I'm a celebrity - now get me a sausage on a stick

Hot on the heels of our own article right here, a survey by Conquest into 'The Dynamics of Celebrities and Brands' has revealed that Kerry Katona is considered detrimental to Iceland's credibility.

While Twiggy (Marks & Spencer), and jug-eared footy pundit Gary Lineker (Walker's Crisps) were considered to be credible and trustworthy, more than half of respondents said that Katona is not suitable to endorse the supermarket chain.


The survey outlined that brand owners should view celebrities as 'brands in their own right' and consider what damage personal trauma, tabloid scandal and poor perception could do to their credibility amongst consumers.


But do Iceland care?


Their new Xmas ad running in the breaks of z-list peep-show 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here' adds a parade of ex-jungle celebs including Jason Donovan and Christopher Biggins to the chubby housewife double act of Katona and Colleen Nolan.


Need to see it to believe it? Knock yourself out...

It's Twins!

Even on holiday, your branding brain keeps ticking over. And as I was shuffling through the newly protracted security procedures at Manchester - surely designed to bore even the most ardent radical into submission - I was struck by the startling similarity between the logo belonging to check-in, baggage handling and cargo company Servisair and the profligate. money-guzzling new Barclaycard logo.


It's often said that there's no such thing as an original idea.


And here's your proof!

How far can a brand bend before it breaks?

Iceland - purveyor of beige buffet food for the sub-prime classes, not the purveyor of crap bank accounts built on sub-prime crashes - has pushed its already creaking brand equity to the limit. Sticking like glue to Kerry Katona, the 'value' frozen food chain has funded alcohol tests for its chubby milf figurehead as a measure of its 'concern'.


The face (and increasingly exposed hooters) of the brand's long-running campaign, Katona offered to take tests in Harley Street to prove that she was not an alcoholic, after her now infamous slurred appearance on Phil and Fern's sofa.


Like a bi-polar-bear with a sore head, Katona angrily denied she had a drinking problem and put her wobbly performance down to the side effects of her anti-psychotic medication.


But where does this show of staunch support leave the Iceland brand? Now burned into onto the public consciousness, the 'That's Why Mums Go To Iceland' campaign, created by Tom Reddy Advertising, has consistently scored as one of the most memorable on television. But for what reasons?

Whilst the chattering M&S classes simply see the Iceland brand as hideously down-market - a cheap and cheerless alternative to Netto - its core target audience of low-income, low expectation, low quality threshold Ds and Es see their own fragmented lives reflected back in the behaviour of Iceland's own 'flawed star'.

And that strange empathy has - thus far - kept the relationship (and the brand) intact.

Iceland are quoted as saying: "We are working with Kerry in the coming weeks to ensure she has a clean bill of health and is able to continue fulfilling her duties as a mum and with Iceland."

But it makes you wonder just how far Katona has to fall before Iceland feels that their brand is being compromised. And whether we really want to find out.