Top Gear: The significance of brand ambassadors

Top Gear fans argue that the show’s attraction lies in the hosts’ chemistry on set. Academic studies have found that employees’ roles in an organisation are highly beneficial, but that their impact as brand ambassadors can often be overlooked. By referring to Top Gear, this paper discusses the value of the hosts as brand ambassadors and the consequences of brand eclipsing.

Introduction

The popular TV series is arguably the most entertaining and informative automotive television series within the past decade. The series has received much media coverage regarding the recent dismissal and resignations of presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, respectively. Consequently, the ‘revamped’ Top Gear welcomed hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc along with four other ‘car-fanatics’ in an attempt to continue the series. It has been said that the success of the original series was due to the vision of Andy Wilman, former producer of Top Gear (2002-2015), and Clarkson’s “perfectionism and tireless work ethic, and the chemistry between the three hosts¹.” The recent situation has led to questions being raised regarding the significance and power of brand ambassadors. 

Top Gear: employee branding

The value of a brand is believed to have a direct correlation to that of the business (Spark, 2004:6). This could be owing to brands creating an identity for the business, signifying quality, being a source of competitive advantage (Keller, 2003), and defining the business’ relationship with key stakeholders. Branding can further result in loyal employees that make up the core of a successful business (Larsen, 2003:10). Due to the complex nature of branding, the role of employees as brand ambassadors is often overlooked (Boyd & Sutherland, 2015). Dono White, NATIVE VML digital strategist, explains that an organisation’s best brand advocates are their own employees: “Understand that your employees are your consumers and, most importantly, we need to make those values [theirs and the brands] congruent².” It has been suggested that businesses invest in the training and development of their staff to reflect the brand. This is referred to as employee branding or human capital branding, which is an important way to retain staff and ensure a high quality end-products (Bendapudi & Bendapudi, 2005:124).  

Clarkson, Hammond and May, along with Top Gear, were once inseparable, where the trio were seen as the Top Gear brand. Creating this sense of belonging resulted in loyalty, pride, and commitment (Boyd & Sutherland, 2015:18). The presenters created value for the brand owing to their expertise and increased brand credibility by transferring their individual image to that of the brand, resulting in immediate recognition (Khatri, 2006:34). Therefore, the self-confidence and courage to leave the Top Gear brand led the trio to start their own automotive series with Amazon, titled The Grand Tour. Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, said about the trio: “they’re worth a lot and they know it³.” Adding to this self-confidence, the element of consumer attachment plays in their favour, where viewers have a stronger attachment to the hosts than to the Top Gear brand itself (Ilicic & Webster, 2011). In an article by Tom Victor, he states: “The trio have a new show in the works on Amazon Prime, and diehard Clarkson supporters are more excited about that than they are about the new-look Top Gear - despite Matt LeBlanc joining the latter⁴.” 

The eclipse of Top Gear

A cyber media research study about celebrity endorsement revealed that 80% of respondents remembered the brand ambassador over the brand itself (Khatri, 2006:34). Eclipsing occurs when an ambassador overshadows the brand (Ilicic & Webster, 2013:1040). Essentially, in the original Top Gear series, the hosts engaged the audience while unintentionally diverting the attraction away from the brand. When this happened, viewers evaluated Top Gear based on the hosts’ celebrity status, which resulted in positive reviews for the series. It has been found that the strength of attachment is seen in the heightened feeling of distress when ambassadors are separated from the brand (Thompson, 2006). This is evident in Top Gear, as viewers reacted negatively to the announcement of the hosts’ dismissal. This includes a signed petition, where more than one million people participated in an attempt to reinstate Jeremy Clarkson⁵. Attempting to mask this eclipse, it was announced that “the newest instalment of the Top Gear series will focus less on the presenters and more on cars⁶.”

Top Gear, all ‘revved up’

Research shows that the image of a brand should match up with that of the hosts, to provide viewers with a sense of consistency (Kamins, 1990). Further, this ‘match-up’ is said to occur when the ambassadors and the brand have similar characteristics and attributes (Misra & Beatty, 1990:60). When a mismatch is found between the ambassador and the brand, viewers report negative evaluations (Ilicic & Webber, 2013). Using celebrities as presenters often attracts viewer attention and increases brand awareness (Friedman & Friedman, 1979). Top Gear announced a ‘revamp’ with new celebrity hosts: Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris and Eddie Jordan. Kelly Dido, account manager at Atmosphere Communications, stated about using celebrities as brand ambassadors: “Their voice is more authentic, they have a significant following and they act as a credible source of information… As a result, they highlight the brand as being relevant which will resonate with the brand audience. When they talk about or promote the brand their opinion is trusted and respected by their audience⁷.” Top Gear fans are, however, not impressed with the new Top Gear cast, moving from the previous all British cast to the diverse current presenters⁸. 

Comments on the absence of the notorious British humour of the original series include: “Looks like it [the new Top Gear] will conform to the politically correct agenda the BBC wanted real Top Gear to always be. This show will be apocalyptically boring without the humour of Clarkson, May and Hammond⁹.” As a strategy to retain viewers, the producers of Top Gear expanded their production budget by £200 000 for each new episode¹⁰. The effectiveness of the new hosts greatly depend on their social attractiveness, likeability and credibility, consequently, affecting the brand performance (Keel & Nataraajan, 2012:694). Top Gear has received further negative media coverage regarding accusations surrounding one of the new co-hosts, Chris Evans, which include bullying, sexual harassment and feuds with co-hosts¹¹. Evans stated about the accusations: “All these bullying claims and other allegations are just ridiculous¹².” A comment made by ‘an insider’ emphasised the importance, but evident lack of, synergy between the co-hosts: “It is crazy, given this show depends so much on chemistry¹⁰.” 

The Grand Finalé

It was confirmed that, after receiving the lowest amount of viewers ever, Evans had stepped down and LeBlanc would sign to become the frontman of the show¹². A fan suggested that the BBC should have created a completely new show instead of trying to compete with the original⁹. Carol Vorderman, TV presenter, stated: “Sorry Top Gear… looking forward to the proper boys on @amazonprimenow soon…¹³.” 

The original brand ambassadors of Top Gear, Clarkson, Hammond and May, have successfully recorded the first episode of their new show, The Grand Tour, overlooking the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The trio explained that each episode will be filmed in a different location around the world instead of having a permanent setting. Clarkson commented on their pilot episode: “Unbelievably, I think it was successful.”¹⁴

It is evident that Clarkson, Hammond, and May represented the brand on and off the screen. Their commitment to the show over thirteen years created a loyal viewership that was fuelled by their personalities and not by the Top Gear brand, essentially resulting in a brand eclipse. The essence of the Top Gear success lay in the relationships between the co-hosts as well as the audience’s connection with the presenters. Top Gear found it difficult to recreate itself and re-establish its brand without the trio, resulting in a loss of viewers and a co-host. 

Although the Top Gear brand has suffered, over their time on the series, the trio used their influential positions to develop a strong separate brand. Inevitably, the brand ambassadors have ended stronger than what they began, with the brand struggling to survive without them.