Modern marketing has a visibility problem. Audiences scroll past ads, ignore branded content and trust people more than brands. To combat this, leaders in marketing are taking different approaches. Just look at Paycom.
Deloitte research shows that top-performing brands report 40% or higher ROI from well-known personalities, highlighting their ability to drive measurable revenue growth.
For Paycom, this reflects a broader reality. Breakthrough messaging now requires a breakthrough messenger. The question is no longer whether to work with celebrities, but rather how to do it in a way that informs rather than distracts.
What problem are celebrity endorsements solving for brands like Paycom?
The core issue is simple. Attention does not equal understanding.
Research shows celebrity campaigns excel at driving awareness but do not guarantee outcomes. As Harvard Business Review notes, well-known figures are powerful for generating views and visibility, even when conversion paths remain unclear.
For a company like Paycom, which operates in a highly technical category, that gap matters. HR and payroll software is complex. Without clear storytelling, even differentiated technology risks being misunderstood or ignored.
At the same time, audience behavior continues shifting toward personality-led trust, with influencer marketing impacting Gen Z, a group twice as likely as baby boomers to buy a product from an influencer. HR software buyers, like Gen Xers and baby boomers, are more likely to trust traditional media and peer reviews.
For Paycom, this creates clear tension. Credibility must be earned through clarity, but visibility often requires scale. Celebrity partnerships sit at the intersection of both.
Why do celebrity endorsements work? The answer is psychology, not just fame
Celebrity marketing can come with many wins. Its power is cognitive.
Research from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania shows celebrity presence influences decision-making by directing visual attention and shaping how audiences process information. In practical terms, celebrities do not just attract viewers; they help audiences interpret messages faster.
That matters for Paycom. Explaining automation, AI and data accessibility can require multiple touch points in traditional marketing. A well-executed celebrity narrative compresses that understanding into seconds.
There is also a transfer effect. The Journal of Business Research reports that a celebrity’s perceived attributes can transfer to a brand, shaping how consumers evaluate it. For Paycom, that means clarity, confidence and intelligence can become part of the brand perception, not just the messaging.
How Paycom uses celebrity storytelling differently: The James Marsden example
Paycom’s campaign featuring award-winning actor James Marsden shows how celebrity partnerships are evolving from endorsement to demonstration.
In Paycom’s Know It All campaign, Marsden plays a CEO who can instantly access workforce data using Paycom’s command-driven AI engine, IWant™, illustrating how leaders can get quicker employee insights that help them stay informed and connected.
Paycom uses Marsden not as a spokesperson but as a narrative device. The character shows how the product works in a real-world context. The ad follows a C-suite leader navigating day-to-day employee-related questions, mirroring how HR and business leaders interact with technology.
That alignment prevents a common failure point in celebrity marketing. Instead of overshadowing the product, the celebrity becomes the lens that clarifies it.
Marsden spoke about the campaign during his appearance with Paycom at the Society for Human Resource Management convention in June.
“I like the Paycom ad because he’s going around and he’s saying, ‘I believe in you.’ It shouldn’t be that hard to make someone feel seen,” said Marsden during an on-stage interview with Paycom’s executive vice president of marketing and communications, Jason Bodin.
“The more we’re relaxed and feel seen and respected, the better work we’re going to do,” he added.
Marsden spoke to the HR-centric crowd about career growth, adaptability, leadership and the human side of success. He credited his long career in Hollywood to being a good person, advising attendees that people want to be around people who enjoy what they do.
“Whenever you have great people leading the way, other people will follow that in your workforce,” Marsden said.
He said he continues to look for opportunities to challenge himself. His career has included roles as a superhero, a juror in a reality TV show and a 1960s TV show host, among others.
“I’m not scared to have things not work out,” Marsden said. “It’s better than always walking around in your fear shoes.”
The crowd enjoyed hearing from Marsden, whose presence at the event helped elevate Paycom’s brand above its competitors.
By connecting a recognizable face with both digital storytelling and in-person experiences, Paycom turns a celebrity partnership into a multichannel brand moment.
What brands can learn: Celebrity partnerships work when they clarify, not just amplify
Celebrity endorsements are not a shortcut to performance. They are a tool for translation.
Brands continue investing in celebrity and influencer deals to drive engagement and audience connection, with new companies entering the space each year.
But effectiveness increasingly depends on alignment. When the celebrity reinforces the product’s value proposition, the campaign bridges the gap between attention and understanding.
Paycom’s approach shows how this works in practice. By aligning James Marsden’s role with the product experience, the campaign makes complex technology easier to grasp.
In a fragmented media landscape, that clarity is the real payoff. Brands do not just work with celebrities to be seen. They do it to be understood.
