Oprah's Weight Watchers Journey Is A Helluva Good Marketing Campaign

It is amazing how many people buy products based on celebrity endorsements.  According to the The Richest Blog  the top celebrity endorsers and the products they promoted have been:  

• Brittany Spears                                        Pepsi

• David Beckham                                       H&M Clothing  (European) 

• Catherine Zeta Jones                              T-mobile

• Nicole Kidman                                         Chanel 

• Tiger Woods                                             Rolex

• Ellen Degeneris                                        Cover Girl 

• Fabio Lanzoni                                        I Can't Believe Its Not Butter 

• Jessica Simpson                                        Proactive 

• Bill Cosby                                                  Jell-o

• Michael Jordan                                         Nike and Hanes 

And of course other blogs or magazines may have their own list---but regardless-- celebrity endorsements  pay off to the manufacturer in sales. 

Consumers really do not know if the celebs endorsing the products really use them.

Between drugging women, did Bill Cosby really eat Jello-O with children.  Unless the consumer could get into the locker room, did Michael Jordan really wear Hanes underwear.  And did Wheaties bring upon the gender confusion of Bruce Jenner? Did Ellen really use Cover Girl make up did or Jessica really slop on Proactive to reduce her acne?

Who knows if celebs are being honest with their fans when they endorse a product.  

Regardless celebs are paid sometimes incredible amounts of money to tell a gullible consumer the products are  good because they actually use them.

Celebs endorsing weight loss or muscle building programs appear to be a bit more legit.  Most celebrity watchers can see celebs packing the pounds on and when shedding the pounds people take notice and want to know the celeb's secret.

One of America's best known celeb is of course Oprah.

It is unAmerican to not love Oprah!   

This self-made billionaire is loved and trusted by millions and Oprah knows how to capitalize on the public goodwill towards her.  

So when Oprah decided to endorse Weight Watchers, this overweight man and millions of others took notice.

As Americans learned on the Ellen Show, Oprah was approached on being a spokesperson for Weight Watchers. 

In a nutshell,  Oprah tried the program and lost 15 pounds following the Weight Watchers regimen.

And with some prodding by Ellen,  Oprah tactlessly  admits to Ellen she made $45 million dollar profit in Weight Watchers stock in one day  after her public announcement to join the company with her initial $40 million dollar investment in 10% of the company. 

Oprah has been very public about struggling with her weight and has a very philosophical way of how to live a good and meaningful life.   And therefore Weight Watchers which is a combination of counting food points, changing life style eating habits and group support would mesh well with her personality.

Source of Video:  Oprah Talks Weight Watchers 

But Oprah's marketing strategy is one that all college marketing majors  should note.  

Oprah has over 30.5 million followers on Twitter and has enlisted her followers on Twitter to join her on her journey of weight loss with the inspirational "Are You Ready" and "Let's Do This Together"  ad for the company she owns stock in. 

The news media has gone all out and promoted this Weight Watcher campaign as Oprah's  return to television.  Americans will follow her journey and gobble up the Weight Watchers cuisines and helping her and her fellow investors make more money. 

Americans will be subjected to following Oprah's journey.   Not necessarily a bad journey as she has invited all of us fat people to join her.  Who could not resist after all  it is Oprah!  Besides slimmer physiques, perhaps there is an actual pot of actual gold like Oprah found for following the program! 

But cutting through all the media hype and bologna, Oprah will shed some pounds and stands to make a lot of money from the journey her fans take with her.  

Regardless, it is a helluva good marketing campaign!

Source of Video:  Oprah’s New Weight Watchers Journey