Will Taylor Swift cue a growth in the Celebrity Endorsement Era?
The NFL is a juggernaut.
Of the top-25 most-watched U.S. TV Broadcasts in 2022, all but two were football. (The other two being a State of the Union address, and mid-term elections, both of which needed multiple networks to get to the top 25.)
It's also consistently the most talked-about event every Monday after a content-rich weekend.
So the surprise was real when the Taylor Swift phenomenon started a week and a half ago. Not that she showed up to games. But that there was actually a celebrity that helped move the needle for attention and ratings for the NFL.
We've all seen sports games where talent like Jay Z, Beyonce, Leonardo Dicaprio, The Rock, and so on and so on have attended games. But rarely does it make as much noise as this situation did.
Which immediately got me thinking. WHY?
And the answer in my opinion, as always, is storytelling.
It's not just that Taylor Swift showed up at an NFL game, but it's the fact that there was this unknown about what she was doing there. The hype that she might be ::gasp:: dating an NFL Pro Bowler! Her mom was there too!? What was she doing there??? Was he meeting her mom for the first time?
We've been pre-conditioned to invest in a story like this since childhood. Think of your days of walking through school, wondering whether the school's popular girl was interested in the star athlete. Think of all the rom-coms that have been built on this single premise. Now it's playing out in real life! And the aura of vagueness about what's happening? That allows for discussion and debate. And social media??? The clicks. Ohhhh yessss. The clicks.
So, as this becomes the in-season drama of the year, and brings in a whole new audience, teen girls (Viewership among teen girls age 12-17 spiked 53% compared to a typical Sunday night game), marketers are obviously noticing.
State Farm had a very smart and witty take on the whole situation, by having Travis (and Jason) Kelce's mom sit with Jake from Statefarm at the Eagles game. And that's a great way to play with this type of media exposure with a tongue-in-cheek nod to what's happening. But the fear is that many brands are going to try and take the easy way out, and just have a celebrity with a high Q-quotient do some commercials with their product and call it a day.
Donna Kelce and Jake...from State Farm
As someone who has had his share of working with celebrity campaigns; (Matthew McConaughey and the Lincoln Motor Company, Sarah Jessica Parker and Invivo Wines, Blackened Whiskey and Metallica, 2Chainz and Jägermeister), there is certainly a right way to approach these opportunities, and a way to squander all the massive appeal that these great individuals bring to the table.
Just putting someone's face/likeness and attaching it to your product with a cute or witty headline is only going to go so far. The goal is to find something unique about the individual, or a storyline that you can tell with them...and only them.
We will certainly see many celebrity endorsements, stunts, and placements in the next year or so, because much like the NFL, marketing is a copycat league. It will be interesting to see who has the creative juices to bring some originality, daring, and boldness into their programs, and who will be just a pretty face next to a product with a headline.
If you ever want our opinion, you know where to find us.
