The article addresses the role of celebrities in marketing, exploring examples of partnerships between brands and public figures in Portugal and internationally. On the international scene, George Clooney was for years associated with Nespresso with the slogan "What else?", a testimonial that now passes to singer Dua Lipa, while actress Zendaya stars in Rolex's "Reach for the Crown" campaign. In Portugal, partnerships are equally numerous: Ricardo Araújo Pereira has been the face of Worten since 2021, Daniela Melchior is associated with Pedras Sabores, João Baião with EDP, and the couple Kelly Bailey and Lourenço Ortigão are the image of Carlsberg, in addition to others like Cristina Ferreira at Betano and athletes such as Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, and Rúben Dias in campaigns related to the Football World Cup.
Ricardo Torres Assunção, Secretary-General of the Portuguese Association of Advertisers (APAN), highlights that celebrities have the ability to accelerate campaign recognition and generate public conversation, functioning as "true amplifiers" in an increasingly integrated media ecosystem. However, he warns that immediate notoriety "is not a guarantee of effectiveness and will hardly compensate for a weak strategy or a poorly differentiated value proposition," countering that there are campaigns with ordinary people that manage to generate greater closeness and better results. The responsible party explained that ambassador relationships tend to create stronger and more lasting associations, while one-off collaborations are suitable for launches or specific moments.
The article also identifies a growing trend of integrating content creators into campaigns, such as Andreia Pinelas and Rafael Bailão with Fortimel, or the "Portuguese Girlies" with McDonald's. APAN explains that creators have added a dimension of closeness that many traditional celebrities cannot offer, building trust with specific and highly engaged communities. Torres Assunção does not see this as competition, but as complementarity, emphasizing that the choice should always be strategic and based on the target audience one wishes to influence.
The risks associated with these partnerships are also explored, including the danger of the star overshadowing the advertiser itself, overexposure when the same figure is associated with multiple brands, and inevitable reputational risks. The Worten case with Ricardo Araújo Pereira illustrates this challenge, with Andreia Vaz, the brand's executive, explaining that there is
