Steve McQueen keeps endorsement real
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A walk around London’s shops at the weekend had me wondering if it was 2012 or 1972. It started in the rather fetching Barbour shop that has opened near Covent Garden and its eye-catching capsule collection inspired by Steve McQueen. The range of jackets, shirts and T-shirts all carry the deceased Hollywood star’s profile on the label and, from what I saw, it’s working wonders for the brand.
Next stop was Selfridges and I was expecting to see McQueen’s image on the ground floor at the Tag Heuer concession because the square-faced Monaco watch has been indelibly associated with the star for four decades. But the McQueen theme continued around the corner where Persol sunglasses were also proudly using his image to promote its 714 range of folding sunglasses.
The associations continued upstairs in the menswear department, where upmarket tailoring brand Richard James was playing excerpts of the McQueen movie The Thomas Crown Affair to illustrate the epitome of stylish dressing and masculinity, even though the man himself was not actually wearing Richard James.
Had I walked around London in the mid-Seventies, at the height of McQueen’s fame, I would probably have seen far fewer references to the star than the sea of images on display last weekend. So what is it about Steve McQueen that, more than 30 years after his death, has made him such a magnet for so many big brands? He did not make that many movies. He was generally seen as being irascible and hard to work with by many in the industry. And by today’s standards, he kept himself out of the public spotlight as much as possible.
I finally settled on two things that shed light on both the appeal of McQueen and the current limitations of today’s celebrity endorsement-obsessed culture.
First, we must acknowledge that McQueen offers consumers a sip from the elixir of authenticity. It’s a nectar that tastes so much sweeter than the confection today’s movie stars represent. While I enjoy the work of Brad Pitt and George Clooney and the like, they are hardly role models in real life. George has a nice house on an Italian lake and Brad is clearly an inspirational father to his large, multi-cultural family. But these are not the dreams most men aspire to.
Men, alas, are driven by much baser imaginings. Most of us want to look cool, be impossibly superior to our peers, irresistible to the opposite sex and be able to drive very fast in very nice cars all the time. Female readers may harrumph at this vision of masculine aspiration but I can assure you that most men really are that sad. Ask your male colleagues if they would rather be George Clooney or Steve McQueen - and only the metrosexuals and those trying to impress you will opt for the former.
Men want to be McQueen because he was the real deal. Clooney’s Dad was a TV news presenter, McQueen’s was a stunt pilot. For the circus. Clooney grew up in a rich suburb of Kentucky, McQueen at Chino the notorious teenage reform school. Clooney was an extra before he made it as a movie star, McQueen was a Marine who saved the lives of five of his men by pulling them from a tank about to sink into the sea. And you can tell. When McQueen smokes a cigarette or glowers at a bad guy - he really knows what he’s doing. Clooney by that standard is just a great actor.
Aside from the inherent shortcomings of today’s celebrities, there’s another reason why the endorsements McQueen made have been so enduring. The reason McQueen is associated with Tag Heuer is because he bought a Monaco to look like his racing idol, the Swiss driver Joe Siffert, in the Le Mans movie. He wore Persol sunglasses everywhere he went because he loved their blue lenses. His association with Barbour is based on the fact that on his way to represent America in the 1964 International Six Days Trials motorbike competition in East Germany, he bought a Barbour jacket on the way there in London as protection against the European winter. He wore it throughout the event (with a small stars and stripes motif that he sewed onto the shoulder).
These endorsements endure because they are authentic. I cannot imagine my son, 40 years from now, sipping his Nespresso and remembering the great coffee drinking days of George Clooney - partly because Clooney was just a good actor but mostly because his endorsement of the brand didn’t come across as being a personal one.
For 21st century marketers the lesson is not to associate brands with the bygone heroes of the past like McQueen. In doing so, brands like Richard James, formed more than a decade after McQueen’s death, merely highlight their lack of authenticity and originality.
No, the challenge is to seek out today’s genuine heroes who are already clients of the brand. And don’t pay them for their patronage - to do so is to extinguish the nascent authenticity at the heart of the relationship and its future power. Foster a genuine relationship with genuine heroes, and maybe 50 years from now that endorsement, and your brand, will also live on. Steve McQueen was an iconic movie star and an endorser of some of the world’s leading brands.
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Readers' comments (13)
Anonymous | Wed, 1 Feb 2012 5:31 pm
How nostalgic Mr R!
So celebrity link ups only truly work retrospectively? After any brand connotations are established over their lifetime? Its a beautiful idea but it would just never happen anymore to use your example George now has a long lasting relationship with a brand that fits both their images quite well and.... he gets paid for it, everybody is happy. If McQueen was a alive today he would have done exactly the same thing. If you could have supplied any other (living) examples then your argument would be very valid. However there are none.
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mark ritson | Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:52 pm
Many thanks Anonymous.
You post a lot of comments about my columns.
I am going to start typing the names of celebrities who love a brand for personal reasons and promote it for no financial payment - exactly like the McQueen situation above except contemporary. I will stop after two minutes of thinking and typing.
Ready?
Samuel Jackson and Kangol Hats
Jay Leno and Lotus Cars
Al Jefferson (NBA star) and Subway
Eric Clapton and Fender Stratocaster (their amps)
Lindsay Lohan and Top Shop
Sofia Coppola and Marc Jacobs
Meryl Streep and Prius
Liz Taylor and Bulgari (right up to the end)
Glen Beck and Coke
Warren Buffet and Coke
John Huntsman and his Harley
Will Ferrell and Old Milwaukee Beer
Stephen King and Chevrolet Volts
None of these stars are being paid to endorse these brands but a quick google will reveal all of the above confessing love for / using / advocating these brands extensively in public.
I could spend more time on this and give you a longer list - or will you agree my column is "valid" now.
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Al King | Thu, 2 Feb 2012 2:50 pm
I've been wearing a Monaco watch for over 10 years now. Enough, said.
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Paul Keers, Axon Publishing | Thu, 2 Feb 2012 3:10 pm
You miss out the one primary reason why Steve McQueen is a great endorsement.
He's dead.
He is not going to mouth off in a Parisian café, get caught with his trousers down, Tweet inappropriately, or do any of the other things which living celebrities do to shame the brands they endorse.
McQueen's image is perfectly frozen in time, and unlikely to become besmirched in the manner of any living celebrity icon.
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Dominic Collard | Thu, 2 Feb 2012 3:14 pm
Another great piece this week, thanks. One sector that does endorsements well is charities. On the whole celebrity patrons of charities tend to genuinely care about the cause they are getting behind. Yes it's good PR for them which can be viewed as their payment-in-kind, but most have a connected (usually sad) story to tell from personal experience. Corporate brands can only dream of that genuinity (might have made that last word up!)
Examples are numerous but off my head; Katie Price (The Vision Charity) Gary Lineker (Leukaemia) Nigel Owens (Bullies Out) Kate Middleton (Scouts).
Keep up the good fight for straightforward common sense, many a marketing dept needs it!
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John Jonson | Thu, 2 Feb 2012 3:48 pm
If you need evidence of the power of McQueen as an endorser look at the fight that Barbour had with Belstaff over his image. Both claimed he was wearing their jacket at the 1964 motorbike event in Germany you reference (it was a Barbour). A big fight over something that happened behind the eastern bloc more than four decades earlier. Astonishing.
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Paul Bailey | Fri, 3 Feb 2012 1:01 pm
This works for brands which have enough cultural caché for celebrities to buy in to them authentically, and not for the cash. The brands you mention have enough appeal that the celebrities want to be seen with the brand as much as the brand do with the celebrity. Doesn't quite hold true for brands like Nespresso though.
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Fatmir | Fri, 3 Feb 2012 4:43 pm
Nowadays, brands are investing billions in celebrity endorsement. A recent study shows that global brands invest more $50 billion on celebrity endorsements. I think that instead of investing billions on endorsement, brands should focus on making innovative and best quality products, as high quality and popular products might lead to free endorsement and as result the brand itself will be featured in many movies as it’s the case with Apple which has become standard product these days. However, for celebrity endorsement to succeed, brands should be linked with an endorser whose personality is outstanding or popular in their chosen field of endeavor. A major disadvantage is if the endorses falls from grace by being accused of some scandal of ‘wrong doing’, then the product will suffer as a result. This does not support the old saying that any PR is good PR but some firms try to manipulate the bad PR. Furthermore, research has shown that the endorsement of four or more products will negatively influence the credibility of the endorser.
One more thing, brands need to be careful that they are not creating ‘future competition’ for themselves by immediate benefits of utilising celebrity endorsement. A perfect example is David Beckham who has become the most famous celebrity brand 'Brand Beckham'
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Chris Blythe | Mon, 6 Feb 2012 11:06 am
McQueen's contemporary, Paul Newman went a stage further when it came to 'celebrity endorsement'. He built his own business, not to promote his name nor to further his career, but because he was heartily sick of manufactured salad dressings.
The recipes that were developed for Newman's Own were his, all ingredients had to be natural and he only agreed to have his face on the front of the pack on condition that all profits went to charity.
No surprise then, that a business built on a real truth and commitment has become firmly rooted within US (and increasingly now, UK) food retailing. If a 'celebrity' is fully committed, rather than simply being paid to make a transitory endorsement then that brand will have far more than just a 'whiff of authenticity'...
Chris Blythe : The Brand Nursery
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Danny Morris | Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:38 am
Look Mr Ritson, McQueen - is, was and always will be cool, although it's a real shame that every brand that he ever looked at gets branded to death.
Marketeers and Creative departments have lost their way and feel this distinct need to get double nostalgic by saying 'look, our product is cool, Steve McQueen wore it' (so it must be right?). I wonder if its the need to heavily market and press home that these brands still create genuine, authentic products - or whether its a distinct cover-up because the brands are the complete opposite nowadays as everything gets shipped-in from China and seems to break, rip, tear, crack due to its terrible manufacturing quality.
So, due to a lack of quality in their products because of the vast margins these brands make for inferior goods, it seems to be a license for the brand to be over marketed. You only have to walk the streets of Soho and see that everyone is wearing the Barbour jacket, with its flimsy construction, cheap Chinese made label. I mean what happened to quality folk, what happened to originality. Everyone is doing what McQueen wouldn't have done, worn the product in their masses with a 'look at me attitude'...
You only have to look at Triumph motorbikes, McQueen this, McQueen that.....arrggghhh, it get so tiring, he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, a man that kept himself very personal, so my question is would he be happy with all the suits & melon heads brandishing his name across every brand he wore or even looked at for a few seconds - l think not!
It makes sense that the McQueen empire still let brands market the name, l mean who wouldn't - they have to keep the electric running and the wolf from the door.....
So, l'd say - Creative Directors - start producing great campaigns for brands based upon their inherent quality, originality and stop using celebrities past, present and future to be advocates of the brand. It's like the schoolboys easy option campaign...errrr not sure what to do this year, let's put McQueen on a bike - that always sells. l mean when you were doing creative writing at school, did you always complete the story with 'and then l woke-up'?
Please, please, please STOP celebrities endorsing brands and get CREATIVE!!!!
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