Using celebrities can be a crutch for a brand, but recent research shows that choosing the right celebrity can give your brand image a kick-start. You have to do more than choose someone who’s beloved, you have to choose someone whose ability to introduce your brand makes sense to the audience. The "My Life. My Card." campaign features celebrities like Wes Anderson who flaunts his card to get what he wants on a movie set. Is there someone well known to your audience who can capture their attention and explain your brand?

…Marketing Management Analytics, a unit of the Aegis Group, developed a method four years ago to calculate how much particular celebrities contribute to advertising campaigns. The company has found that stars often add significant value to commercials, but that value can differ based on the pairing of the celebrity and the company, said Ed See, chief operating officer of Marketing Management Analytics. Companies must carefully choose the celebrities they work with to make sure the celebrity’s image adds value to the company, he said. “The stars are a brand,” Mr. See said. “Now you’re managing the confluence of two brands. You have the core brand and then you have the celebrity brand, and, when that confluence is positive, the impact can be tremendous.”…

from NY Times: Seeing Stars. 2006-Oct-12, by Louise Story