Celebrity endorsement by Emirates

Celebrity endorsement is a common tool for brands in creation a hard core of ambassadors capable to reach different community groups, to establish a direct contact between brand and clients. The pivotal purpose of celebrity endorsement is increase of brand awareness. Celebrity endorsement is argued to “reap huge rewards for a brand” (Frog-dog.com, 2014) It is argued that it can “help build trust with current and potential customers, increase the chances of being remembered, and attract a new type of audience “(WiseGEEK, 2014) Of course with the positive comes a few negatives; such as the celebrities making mistakes in the public eye could ruin a brands reputation. However, the last statement is not related to Emirates Airlines who endorses the most famous celebrities.

The recent Emirates’ brand advertisings on A380 promotion with celebrities endorsed made the buzz all over the world. The advertising  with Jennifer Aniston has been judged as viral marketing campaign  gathering more than 790,000 views on YouTube in the first 24 hours, the light-hearted, one-minute commercial uses humor to showcase the luxury of the Gulf airline.When Aniston was first announced as Emirates’ brand ambassador, the executives of  the company explained their choice for investments in celebrity endorsement: 

“You have to get Aniston to interact.  Jennifer Aniston’s appeal and effortless connection with a global audience makes her the perfect choice for our campaign. As one of the busiest women in Hollywood, Aniston, like many of our customers, enjoys downtime only when she is travelling. At Emirates, we ensure the experience is an exceptional one.”

As result, the ad shows this powerful star clad in a bathrobe frantically looking for the on-board shower and lounge, loofah and toiletries in hand, on an unspecified U.S. airline. Its storyline centers on Ms. Aniston having a nightmare where her plane doesn't have a bar, a shower or any of the perks that an Emirates A380 offers. Never afraid to satirize herself, Aniston puts on a game performance, and the ad is an effective way of getting Emirates' message across.

Luckily for the 46-year-old star, she wakes up to the luxurious surroundings of her own private suite in the Emirates First Class cabin, realising the whole episode was just a “nightmare.” Freshly showered, she is next seen tucking into a drink and snack in the flight’s onboard lounge, telling a sympathetic bartender about her dream.

Emirates Advertising with Jennifer Aniston

The ad’s slogan in this case is, “Wake up to flying as it should be.”

For Emirates,   Aniston’s girl-next-door charm and heart-warming, down-to-earth nature was key to a successful campaign, not just to show the Jennifer Aniston as a powerful superstar but allow her natural appeal to shine through and connect with a global audience, making luxurious aviation amenities seem within reach .Emirates’ Senior President of Marketing and Brand said on this advertising:

“In a departure from the usual airline industry ads, we chose to take a humorous approach to showcase the amazing products we offer on board. We couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the role than Jennifer Aniston and we wrote the script with her in mind. Her professionalism and comedic talent shone on the set and we are very pleased with the outcome.”

The cost of global brand endorsement deal was 5 $ million and the spending on it  was approximately 20 $ million to run advertisements featuring the Hollywood actress.

In a nutshell, it should be mentioned that celebrity can be considered as embodiment of brand which personality has been successfully delivered.

Resources:http://www.businessinsider.com/emirates-launches-20-million-campaign-starring-jennifer-aniston-2015-10

Picture credits: http://www.businessinsider.com/emirates-launches-20-million-campaign-starring-jennifer-aniston-2015-10

Video credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwYr4LAIUjk