POWER COUPLE
The value of Brand McCaw
Is this the holy grail of advertising in New Zealand?
Sporting power couple Gemma and Richie McCaw have teamed up for their first promotional campaign together.
A 45-second television commercial featuring the Canterbury-based pair going on an early morning run through Hagley Park and the Port Hills is set to air on Monday.
What are they selling? Turmeric. Well, a turmeric “sports complex” supplement, to be precise.
The New Zealand company behind the product, Good Health, claims it “helps support the body after a workout, to soothe tired muscles and stiff joints”.
Both McCaws have experience in the lucrative industry of marketing.
In 2016, ex-All Blacks captain Richie was announced as a “friend” of luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz.
The same year, his then-fiancee, former hockey star Gemma Flynn, appeared in an ad promoting the Bay of Plenty as a tourist destination.
University of Auckland senior marketing lecturer Dr Michael Lee said brands often used the “Tears” model to help identify an ideal celebrity endorser.
The acronym covers the qualities of a person that make them a good fit for promoting a product — trustworthy, expert, attractive, respectable and similar to the target market.
He said the McCaws endorsing a turmeric supplement came across as authentic.
“They kind of tick all the boxes. [Good Health is] really targeting that slightly older demographic of professionals that are heading into middle age, where they really identify with Richie. They know they aren’t at [their physical peak] anymore but it’s even more [vital to] stay healthy.”
This campaign seemed to have a different flavour than other brands — like adidas or Powerade — that used younger sports stars.
Fleur Revell-Devlin, owner of Auckland PR agency Impact PR, said sports people were popular choices as brand ambassadors in the New Zealand marketplace because we’re a sports mad nation.
The McCaws appealed to a wide demographic and would’ve been able to command top dollar for any endorsement they did, she said.
“He and Gemma embody the image of a fun, athletic, humble, downto-earth pair, attributes we traditionally aspire to as Kiwis.”