It is instructive to look at Marcus Samuelsson’s ability to coordinate endorsements and branding with television appearances that promote his products and himself.

Marcus won the latest round of Top Chef Masters, the celebrity chef competition show that raises money for the chefs’ chosen charities, while pitting them against each other in timed combat. The show repeatedly presents each contestant’s life story as background of what they are cooking. Life stories sell products. The better the story, the better the sell.

Marcus is meanwhile endorsing a new stove produced by BlueStar, Inspired by Marcus, of which only 200 are being produced in 2010. These stoves have high BTU outputs, so that home cooks can approximate more closely cooking in restaurants. The main differences are style, the rounded look of the stoves, and the colors.

The line features six unique color options handpicked by Chef Samuelsson and never before released by BlueStar – Infused Copper, Statuary Bronze, Ginger Spice, Enchanted Silver, Enchanted Sand, and Matte Black. Knobs and trims will be colored to match the selected range color and each range will come personalized with an ‘Inspired by Marcus’ signature plate, with the customer’s name inscribed.

Marcus’ win increased his selling power, not lost on the public relations firm handling the account, which emailed Super Chef the day after the win.

No doubt, Marcus’ other product lines – pots & pans and spices – will also get a boost from Top Chef Masters.

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