FILIPINOS are star struck and personalities are always good channels to tap when selling a product.
But while actors and actresses can command millions of pesos in fees when they lend their faces beside a product, no Filipino athlete with a “star quality” has emerged who can command the same rates as Sharon Cuneta or Aga Muhlach.
These two are the most expensive celebrity endorsers in the country, charging rates ranging between P5 million and P25 million.
“Brands stand for something in the minds of consumers. And when you get an endorser you get someone who represents the set of meanings of your brand,” explains Micky Domingo, executive creative director of McCann Erickson Phils., one of the country’s largest ad agency.
It is in the choice of the endorser vis-?-vis the values a brand espouses that determine the effectivity of the move.
“If the brand character and his (endorser) own personality match, they’re a perfect fit. The key is authenticity.”
When he says authenticity, he means the endorser promoting the product must be believable and credible.
But Micky cites exceptions. TV host Kris Aquino for example, swears by designer bags and outfits yet local bag makers targeting the lower income groups, get her as endorser. And she appears effective.
At the same time, Micky says the Filipinos are forgiving. Thus there were no pullouts of endorsers even when Kris admitted on television she contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
Unlike in the US when the slightest scandal affecting an endorser prompts the advertiser to immediately pull the plug.
When it comes to sports, Micky points out athletes still seem limited at present to endorsing “performance-based products.”
And the going rate for athletes—about P700,000 to P1 million—remains a far cry from the celebrity endorsers’ rates.
Take boxer Manny Pacquiao’s endorsements. He endorses Darlington socks; “No Fear” apparel; Alaxan, Revicon I-ON, Dolly Tuna and Sardines. He has a boxing reality show in TV called “Kamao;” and has recorded a song called “Para sa ‘yo.”
“It’s a bit tricky with athletes. They usually endorse performance products as if to suggest that they perform better,” Micky says.
He points out also that athletes, unlike celebrities, are sometimes popular only over a certain period—when there is a major event they are competing in or just after this major event. Therefore from an advertiser’s point of view, effectivity of athletes as endorsers may still be limited.
“For sure, we have no Michael Jordan with his good boy, charismatic looks. People like to emulate him,” states Micky.
