Website Idea: Common people as Endorsers

Running a SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) type of Business, I came across needing to hire endorsers. First thing that came to our mind was hiring a celebrity endorser which we did. With lots of legal work (really really thick contracts), schedule mismatches, and the cost (the dreaded X figure), an idea just popped into my mind. So I thought, what if instead of celebrities I would get the normal joe? Here’s how it works:

Imagine at every area (office, school, mall, internet, etc…), there are certain people who are considered the “Popular”. My idea is to get those people as your endorsers. The whole concept here is really not putting your eggs at one basket but instead placing it at several baskets. So as a normal Joe, it is such an honor to receive an endorsement deal even if it was a free t-shirt per month or free lunch per day, some might even be happy with certain souvenirs (that can be seen being used in their day to day activities). Word of Mouth will be tremendous, as the endorser will tell his friends about it (then to 2nd degree friends and so on…), imagine at every local area a person is wearing a t-shirt with a big logo of your business. A free t-shirt plus the delivery costs won’t be more than a hundred bucks but its definitely going to hit a local market. Or even if some monetary value is added to the deal it still won’t be too much.

The “Endorser” fills up a certain questionnaire (The more details the better) about his lifestyle, schedules etc. This would really give a Company a good overview of his personality and daily activities. The question now remains on how will the Company know if the endorser is endorsing the brand? and how much reach does the endorser have.  With the Developer API at Facebook and Open Social to Social Networks, it would be possible to track down how many friends does this person have as well as checking out their wall or testimonials we could probably tell how many percent of their friends are for real. With this in mind, the deal for the endorser might be to wear a certain tshirt during Mondays in University, or free lunch delivered at their office by McDonalds, the endorser should post his picture on his profile page (as the main picture) of his Social Network Page. His picture could be updated as soon as the next free thing arrives or depends on the agreement with the endorsement.

It’s a win win situation for both sides, endorser gets freebies that he could use in his daily activities (plus some monetary value if possible) and possibly some media coverage. The Company, saves cash on advertising, be able to pull the plug anytime (should be part of the terms and conditions) and hit the local market (When in Rome…)  but maintain a global presence thru the Web.

What do you guys think?