Research Project for FMP

I also wanted to incorporate a previous project from my final year in media, we had to conduct a research project on our chosen but relevant topic. For this, I chose to investigate 'Are marketing collaborations between celebrities or influencers effective in increasing brand popularity?' I thought this is relevant to my current FMP as it is an in-depth look into if I could advertise my app with the use of celebrities and influencers much like Screenshop has. Are marketing collaborations between celebrities or influencers effective in increasing brand popularity?‘ is an in-depth look into whether it is worth the time and money of marketing companies to invest in the use of celebrities to endorse their products or use social media to as space for brands to have their products talked about by influencers. With the rise of ‘youtube stars’ or those making their fame and success through social media platforms there comes a time where the question needs to be asked, is it worth it? With some stars such as the Kardashians charging an estimated £500,000 for an annual sponsorship with some companies it is clear that there is some investigating to be carried out.

It is safe to say that in summary, the results after doing my thorough research were not to be as expected. Follow the page of any celebrity or ‘influencer’ with over 70,000 followers and you are sure to see something of a sponsored post with a special discount code here or an over photoshopped model posing with the latest laxative tea there, social media platforms such as Instagram are a minefield for the latest vanity fads but with there being constant increase in the sponsored posts being seen online, it would be best to assume that brands working with popular online celebrities to endorse products would only mean it is successful, however after doing my own research this wasn't the case. Doing my survey to the general public really confirmed my doubts that in actual fact celebrity endorsed products are ineffective and do not seduce more buyers to the brand. Almost all of my participants said that they would not knowingly buy a product because a celebrity endorsed them, which is a difficult fact to wrap around considering the amount we see not only on social media but on traditional media such as television. In receiving this information, I contacted multiple brands that I knowingly have worked with celebrities and influencers asking them for some basic statistics on their online marketing sales, however, none of the brands I reached out to could give me the information. Overall, it is clear to see that marketing collaborations between celebrities or influencers do not increase brand popularity. Although I did more in-depth research, I thought as part of my FMP I would touch on the survey I performed to the general public as it is most relevant to my current work.

I wanted to gather some information from a large audience on if they had ever brought celebrity affiliated products, I created my survey through google forms and then sent it out to be answered through all of my social media pages. I thought it would be relevant to do this because my research is loosely based on social media, I also wanted to share it this way to attract some responses from a larger audience of people, for example; I could share a link from my snapchat by adding a 'swipe up' feature which meant all those who wanted to complete my survey had to do was swipe up and fill out the form instead of being redirected away from the app. I managed to get 20 people to answer my survey, which I feel like is a fair number to take on the feedback and reflect on what the general public had to say about celebrity endorsements. Unfortunately, I would have liked more, however, you can't push facebook friends or otherwise to take part if they choose not to. The first question I asked those who wanted to partake in my interview was their age, in response to this, I was happy with the overall collection of results being so varied. To me, this means that my survey has reached such a mass of different audiences for marketing companies to consider but also means for me a variety of opinions. The main bulk of those who answered my survey was in the 43-50 years category, which was strange to me due to it not being the bulk of my friend or contacts or followers that I have. Another constraint I found was that I have my own prejudices in assuming that those between the 43-50 aged bracket may not have a lot of social media and so will not buy into the influence market side of things;

The next question I wanted to ask my participants was 'Have you ever bought a product that has been endorsed by a celebrity?' I wanted to know this as part of my research as I wanted to have clear confirmation on if any of my participants would be willing to admit that they had brought a product spoken about by a celebrity honestly. For my results, a lot answered yes but to counteract this some answered that they had brought a product but they were unknowingly buying the product that was endorsed by a celebrity which is unfortunate when coming to a clear conclusion on if collaborations work between brands and influencers due to there being contradictions when consumers have been asked.

The third question I asked was 'Have you ever purchased a product that you have seen advertised on social media?' I wanted to ask this to see if consumers really do buy into advertisements they see on social media, with most replies stating 'yes' it seems like advertising through social media is clearly very successful.Following this, I wanted to diverge further into personal opinions of how consumers really feel about celebrity endorsed products, the overall impression that has been given is that consumers do not feel swayed but products that have influencers or celebrities as their face of the brand, which I found to be interesting, the fact that opinions are negative this would suggest that celebrity endorsements are not successful.

Overall, the survey was great research in getting to terms with what real life consumers of all demographics what from their social media and marketing. It has come to my attention that contrary to what my previous hypothesis would have been, it seems like the general public is quite anti-celebrity endorsed marketing, the most beneficial answers to me were the ones contributed by answering the question 'Have you ever purchased a product that has been endorsed by a celebrity?'

through analysing the research I have discovered It is clear that marketing collaborations between brands and celebrities are not as successful as once believed despite their popularity. Conclusive evidence from both consumers performing surveys and online articles, it rounds in to be against celebrity endorsed products such as one participant stating ‘it can make celebrities look like sellouts’ which I thought to be a reflective statement due to the fact that there is a constant stream of celebrity ads splashed through social media, print media and other advertising placements, never the less I must take in my own research and statistics over assumptions made at the beginning. It seems to me that using celebrities to market products no longer works due to the grade of transparency that brands must give consumers deflecting back on themselves and repelling new buyers to the products, another hypothesis I have is that much of society no longer wants to conform to idolising a certain status of credible celebrity as it can be seen as ‘vain’ or ‘uneducated’. There has been a shift from the advertisements those may have seen with the likes of Monroe on the front cover to sell more products to now, where it is expected for society should create their own paths in life instead of following the life of an idol.

This project has really made me look in-depth into such a huge way advertising decides to market their products. I feel that for my FMP, I will no longer suggest the route of using a celebrities name or brand to push the products to a larger audience as it appears this is unsuccessful, instead I will avoid this route and think of new and creative ways to promote 'Snapthat' which I will explore in my experimentation.