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Smith, Pitt & Woods Have Highest Brand-Endorsement Equity

Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey have received the highest Celebrity-Brand (CeBra) scores in a recent survey from Millward Brown conducted in connection with the rollout of the firm’s new CeBra scoring system.

The system - which represents a somwehat scientific attempt to directly match brand and celebrity equity - aims to determine which celebrities might be the best fit for endorsing certain brands.

Millward Brown said that the new CeBra offering builds upon its previous findings and knowledge about brand strength by combining it with its latest research in neuroscience. The solution measures the power of both celebrities and brands by integrating consumer ratings of Familiarity (how much one knows about a celebrity/brand), Affinity (how strongly one likes or dislikes a celebrity/brand), and Buzz (how much “buzz” one thinks a celebrity/brand has) to arrive at a Cebra (Celebrity + Brand) Score. This information is then combined with a personality matching matrix for identifying brand and celebrity partners with the greatest marketplace potential.

Among a cross-section of celebrities measured, those with the top 10 CeBra Scores:

Additional survey findings:

• Reese Witherspoon, who holds the top spot among female celebrities for Affinity, matched well with Target and Avon, the latter of which she is currently a spokesperson.
• Twilight stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson had very similar scores and both matched well with H&M. Findings also show a potentialluxury car angle for Pattinson who had strong matches with both Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
• 17-year-old entertainer Miley Cyrus received a Cebra score of 61 (out of 100) which is equal to that of 78-year-old actor William Shatner. Despite the same score, however, the system indicates that Cyrus might make a good fit with L’Oréal or Starbucks while current Priceline.com spokesman Shatner, matched well with GEICO and Dell.
• Recent CMA Awards host Carrie Underwood scored 58 (out of 100) with analysis suggesting consumers wish they knew her better, though GUESS was identified as a potentially good fit.

As it relates to other potentially strong brand and celebrity pairings, the survey also found that Oprah Winfrey might match well with Amazon.com, Brad Pitt could be linked to Gap, and Taylor Swift could pair well with Target.

Following is an example of a CeBra profile for Swift, which maps her scores on the various dimensions:

“Many of our clients struggle with decisions around matching the right celebrity spokesperson with their brands, said Mary Ann Packo, CEO of Millward Brown North America, adding that the new tool is an extension of the work the firm already is doing to help leading marketers build and grow their brands.”

Best Celebrity Endorsers

A recent poll about the persuasiveness of celebrity endorsers by Harris Interactive found that business leaders and athletes make the most persuasive spokespeople. That research revealed that 37% of US adults say business leaders are the most persuasive when they endorse a product in an ad, while 21% say they find athletes to be most persuasive, 18% say TV or movie stars are most persuasive, 14% say singers or musicians, and and 10% who say former political figures are most persuasive.

About the survey: The study was conducted in connection with the launch of the new Cebra scoring system, and involved a survey of 2,000  adults between ages 18 and 64.