The Mike Rowe Effect

I'm pretty sure Baltimore's own Mike Rowe will be receiving a nice card today from Ford, perhaps something along the lines of:

Dearest Mike,

Thanks for the money!

Love,

Ford

I woke up this morning to news about Ford posting its biggest profit since 1999. Their earnings in 2010 climbed to $6.6 billion; that's a jump of $4 billion from 2009.

There are many factors that may have contributed to this, including massive recalls from Toyota, the fact that they touted that they never took money from the fed bailout of the other Big Three, and more.

In all of the articles I've read on the subject, not one attributes the success of the brand to Mike Rowe.

Come on, news outlets! Give credit where credit's due already!

Mike Rowe is at the top of his game when he's just on the streets talking with people. Ford knew this and signed him on as their brand ambassador, giving a relatable, credible face to a strong automotive company with a weary future.

This isn't the first, and it certainly won't be the last example of spokespeople bringing a boost to a brand.

I'm definitely enjoying the current batch of spokespeople/brand ambassadors invading our collective cultural lexicon.



Mayhem -

Enjoyable, funny, well-executed commercials. Keep it coming, Allstate.







The World's Greatest Spokesperson in the World -

Quirky, awkward, corny. I enjoyed the commercials leading up to the reveal of who/what was the WGSW but everything since then has been a disappointment.

What other spokespeople/brand ambassadors do you enjoy seeing? What companies/brands would you like to see go the route of Ford and get a Mike Rowe-esque bump?

And yes, I left Geico off my list since they've got so damn many spokesmen: Gecko, Caveman, Storyteller, etc.


Sean Sutherland Associate Account Executive/Official Spokesperson for Renegade