The African fashion market is growing spontaneously and everyone is striving to gain consumer attention and retention. One of the many ways fashion business owners are working hard to create awareness and gain trust about their product is to get celebrities or brand ambassadors to wear or endorse their product.
Brand ambassadors play a very vital role in the positioning of a brands Image. They become the face of the brand and most times use their personalities to promote the brand. Partnerships between a product and brand ambassadors are meant to increase awareness and generate consumer appeal and trust. In other cases it could go terribly wrong and affect the product’s revenue. Whether you are opting for a celebrity brand ambassador or brand advocate, consider the following when deciding on choosing a brand ambassador for your product.
1. Is the person credible?
When considering a brand ambassador for your product, it is imperative to do a thorough research on the personality and know who they are, what they do, what they represent and their values. Review their history and past affiliations with other brands. Be sure the person has a good track record that will make consumers trust him or her and which will certainly be translated onto your product. Consider someone who is trust worthy and can represent your brand at all times.
2. Is the person media friendly?
Brand ambassadors must be media-friendly and relate to all persons across board. They must be able to answer questions about your product and speak confidently and directly about your brand to the media and also help you in achieving your entire communication goal. Again, they should be able to properly deliver your message to the right target market. Being in a new media era, I will also add that the person must be tech-savvy thus being able to interact with brand users on social media platforms.
3. Can the person appeal to your target?
Different personalities appeal to different target markets. Your research should reveal to you the kind of personality that will appeal to your target consumers. Once consumers can identify themselves with a specific brand ambassador, they are most likely to go in for such products. Many a times, buying decisions are influenced by the desire to look or feel the exact way as the brand ambassador. The whole idea is to gain the confidence of prospective customers and also retain the loyalty of the existing ones.
4. Is the person a reflection of your brand?
Evidently, brand ambassadors are supposed to represent your product on diverse platforms therefore they ought to share the same values as you do. They should be using the brand or likely to use it. Portraying a contrasting representation could affect the entire integrated communication process of your brand. You are your brand, so is your brand ambassador.
5. Does the person have the tendency to drive sales?
The ultimate goal of every integrated marketing communications campaign is to drive sales. The celebrity or personality to be endorsed must have the tendency to drive people to make purchase. Their affiliation to your brand should get consumers engaged and create sales opportunities for your product.
Photocredit: heartifb.com
Faith Senam Ocloo
CEO
E’April Public Relations
Follow me on twitter @eaprilPR and @faithsenam
