As a supermarket, how far should we extend our celebrity tie-up when it comes to point-of-sale marketing?

Done well, celebrity tie-ups can be powerful in-store, but done badly and they are tacky cardboard cut-outs.

Tom Huxtable, managing director at brand communication agency 23red says: “The power of supermarkets using chefs to promote their wares is clear. Where this becomes even more powerful is when it’s carried through into point of sale and the in-store environment.

“The rise of the recipe card and the celebrity endorsement of a specific product with a few choice words is testament to this. It’s all very well Jamie Oliver telling me that Sainsbury’s stocks good stuff but that doesn’t help me make a fabulous beef stroganoff - his recipe card and ‘insider’ tip on the best mushrooms to use does.”

He adds: “Not every supermarket brand has chosen to take the most obvious route - Tesco uses the lightest form of celebrity endorsement with famous voices in its TV ads, but takes it no further than that.”

And Huxtable says that even if Kerry Katona hadn’t been involved in controversy, and the principle of her fronting Iceland’s campaigns was sound because she was a mother, it is much more difficult to extend this into store. “She can offer advice as a mum on which products to buy but she’s not an ‘expert’ so would customers value it?” he asks.

He concludes: “There’s a difference between a brand ambassador and a credible provider of advice - supermarket brands need to decide which they want (it could be both) and act accordingly.”