The past week heated up what seemed like the battle of international endorsers in local fashion retail.

There was a time when only one local clothing brand was routinely bringing in foreign celebrities and signing them up as product endorsers in the Philippines. Times have changed.

Indeed, it must have felt like Christmas for television and music fans here, as American entertainers arrived in the country one after the other last week.

But unlike Lady Gaga, who performed in a two-night concert early in the week, “The Vampire Diaries” star Ian Somerhalder and American singer-actor Joe Jonas came to shoot their respective campaigns for homegrown clothing brands Penshoppe and Bench. “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester capped the star-studded week when she walked the runway for Penshoppe in Philippine Fashion Week.

Team Bench and Team Penshoppe seem to be pulling all the stops to one-up each other in the foreign endorsers game. Bench and Penshoppe are casual-clothing chains.

Bench founder Ben Chan is glib when quizzed about the seeming trend. “It’s inevitable,” he says. “For the past 25 years, we have been a pioneer in terms of product development and marketing strategies. Most of our successful experiments have been adopted as formula by other brands.”

While it was indeed Bench that, through the years, consistently brought in international celebrities as brand endorsers, Penshoppe believes that it was the pioneer in the game—it signed the then unknown Irish boy band Boyzone in 1995. In the same year, Bench shot a campaign with a Chinese-American VJ for Channel V named Nonie Tao.

Household names

Bench would go on to grow its roster of local celebrity endorsers, turning big stars into bigger stars and relative unknowns into household names.

Meanwhile, it took Penshoppe seven years to do a major follow-up on Boyzone. In 2002, the clothing firm that originated in Cebu tapped rising American teen singer-actress Mandy Moore, considered a coup at the time.

Also in 2002, another homegrown clothing label, Kamiseta, began what would become a longtime relationship with Hollywood when it shot a campaign with actress Alicia Silverstone. The next year, it was Natalie Portman.

Actress Kate Hudson and models Natalia Vodianova and Petra Nemcova would also star in Kamiseta campaigns. Its current face is Tom Cruise’s wife Katie Holmes.

But like with Moore for Penshoppe, the Filipinos’ contact with Kamiseta’s foreign endorsers has not gone beyond the store posters and Edsa billboards. All campaigns were shot overseas; the celebrities never set foot in the Philippines.

Last year, controversial starlet Lindsay Lohan shot a billboard for the local jeans brand Jag, but it barely registered a blip on anyone’s radar.

Which might explain why, of all the clothing brands, Bench stands out as the one most consistently identified with foreign celebrities.

It was in 2003 that Bench flew in a popular Taiwanese boy band called F4, a feat so successful that Chan would soon sign up other hot foreign acts, most recently, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. Most, if not all, did promotional shows and appearances here, apart from shooting the Bench campaigns here.

“The use of international celebrities helps us in penetrating new markets and territories,” says Chan, who now has stores abroad, from the Middle East to the US. “It brings prestige and adds to the global appeal of the brand as we take it beyond our shores.”

Penshoppe has also been updating its dusty image, so much that last year, it signed up Ed Westwick of the hit series “Gossip Girl” as brand endorser. If this had Chan quaking in his shoes, he wouldn’t say. He’s cryptic when asked about the endorser who was hardest to court. He merely says, “To be announced.”

Thai heartthrob

At about the same time last year, Penshoppe also began working with Thai heartthrob Mario Maurer. Westwick and Maurer have come to the Philippines for promotional appearances.

Another hot young Hollywood actor, Zac Efron, recently shot his campaign for Penshoppe and is also expected to visit the country. Penshoppe considers Efron its biggest catch yet.

“We are recreating the brand into something that can compete head-on with the industry giants that are landing on our shores,” explains Alex Mendoza, Penshoppe’s brand director.

“We are aiming to create a brand that can proudly be sold around the world. We have improved on our products and stores to make them more international in quality. Now that the back end is fixed, we can communicate it to the market. And getting international superstars gives a new sparkle to the brand.”

Penshoppe has stores in Saudi Arabia and China.

Mendoza quickly pooh-poohs speculations that Penshoppe is aping Bench’s marketing stunts. “We… do not mimic other local brands, because we don’t use celebrities as our only tool to create noise. We have spent a great deal of resources on improving our products and stores, and that is where customer loyalty ultimately comes from.”

Foreign celebrity endorsers command big paychecks, possibly even more than the biggest local stars. Chan declines to quote a figure, but Mendoza says the range runs up to seven figures—in US dollars.

But “they’re definitely worth it,” says Mendoza. “International endorsers are very effective for brands that want to go or remain international for the long term… They are also more effective than local faces because they bring an air of prestige and exclusivity that makes more people take notice.”

Global appeal

Apart from prestige, they add global appeal to the brand as it expands overseas, Chan says.

Kibitzers may argue that not all endorsers the brands are bringing in are exactly marquee names.

But how does one argue with success?

Most Filipinos hadn’t heard of Mario Maurer until last year. But with the more famous Westwick, the Thai’s endorsement sold out Penshoppe’s varsity jackets. “Almost everything [they] wore on our billboards” sold out, according to Mendoza.

A year after Jerry Yan of F4’s campaign for Bench, orders were still coming in from Canada, HK and Japan, recalls Chan.

“In the last decade, globalization has opened our market to more sources of inspiration, not necessarily limited to either the local entertainment industry or the Hollywood monopoly. As a result, one can become a big international star, [wherever] you are from,” he says, noting that two of Bench’s current faces are from the popular Korean pop group Super Junior.

Bench has also been known to associate with foreign artists of Filipino extraction—Apl d. Ap of Black Eyed Peas, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and Bruno Mars—leading to speculations that it would soon sign up “American Idol” runner-up Jessica Sanchez.

“We wish,” says Chan. “People expect us to sign up Jessica because of our history of supporting global Filipino artists.”

A company can tell if an endorsement is successful when, “from a marketing objective, they add value to the brand image, and from a business perspective, if they add to sales in the long term,” Chan explains.

But like Penshoppe, he stresses that celebrity endorsement is just one of the marketing tacks. “We are as aggressive in product development, store improvements, and creating the most exciting fashion events.”

The ultimate winner in this virtual war, however, is neither Team Bench nor Team Penshoppe. In the end, it’s the consumer, according to both camps.

“We are trying to create an engaging shopping experience for our market. We continue to provide the best value for money for their everyday luxuries,” Chan says.

“Having a strong endorsement campaign changes a consumer’s perspective about a brand,” says Mendoza. “The consumer takes a second look at a brand that he may have taken for granted all these years and be pleasantly surprised.”

Or it can even make the customer love a favored brand even more. Ultimately, he says, “it’s all about feeling good.”

And you only have to look at throngs of screaming fans to understand what that means.