Radio Works: Advertisers Ditching Celeb Spokespersons

A growing number of consumers are paying closer attention to people that look more like them and have a compelling story to tell, data show. Only 11% of 1,682 respondents to an early January survey by Pittsburgh polling firm CivicScience said they were “much more” or “somewhat more” likely to buy a brand’s product when it collaborates with a celebrity or model. Most—89% of respondents—said they weren’t likely to be influenced by a famous face.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the use of celebrities and models have declined by at least 50% in the last five years, says Metaforce’s Mr. Adamson. “There is an incredible degree of skepticism,” he says, particularly among younger consumers. “It’s ‘I know the celebrity is being paid and isn’t really using that product,’” he says. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, have become a new kind of celebrity, he says, aided by the popularity of TV shows like “Shark Tank.”

Amy Errett

According to a survey by public-relations agency Edelman conducted last fall, 50% of respondents felt that “successful entrepreneurs” were credible company spokespeople versus 20% who felt that way about celebrities.

Video ads on Facebook for Madison Reed, a home-delivery hair color company, feature founder Amy Errett working on her laptop, wearing glasses and hugging her daughter. In radio ads, she explains how she named the company after her daughter. In these, she offers a product pitch designed to get the attention of women accustomed to spending hundreds of dollars and several hours each month in a salon: “Ammonia-free, salon-quality at home hair color for under $25.”

Customers fill out online questionnaires and send pictures of themselves to hair colorists at the company who determine what shades they need. Boxes of color, which cost $20 to $25, are delivered at home.

Just over a third of the brand’s advertising budget is radio ads, Errett says. Women often hear about the product while in their cars, driving to or home from work. When the company started advertising on the radio in 2016, it tried hiring a voice-over actor for a couple ads. But Ms. Errett’s own voice in ads outperformed the professional eight to one, says chief marketing officer Heidi Dorosin.

“It’s her authenticity. She’s your friend. She’s not Cindy Crawford, ” says Ms. Dorosin. The company increased its advertising budget for radio seven times in 2017. It has amassed over $70 million from investors and doubled in revenues each year since it launched in 2014. It has also begun opening quick-service salons—similar to blowout bars but for haircolor—that cost around $60 and take about an hour.