I was reading a very interesting article a few weeks ago that I wanted to share. The article was about the Davie Brown Index (DBI) and talked about a number of things.
Davie Brown Entertainment, a Dallas celebrity research company, conducts online surveys to determine how we feel about celebrities – are they trustworthy, do we like them and would we buy what they’re hawking? For each DBI survey, 1,000 Americans from a pool of 4.5 million are asked about a celebrity’s eight key marketing attributes. Those results make up an overall DBI rating.
The article listed a number of categories that including overall score, awareness, appeal and endorsement. The one category I would like to focus on and discuss today is trust.
The DBI listed the top ten celebrities that people trust:
- James Earl Jones
- Morgan Freeman
- Pat Summitt
- Will Smith
- Warren Buffett
- Tom Hanks
- James Garner
- Denzel Washington
- Willie Mays
- Ron Howard
Interesting list. I decided to pause for a minute and think about the list and who I would include and replace. Here are some of my choices:
- I would take off Pat Summitt, Willie Mays, and Will Smith
- I would move up Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington & Ron Howard
- I would add Robert Redford, Sean Connery and ugh… Derek Jeter.
Ok your turn:
- What do you think of the list?
- What do you think of my choices?
- Are you surprised Oprah WASN’T on the list?
- What changes would you make to the list?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Jeremy Bromberg says:
For me, the spokesperson can equally well be a celebrity or an actor. Both are paid to speak up, so the individual’s name / career holds no significance. I’m interested in the message, not the presenter.
Bob Graham says:
I would certainly trust James Earl Jones. Morgan Freeeman has slipped a bit on the trust scale for me because of things in his personal life (but I he’s still one of my favorite actors). I’d probably pick Denzel Washington and Ron Howard from the list, but the rest leave me cold–no reason to distrust them, but nothing about them that inspires trust. Three names that are not on the list that I would trust implicitly are Gene Hackman, Ed Harris and Tommy Lee Jones.
But there are two potential celebrity endorsers that I would trust above all others. Both are straightforward, articulate and address criticism and controversy head-on. Mentioning their names in the same sentence will certainly make some of your heads explode but they are: Rachel Maddow and brace yourselves… Howard Stern.
IMHO there is no better celebrity interviewer than Stern, once you get by the fact fact that he will begin his interviews with embarrassing questions, you find that he will get them to open up in a way no one else can. His first interview with Paul McCartney was especially masterful.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that I would buy what he’s selling. I’ve been listening to Howard for 20 years and he still hasn’t convinced me that I need a Brother P-Touch.
Melanie Courtright says:
The first thing I noticed is that there are no women on this list. There have been some strong female endorsers, like Betty White, Oprah, and Sally Field. I also like Valerie Bertinelli. Some that haven’t gone as well include Kirstie Alley and Lindsay Lohan.
Ed Sugar says:
Last I heard Pat Summitt was a woman.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Ed,
You are right. But Melanie does have an interesting point Why only 1 female endorsers? I would have thought Oprah would have made the list and maybe Lucille ball if she was still around.
Interesting topic for sure.
Merrill
Ed Sugar says:
Actually this is an age old issue.
With Merrill’s above list, minus Ms. Summitt, and Mr. Buffet, the rest are all actors. When one asks why there are so few female endorsers, maybe it has to do with why there are fewer leading roles for actresses in the current America cinema.
With that said I think T-Mobile hit gold when they had Catherine Zeta Jones as their spokesperson.
I just finished watching the old HBO show “Deadwood” and just loved Ian McShane’s Al Swearengen character. If someone were to hire Mr. McShane as their spokesperson, my ears will perk up, I will hit the rewind switch on the DVR and $$ could leave my possesion.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Ed,
Very good point all the way around and I totally agree with you regarding Catherine Zeta Jones.
Merrill
Michael Braunberg says:
Two people who may emerge if they ever get out of journalism are Sanjay Gupta and Maria Bartiromo. Derek Jeter? Good ballplayer and by all accounts a good guy, but outside of New York I suspect people see him as a lucky player in the right place at the right time. If Omar Vizquel had come up through the Yankee system, it would all be about Omar Vizquel. Here in Chicago, when the Yankees come in its like, “Oh God, here come the Harlem Globetrotters.” I would think Colin Powell gets a lot of offers. Powell could probably recapitulate Lee Iacocca.
Jason Ulichnie says:
This list is also dominated by older celebrities. They are the obvious choice for a subject like “Trust” because, like my father and grandfather, they are wise old men who have graduated from the school of hard knocks. They’ve been there, done that. Even more, they are less likely to get crazy and wind up in a scandal.
The better questions is relevance. How relevant is James Earl Jones to a target like a teenager? Sure, he’s the voice of Darth Vader, but would he be a good spokesperson for Apple? Maybe, but I doubt it.
I guess it all boils down to who you are and what you are selling. Finding someone who matches what you value and the equity of your brand is what it’s all about.
John Castellano says:
If I were a post menopausal woman, I’d be inclined to believe Sally Field and take my Boniva once monthly, she was after all, The Flying Nun.