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Award-winning ad man-cum-auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; the Ad Section is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad's rating is depicted via the shift pattern at the bottom, but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too. When it comes to popularity, size matters. Jimmy Fallon, for example, is huge, and so is Alec Baldwin. I'm talking about their Q Scores, which are survey-derived metrics that indicate a celebrity's overall recognition and popularity within a specific target audience. For decades, Q Scores (a proprietary name owned by the company that generates them) have been the gold standard by which ad agencies assess a celebrity's value as a spokesperson. As with many things in life, the larger the Q Score, the better. Which brings us to Shaquille O'Neal. To help me put things in perspective, I called Steve Levitt, president of The Q Score Company, who told me that while the average celebrity is recognized by 29 percent of young American adult males, a whopping 70 percent recognize Shaq. Among sports fans, that number is even higher. So if you're targeting your sales message to those guys, it might behoove you to consider hiring The Big Shaqtus to appear in one of your commercials—or if you're Buick, two of your commercials. Last year, Buick dubbed O'Neal a "Size Authority" and squeezed him into a LaCrosse eAssist to tout the car's luxury, interior space, and gas mileage. That entertaining commercial culminated with the line, "I've got shoes that are bigger than most hybrids—and more stylish, too." This time around, they have him listing additional attributes, such as "sophisticated styling" and "fresh technology." Shaq's punch line? "Like my Mom said the day I was born: 'Wow, that's a lot more than I expected!' " Given O'Neal's size (the man is over seven feet tall and is charitably listed at 325 pounds), I don't doubt he was enormous from day one. And given his wealth (his fortune has been estimated at $250 million), I have no trouble believing he sports some extravagant footwear. But I do have trouble believing that Shaquille O'Neal drives a LaCrosse. Even casual sports fans know that Shaq is all about cars, and that he has a stable of exotics that has included legroom-modified Ferraris, a giant Escalade, and a custom stretch Lamborghini Gallardo. So are we supposed to believe that this three-time NBA Finals MVP, multiple-championship winning sports titan tools around town in a stock, $35,000 sedan with just 38 inches of front headroom? Of course not. To quote the great philosopher Biz Markie, "Don't even give me that." But in these commercials, Shaq is speaking as a paid salesman, not an owner, so he doesn't need to own a LaCrosse any more than a Ferrari salesman is required to own a 458 Italia. He's qualified to talk about size and luxury because he's big and wealthy. And it doesn't hurt that his delivery is spot on.
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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Friday, March 22, 2013
2013 Buick LaCrosse Shaquille O’Neal Commercial: Q Scores and A-Listers [The Ad Section]
But a funny thing happens when celebrities endorse a product—we transfer our feelings about them to the things they're selling, whether they actually own those things or not. And if those feelings are positive enough, we don't even care if that celebrity is shilling other products at the same time. O'Neal, for example, also appears in spots for Icy Hot and has hawked everything from Vitamin Water and Reebok to Nestle Crunch and Burger King. Clearly, Buick wants younger, entry-luxury sedan buyers to put LaCrosse on their shopping list. But Buick's old-fart reputation is a problem for younger prospects, and that brings us back to Shaq's Q Score with that segment. Even if you factor out the people who don't like him, you're still left with a huge number of target audience prospects who do like him, and whose perception about the LaCrosse might likely be influenced by his endorsement. I'm sure Buick paid a lot to get The Big Fella, but I say it's money well spent. Now all they have to do is hope Shaq doesn't make headlines similar to those made by that golfer they hired a few years ago to sell their SUVs.
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