• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

Pop Stars Become Mobile Spokespeople Du Jour

Motorola scored Fergie to rep its handsets. Samsung bonded with Beyonce to pitch its products. Who does that leave for Nokia, Sony Ericcson, and the rest of the mobile phone manufacturers? Let's contemplate which pop stars are most likely to sell their souls for mobile phone makers.

As a consumer of both pop culture and mobile technology, its not all that uncommon to see them overlap. Product placement and celebrity endorsers have been around for years, but they've only just recently tackled the mobile market. (And I am not counting Catherine Zeta Jones' T-Mobile commercials.)

Recently I've noticed a rampant use of mobile phones in an obviously commercial way by pop stars. One of the worst offenders of the moment is Fergie. As popular an artist as she may be, one of her music videos is rife with close-up shots of Motorola phones and headsets. She also shot a special video introduction that comes with the Motorola Q9m and is pretty much the first thing you experience on the phone when you fire up its media player. That and a snippet of one of her videos. OK, some celebrity cred for Motorola, and cross-marketing for Fergie. Everyone benefits, right? Er. Maybe.

There's also Michael Buble. He may not have quite the star power or run in the same circles as Fergie, but he's a respected artist. He also happens to be a fan of Nokia phones, particularly the N95. Or is it Nokia that's a fan of Buble? Hard to tell.

Then comes today's announcement. Samsung and Sprint released a Beyonce-themed version of the Samsung UpStage, called the...wait for it...wait for it...B'Phone. Whether that's pronounced BEE-phone or beh-PHONE, I couldn't tell you. The phone's colors have been upgraded to a more "glamorous" burgundy and gold (fake, not real) trim. Of course, it also will have her name on it, come in special packaging, and permit buyers of the Beyonce model to access exclusive Beyonce content. If and when we'll start seeing her using her own phone in music videos is any one's guess. (Isn't using or wearing one's own merch totally verboten?)

This leaves the other manufacturers in a bind. They can't let these guys get all the street cred. They're going to have to catch up and hire celebrity endorsers of their very own. Otherwise they'll never be as popular with the MTV-loving crowd.

That brings us to our little exercise. First up, Nokia.

Hmm. Sure, Buble may have hocked the N95, but he hasn't appeared in Nokia ads or content sold with Nokia phones. Nokia has to pick a real star for its permanent celebrity endorser. Perhaps we should go with someone European. Bjork? No. Who will resonate with Nokia's customers and attract new ones? I know! David Hasselhoff! You can't hassle the Hoff! Or Nokia.

Next, Sony Ericsson. Let's see. Since one of Sony Ericsson's parent companies is Sony, maybe we should keep things in-house with a Sony Records artist. Mary Chapin Carpenter? Nah. They need someone more happening. Mariah Carey, perhaps? That's a toughie.

LG. Life would be good for LG if it brought on some younger kids. What about Justin Timberlake? He'll connect well with their core users.

Obviously, we could do this all day, but thinking about who should rep for smartphone companies such as Palm and RIM kind of scares me at the moment.

Time for y'all to have a say...

« No MotoBling For Americans | Main | The Debate Over SEO Automation »