The houseguests on Big Brother 4 complained they were starved for news. Then, thanks to clever editing, in the next scene they were ironically describing Kobe Bryant as a ‘classy’ guy and a ‘family man.’

Little did they know that the L.A. Lakers superstar was charged with sexual assault a couple of weeks earlier – and that although he maintains his innocence, he has admitted to committing adultery.

Without a doubt, the ‘family guy’s’ personal reputation has been marred. But what about all the brands, including Nike, Sprite and McDonald’s, that have paid big bucks for his representation?

Strategy talked to marketers to see how they limit the potential for negative impact by restricting the extent of the celeb association, via minimal face time and by having a stable of endorsers, so that the brand exposure to any star mess-up is minimal.

Certainly, a misstep by a spokesperson could be detrimental to the bottom line. Take Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, which just recorded an 86% slide in its second quarter profit, a reality being blamed on the fact that the company founder is being investigated for insider trading. Of course, in this case the firm was literally built on the Martha Stewart name; it would be more difficult to determine whether Bryant’s situation will impede the brands he has endorsed.

But Nutella, for one, feels the risk isn’t worth it. The hazelnut-chocolate spread brand will not renew Bryant’s contract when it expires in January.

Kelly O’Keefe, a branding expert and the CEO of Richmond, Va.-based Emergence, says the Kobe scenario proves how risky celebrity endorsements can be, as the baller was likely deemed a safe bet due to his squeaky-clean image.

‘You’re tying your brand to an individual who may not reflect it well,’ he says. ‘Even if they appear to reflect it well today, they may not tomorrow. Individuals are dynamic – and good brands are built on long-term consistent behaviour. So it’s risky to hook that brand to someone.’

Regardless, an association with a superstar like Bryant could pay out big time – that’s why companies bother. It worked with Michael Jordan. In 1998, Fortune magazine estimated that he had contributed US$10 billion to the U.S. economy since first stepping onto an NBA court in 1984. And according to a 2002 survey by New York-based Intermedia Advertising Group (IAG), half of the top 10 most recalled TV commercials in that year featured famous folk.

With sports, in particular, it seems that consumers respect brands that endorse athletes. A study from Toronto-based communications specialist Mediaedge:cia, which polled 500 Canadians aged 15+ last summer, found that 49% of men associate the high quality of companies and products with their sport team and/or individual sponsorship. Furthermore, consumers most likely to notice brands that sponsor teams or individuals come from the mid-market ($40,000 to $80,000 household income) or up-market ($80,000+ household income) demographic groups.

Perhaps that’s why Gatorade has performed so well – it has a history of endorsing athletes, according to Dave Arland, Toronto-based Gatorade Equity’s marketing manager. The sports drink brand dominates the Canadian market with a 77% share and has experienced double-digit growth over the last year.

‘We look for athletes that demonstrate intense focus, dedication, and that are lead players within their sports, like Michael Jordan,’ says Arland. The most recent Canadian ad for Gatorade featured Vancouver Canucks’ star Todd Bertuzzi, who performed admirably during the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. It promoted a new flavour of Gatorade Fierce, called Blue Rush. Says Arland of the choice: ‘[Bertuzzi] was a perfect fit – he had intense focus, the will to win, fierceness and competitiveness that exemplified that brand.’

But what happens if a player suddenly goes cold, as could be argued was the case after Montreal Canadians goaltender Jose Theodore represented the Gatorade Ice brand during the 2002 hockey playoffs? Arland says there would have been minimal impact, because Gatorade is about ‘more than just one athlete.’

‘We’re really about the sports leagues as well. You see us on the sidelines of the NBA and the NFL and we’re tested by athletes day in and day out.’

That might help avoid what is known as ‘the vampire effect,’ which occurs when a celeb becomes more visible than the brand itself, says Bev Tudhope, co-chief executive of Toronto-based brand consultancy Interbrand Canada. ‘It’s all a degree of exposure and how you use the person. Marketing communications should be crafted for balance between the products and the celebs.’

An example of a company that is walking a fine line currently is the Gap, which has Madonna and Missy Elliott in its advertising, adds O’Keefe. A series of 30-second and 60-second spots created by Laird & Partners in New York, the ‘Into the Hollywood Groove’ campaign features a new remix by the duo. The company believes that ‘Gap represents iconic American style,’ and that, there is ‘nobody to better represent that than Madonna.’

But O’Keefe suggests the Material Girl will overshadow the retailer. ‘She has a brand and it’s a very different brand than the Gap, so it obscures it,’ he says. ‘The Gap needs to tell us what it stands for – it’s confusing us with Madonna and Missy Elliott.’

He says the San Francisco-based retail giant has done a better job using celebs in the past because they tended to have weaker personalities and the ads changed frequently. ‘Now they’ve put a lot of promotion around Madonna – people either love her or hate her, and it becomes about her and not the Gap.’

Not too mention that Madonna isn’t relevant to the target group, points out Interbrand’s Tudhope. ‘You really have to ask yourself why the Gap was choosing Madonna, unless they were going after a boomer demographic. Relevance is fundamental.’

That’s what Canadian brands like Chrysler and Sprite tried to keep in mind when they chose celebrity spokespeople for their respective campaigns. In the case of Sprite, Toronto Raptors Jerome Williams is the star of its ‘Obey your thirst campaign,’ because ‘on the court, he’s not trying to imitate any other player, he has his own way of playing and interacting with fans,’ says David Vivenes, group manager for Toronto-based Coca-Cola.

‘You feel the honesty and that he’s truly being who he is. I think those things are consistent with what Sprite stands for.’ So far in Canada, year-to-date volume is up eight per cent over the previous year.

In the U.S., Sprite did use Kobe Bryant in its ‘Obey your thirst’ advertising, but while Coke won’t discuss how it will handle the Bryant situation, Vivenes says there is an effort to avoid being overwhelmed by famous stars. ‘It’s a much better fit to show someone who embodies the message in the way they behave in their area [i.e. playing basketball], rather than having someone give out a scripted message.’

Chrysler, meanwhile, has taken this notion further. The Windsor, Ont.-based automaker is in its second year of a contract with jazz musician Diana Krall, who has appeared in spots for the Sebring and Pacifica brands.

Ron Smith, VP marketing, explains that the objective was to ensure that the product is hero; hence, while Krall’s music plays throughout the ads, which were engineered by Toronto-based agency Pentamark Worldwide, the artist herself only makes an appearance in the final seconds.

‘We did not want to have her on camera a lot, because for us, the product is the star,’ he says. ‘Any time you use somebody you have to be careful about how you use them, and how long you use them.’

He adds that there’s a natural fit between Krall and the Chrysler brand, which is now about expressive design and a more upscale image, as indicated by the black-and-white commercials. ‘With the tone and style of music, and her looks, she fits that.’ So far so good: Smith says that ad-tracking studies have found recall to be ‘higher than in the past, when [the automaker] didn’t use a celebrity.’

In the U.S., where Chrysler has followed Canada’s lead with its spokesperson Celine Dion – making sure that the product, and not the diva, is front-and-centre, according to Smith – the firm recorded double the sales of the Pacifica in June 2003 over May 2003.

But if you think a celeb will mean an automatic boon to your bottom line, think again, warns Blake Corosky, VP athlete representation at Toronto-based True Gravity. ‘Being involved won’t sell you more product – the ancillary needs to be in place [too]. You’re only as good as the team around you – a [celeb] is not the silver bullet.’

Reebok banks on the star

For Reebok Canada, the star is the star. In fact, Reebok will even develop product named for a particular sponsor. Most recently, Canadian sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris signed with the athletic wear company, which is developing an Olympic line of lifestyle apparel for the track and field athlete that will launch next July – just in time for the Athens Olympics.

‘This is a brand marketing program where we are associated with a performance athlete and the PR coming out of it [could be] priceless,’ says Micki Rivers, marketing manager for Mississauga, Ont.-based Reebok Canada, which has created postcards featuring Macrozonaris to use for releases and flyers, as well as future advertising.

But Reebok Canada has also created a line of shoes for non-athletic stars like R&B artist Shawn Desman and rapper Choclair, and in the States, Reebok has even had the nerve to sign Philadelphia 76ers bad ass Allan Iverson, as well as rap artist 50 Cent.

Rivers concedes that these characters are potentially more risky than the likes of Macrozonaris, but insists that they give the brand ‘street cred.’ To her point, Reebok recently sold 500 pairs of the Desman Amaze shoes each week during a promo at sports retailer Athlete’s World. ‘It really solidifies our authenticity and [impacts] our performance.’

Considering the young male demo, a bad-boy move might even boost sales.