film Devils on the Doorstep (鬼子来了) and starred in the video for the hit song "Wan Shua" (玩耍) by "Vicki" Zhao Wei (赵薇). He is available for "value based" product endorsements targeting the China market.
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