RE: "It's All About the Benjamins" (and ROI)" (AA, Oct. 29). Kudos on your interview with Diddy about his stewardship of Ciroc. Diageo has struck upon a novel and impactful way to immediately infuse this vodka brand with genuine "hip-hop hipness." Irrefutably the greatest promoter of our time, Diddy has the power, creativity, industry contacts and consumer following to truly supercharge Ciroc's cool factor at an enviable speed. However, other marketers should be very careful about cloning Diageo's business model with other celebrities. Like P.T. Barnum before him, Diddy is a one-off powerhouse. I'd advise most marketers to leave the celebrity-as-CMO idea alone and let Hollywood simply continue to look pretty for the cameras. There's only one Diddy, and to think otherwise could prove embarrassing for a company as well as disastrous for a brand.

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