USE ME, I'M FAMOUS!

Theory and practice prove that the use of super stars in advertising generates a lot of attention from the public. So how is the Kenyan advertising fraternity doing when it comes to choosing brand ambassadors? Have we chosen the right ones? Are they relevant? Have they done justice to the brands they represent? Here's my opinion.

Julie Gichuru: Dettol Handwashing Campaign
This is a no brainer. Julie was the perfect choice. Her personality emits warmth, care and knowledge. Julie has initiated and taken part in several philanthropic campaigns over the years. The ad was also executed in a simple manner. It didn't look like out the place acting. Just good ol'Julie. "If I don't take care of them, who will?" Babes, you can take care of me any given day. Hell I can even trust you to baby sit my daughter.

Wahu: Rexona Anti Perspirant
Here's another association that I find pretty cool. Most chics simply adore Wahu. She has this girl next door personality which she easily switches to the sexy lass who's married to the first person who comes to mind when you think Kenyan A list celebrity. The girls would definitely listen to Wahu and the glitz that was captured on the billboards was right up her ally. I found the TVC a tad bit exaggerated, but hey that's just me. Considering that she's a chic always on the move, hard working and an excellent stage performer; I'd say that they got this one right.

David Rudisha: Kiwi
Talk about a great opportunity lost in execution. The storyline was kind of cool but what raised debate was the whole "fyatu fyako" saga. But maybe its only a few up-town guys who notice the accent. Is the reaction the same in the Rift Valley? Maybe not. Shoes, durability and the World Athlete of the Year? Yes, I buy the connection and its perfect but clearly the directors had a really hard time getting the guy to read the auto-cue. Ok, I'll let it pass, at least the ad remained relevant to his trade.

Sheila Mwanyiga: Vaseline Cocoa Butter
Totally correct. Sheila is another favorite with the girls. She is a girly girl so to speak. The kind of chic that women find approachable for chit chat and advise. The girl is also a total knock out in my books so the association here clearly works. The execution was smooth, sexy without shouting. The exact thing that I guess a chic wants when she uses Vaseline Cocoa Butter. Simply perfect.

Nameless: EABL responsible drinking
Ok EABL decided to get Kenya's most famous male singer and use him to endorse a drink driving campaign. Was it a good decision? Hell yeah. You see Nameless is the kind of guy who makes a living from working late night after late night yet somehow he has managed to maintain star appeal without getting involved in scandals. The dude is hardly known for insobriety. If Nameless came up to me in a bar and told me, hey teddy you are too plastered to drive si you take a cab.....I would probably listen to the logic. Whether I would go home is a whole different ball game.

Amani: Airtel
Not bad. When Airtel did this they were hoping to swoop the youth market. Did the campaign work for them? Mimi pana jua. What I must say though is that Amani was a great choice. With all those MTV awards plus no major scandals she fitted in perfectly. Lively and bouncy (Yes, two of them really bounce). Lets not forget that she had already crossed borders and worked with various continental artists before the campaign, so her association with stars was relevant.

Suzzane Owiyo: Harpic
Now, now, now. Here's one that really caused a lot of debate. Suzzanne Owiyo and toilet? Toilet and Suzzanne Owiyo? SHIT!!!!(pun intended). I really do not get the connection here. Do guys connect her with home care? I don't think so. Would she work for something like Visa cards or Kenya Airways? I think so. Owiyo is definitely a great and celebrated Kenyan but the connection with Harpic I do not really get. I would really like to know your opinion on this one. My opinion? Nope, Harpic missed the boat on this one.( By the way did you know that the Nyambane Harpic campaign sent their sales soaring through the roof?).

Jua Kali: Orange
Here's a perfect example of a wasted opportunity. Jua was at the height of his career but Orange was at the height of the unknown. Cool personality not so cool brand. 10 million bob worth of Jua Kali endorsement went down the drain. If you ask me the execution was totally lousy. What were these guys thinking? Anyway at least Orange contributed to the Kenya music industry in its own weird way.

Ezekiel Kemboi: Milo with Actigen E
Milo selected Ezekiel Kemboi for his champion status in the Kenyan sports arena. This choice could not have come at a better time for the brand especially with the way this guy performed at Daegu (Remember the dance?). Milo has always been associated with sports and champions so their choice here was great. Imagine if they had chosen to go the Samuel Wanjiru route....walalalalala.

Wyre: Samsung dual sim
Wyre is a dude who represents the cool factor. I believe Samsung made a good choice here. If the objective was to make dual sims look cool then they achieved it in my opinion. The only thing that fell flat on its face was the radio campaign. A chic comes up to Wyre and screams oh my god its Wyre, can I have your autograph? Wyre then says, you can either have my autograph or this cool samsung phone so pretty girl "make a choice, make a choice". The chic then chooses the phone and Wyre belts out "She said dat". Pretty corny. What I would have done is simply get a cool Wyre music piece done for Samsung.

Wilbroda: Royco
When it comes to touching base with the real mwananchi, lets just face it Citizen TV has taken the cake. Somehow they have managed to make huge stars out of their cast and I tell you these guys are huge in the mashinanis. Wilbroda was used pretty well to sell those Royco cubes. She was in complete character.She's the kind of woman who would knock on your door with udaku for five centuries and not leave. Pretty okay when it comes to creating attention for the brand.

Wilbroda, Jalango & Awinja: Molo Milk
There's something I really like about this commercial in its raw Kenyan comedic fashion. Its pure slapstick, pure silly. You cant help but laugh at those two clowns. Nice choice of personalities. Only one major snag. The guys go "Usiseme maziwa, sema Ngombe" while the brand is Molo Milk. Now, if the brand was called Ngombe Milk that would have been a clear win. If the packaging has a fat ass cow then maybe it makes sense. All the same lets watch this space and see if those two clowns will generate a spike in the Molo Milk sales graph.

Celebrities indeed play an important role in the Advertising industry and no doubt Kenyan celebs are starting to make a good amount of cash from brand endorsements. But here's my advice. Choose your celebs carefully, lest you just might be flushing your money down the toilet (No relation to Harpic, I swear).


Hey, that's just my opinion.