The ”big” Middle Eastern carriers spend a lot of money on marketing. Given that they’re largely built with the intention of transportingpassengerswho aren’t actually traveling to/from the Middle East, it’s important for them tobuild brand awareness and also seem relatable.
Continue reading: Jennifer Aniston Signs $5 Million Deal With Emirates
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I find celebrity endorsements odd. Everyone knows they're being paid for it, so it seems unlikely anyone would really choose a company based solely on the fact that they paid a particular celebrity to endorse them.
@ jon: it's odd but is quite effective! 🙂
I agree with Lucky, Anniston is a very interesting choice and because of Friends (and all those comedy films), I bet more recognizable as Kidman in some markets.
@yuri, Lucky
Given the recent hoopla from the US3 I think this may actually be a very wise choice. The fact that the ME3 are gaining more and more of a foothold in the United States, and with the US3 crying foul, having a girl-next-door spokesperson may be the kind of image Emirates wants to convey so as to win over the US public. Emirates clearly has one of the highest-rated soft and hard products on the market, and the choice of Jennifer Aniston isn't going to change that; people who fly Emirates F and J products aren't likely to switch because they think Aniston is too low-brow. However, people who might not otherwise consider flying them, especially on some 5th Freedom routes, may now do so.
In my opinion ,Jennifer Aniston is a perfect choice for the emirates airline campaign add. The whole world adored her and recognized her from her part from the sitcom series, friends. She is the girl next door and that males her repayment l relatable.
I cannot understand the appeal behind either. They're both largely irrelevant in 2015.
Celebrity endorsement marketing is less about persuasion these days then it is about competing for attention. You want a very familiar face and voice to cause heads to pop up from tablets, etc. It's not so much that you expect your star to sell your product as much as grab ears and eyeballs (therefore it's general interest in the star that counts) in this attention deficit landscape.
I think it is a smart move by Emirates, because Jennifer Aniston has excellent visual and speech recognition from the punters (more so than Nicole Kidman, particularly for speech). Jennifer is just there to get you to pay attention, Emirates will give you the hard sell on the rest.
She lost me after I saw Office Space. Profiting off a movie that stereotypes and denigrates office support staff, honest people trying to make a living combating all sorts of job pressures like low pay collusion and outsourcing, is not something to look up to.
I think more people will identify with her than Kidman. Smart move in my view. And frankly, I'm grateful it wasn't an athlete endorsement.