Celebrity endorsement advertising campaign : can celebrity endorsement change PT Comunicações customer’s negative predisposition to the brand?

Abstract

This marketing teaching case study aimed to understand how an incumbent company in the Portuguese telecommunication sector dealt with the increase in market competition. Despite the liberalization of telecommunication market in 2000, PT Comunicações, a company of Portugal Telecom Group was still understood as a monopolist and arrogant brand by its customers in the beginning of 2006. In this scenario, PT Comunicações marketing managers knew that it was urgent to change the communication strategy followed up until that moment if PT Comunicações wanted to maintain the leadership in the market. Thereafter, was developed a new endorsement advertising campaign with humorist group Gato Fedorento. The purpose of this case study is to act as teaching tool. Students are confronted with real business life situation of understanding if using the mix of humor and celebrity endorsement in advertising campaigns was the best communication strategy to follow.