eBusiness Weekly
Dr Musekiwa Tapera
Companies invest large sums of money to align their brands and corporate images with celebrity endorser’s qualities such as attractiveness, likeability and trustworthiness.
It is an investment that should guarantee returns. A celebrity endorsement must create value to a brand, product or service. It is a business decision carefully planned and executed.
Oliver Mutukudzi and other celebrities in Zimbabwe are “gems” that can be leveraged upon to uplift the brand status of Zimbabwe taking advantage of their attractiveness likeability and credibility. Tuku was a strong brand himself and could fit into celebrity endorsement because he possessed the qualities of attractiveness, credibility, expertise and trustworthiness.
As discussed before, his brand elements of simplicity, humility, credibility, trustworthiness, expertise, pulling power and forthrightness were appropriate for supporting or enhancing Zimbabwe’s standing on the global arena. It was an opportunity lost but can be remedied by getting strategic with current and future celebrities taking into account that we did not exploit the talents and skills of Kirsty Conventry, Mikoomba, Thomas Mapfumo, Peter Ndlovu and many others.
Sources of Celebrity Endorsement
The spirit of the people in a country must sit at the core (heart) of the country thus driving its strategy and direction. It represents the core values and ethos of a country. It is argued that the core of a country’s brand must capture the spirit of its people, their vision, their national spirit and culture.
The spirit of the people in an embodiment of the spirit of the country. Tuku and his genre of music encapsulated the spirit of Zimbabwe, its people and culture.
It was representative of the values and norms of a people. In all this, Tuku was a brand whose talent and other brand elements were no longer his own or her family but a national embodiment of what was Zimbabwean.
The spirit of the people as reflected by their values and the spirit of the country are deeply connected.
The spirit of the people embodies deeply seated values that endures the test of time and remain firm and constant even under changing circumstances. Tuku’s celebrity power and the values he stood for would trigger ecstasy and frenzy in audiences and across and would ignite what was truly Zimbabwean even in foreign audiences.
Oliver Mutukudzi’s music riding on a mixture of the drum, konga’s, hosho, marimba and the elephant (Samanyanga) dance antics and melodious backing vocals could not be mistaken for any other type of music but truly Zimbabwean.
It would tickle something Zimbabwean in foreign audiences. He was a marvel to watch, a source of pride, and a cultural dynamite that could not be confused with any other.
Attractiveness
Tuku’s attractiveness was based on the perception of the source’s social value as measured by his physical attributes (a tall, slim, dark complexion and husky voice and personality, likeability and personal branding. Being attractive encompasses more than just physical appearance, it also involves a number of virtues that people might associate with a famous endorser.
Physical attractiveness suggests that a celebrity determines the effectiveness of persuasion and as a result of that people want to be like the celebrity endorser thereby want to identify themselves with that celebrity. Our brains tend to pay more attention to celebrities that to average people and to process information relevant to them more quickly.
Tuku stood out conspicuously on all these attributes.
Celebrities support corporate image issues and brand attitudes. Attractiveness is a social value that can enhance business and bring value to entities.
The main reason for the efficiency of celebrities power is that this special group of people encompasses cultural meanings and they represent important categories such as social classes demographic groups and status groups.
It is therefore essential that the celebrity matches the features or attributes of the brand. Tuku’s flair, style, outlook, dance routines, energy on stage, guitar playing skills and commanding husky voice were the ingredients. Zimbabwe could depend upon to uplift the Zimbo brand.
This is because the alignment between the celebrity and the brand will determine how successful the partnership will become. The advertisement in which the celebrity and brand have a degree of fitness, have more ability to influence the customer buying behaviour.
Companies just like nations or destinations, therefore look for a good fit between the endorser and the brand attributes.
Trustworthiness
This entails consumers’ confidence in the source for providing information in an objective and honest manner. Marketers take advantage of these set of values by employing celebrities that are most regarded as trustworthy, honest, believable and dependable among their fans and people generally.
Having dealt with Tuku, these were key attributes of his character. In some cases, you wouldn’t believe that he was down to earth unassuming, grounded and honest as he was. The truthfulness and trustworthiness of the celebrity endorser are the foundation of the source of credibility model, which is built on the endorsers credibility to the extend to which customers perceive the endorsing company as a credible business.
Trustworthiness fundamentally to a customers’ view is that the endorser is sincere, credible and dependable. Consumers have a more personal relationship with the brand which has an image which can be trusted.
An ideal celebrity is mainly when the brand and the celebrity image fit.
Expertise
Tuku had the expertise. Tuku had the knowledge. One would see it from the sound check sessions before a musical show. He would just clap hands and tell you the challenges/problems associated with a venue and would quickly recommend what needed to be done for proper acoustic. Such was his expertise.
Expertise can be defined as the perceived ability of a celebrity to make and provide valid assertions.
Expertise extends to a level to which customers believe that the endorser has knowledge, skills and experience about an issue or brand. It is important that consumers think and believe a celebrity has expertise. Tuku was such a character.
In conclusion, celebrity endorsements are agents of originality and authenticity in country branding.
They represent human assets that bring value to a country in branding context. Their value should be calculated to show their return on image, credibility, reputation and international visibility and recognition.
They cannot be taken for granted but must be utilised for a nation’s brand status.
