BJMC 4 Project!

8/8/2019 BJMC 4 Project!

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Vivek JoshiSupreet Ahluwalia

Senior LecturersDepartment of Business

Manipal University Dubai CampusBlock #7 International Academic City DubaiUnited Arab Emirates

The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years oMarketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrity in influencing buyer's purchase decision. Theyfirm believe that likeability or a favorable attitude towards a brand is created by the use of a celebrThe crore of rupees spent per year on celebrity endorsement contracts show that celebrities like AmBachchan, Sharukh khan and Sachin Tendulkar play an important role for the advertising industry. established fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow unique features or special attributes upon aproduct that it may have lacked otherwise.In India from late 1970's and early 80's the new trend in advertising started. Brands started beingendorsed by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorseprominent brands. Advertisements featuring stars like Late Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Tabassum (Prescookers), Sunil Gavaskar for Dinesh Suiting, Ravi Shastri and Vivian Richards (Vimal), Persis Khamband Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving cream) became common.Though marketers should remember that celebrities are mere living beings like us and if they canhighlight the benefits or advantages of a brand they can also have some uncanny negative impact.Theory and practice suggests that the use of stars and their unleashing power in advertising generalot of publicity and attention from the public but the underline questions are, do these stars really hbrand by increasing its sales? On the other hand, can they really have an Impact on the person'sconsumption pattern, thereby changing his brand preference? How an advertisement featuring a ce

can influence consumers buying decision and can create an association between a brand and a comman.

To answer these questions, the article will examine the relationship between celebrity endorsementbrands, and the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer's buying behaviour as well as howconsumer makes brand preferences.

We will apply a wide range of accepted principles ofhow consumers brand attitudes and preferencebe influenced, howbuyer'sbehavior can be influenced, how buyer's behavior can be molded. We wthe principles of credibility of source and attractiveness, the match-up hypothesis, the consumer demaking model and the communication model to understand this phenomenon.Brand- A layman perspective

Brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you can associate with acompany or the product. Few examples will bring home the meaning i.e. Amul - utterly butterlydelicious;Coke thanda matlab coca-cola; Pepsi Yeh dil mange more; Kurkure- Masti bole to kandDaewoo ka India.

These examples convey one message that when people watch advertisement a connect is being creand result is that people go for experience of buying. People feel by using the brand they will portra


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certain traits or characteristics that otherwise they do not have. This generates a certain level ofemotional affiliation and a sense of fulfillment. It is this emotional relationship with brands that makthem so powerful.

Advertisements enforces what exactly the brand stands for and what to expect by its consumption aabove all what factors, features and attributes makes it better from competition. Advertisements alo

with other marketing efforts generate expectations and feelings in a customer and force them to thwhen they see or hear the brand name. This Thinking process and emotional bonding gets more maand relevant when a celebrity endorses the brand. The subjective intangible feelings of a customerbecome objective and tangible in the form of celebrity and the level of expectations will rise. Thecustomer will start to perceive himself in the reference frame of the celebrity after the brand or theadvertised product has been purchased or consumed by him.

to Celebrity

Celebritiesare people who enjoy public recognition and mostly they are the experts of their respectfields having wider influence in public life and societal domain. Attributes like attractiveness,extraordinary life style or special skills, larger than life imageand demigod status can be associated

them.It is safe to deduce that within a corresponding social group celebrities generally differ from the socnorm and enjoy high degree of public awareness.

Celebrities appear in public in different ways. To start, they appear in public when fulfilling theirprofessional commitments example: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who played cricket in front of an audieTwenty-Twenty World Cup. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending special celebrity eexample: the movie award nights; special screening; world premiers of movies or for social causes.celebrities have universal presence and appeal, they are present everywhere, in news, fashion showmagazines, tabloids and above all advertisements.

Celebrity and a Brand

Star power in India can be gauged by the successful endorsements done by Sharukh Khan (Pepsi,Hyundai Santro, Sunfeast, and Navratan etc.), Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid,Hrithik Roshan and the others. The inevitable question is, if and how the lively interest of the publicrich and famous can be efficiently and effectively used by companies to promote their brands andconsequently to increase their sales revenues.

This fact can be brought out by using certain examples i.e. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan promoting Cadbuchocolates after the fiasco of infestation when the image of Cadbury India went very low in the eyepeople. Soon the company found a perfect fit and a reliable celebrity to transmit the correct messaghelp regenerating the lost trust. The fit between the product and celebrity is evident as Mr. BachchaCadbury chocolates bothhave tested troubled times and still they stand tall and the love and trust both share with the people all across India. This is a live example ofhow a celebrity brought certainattributes a product like chocolate.

Actor Sharukh khan has also endorsed diversified products. His endorsement basket is ranging fromHyundai Santro to Sunfeast biscuits on one hand and from Compaq computers to Videocon electronthe other.

According to Advertising research companies both the actors are doing well and the ad spent on bo


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the companies is increasing at a phenomenal rate, so does their basket of endorsements. These actbring reliability and trust in the brand and above all, they help in increasing the sales revenues.

Celebrity endorsements are powerful, has become evident from the above two examples but, why iThis power is offered by the following elements, which also creates a 'Top of the Mind Position'.

* Instant Awareness, knowledge about the brand and easy recall.* Values and image of the brand is defined, highlighted and refreshed by the celebrity.* The celebrity adds new edge and dimension to the brand.* Credibility, trust, association, aspiration and connectivity to brand.* Belief in efficiency and new appearance that will result in at least trial usage.

Understanding Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the study ofhow people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why theIt blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and economics. Itattempts to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually and in groups. It studcharacteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral varia

an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from gsuch as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

The study and knowledge of consumer behavior helps firms and organizations to improve their marstrategies and product offerings. Following are the important issues that have significant influence oconsumer's psyche and their ability to take decisions:

y The psychology ofhow consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternativ(e.g., brands, products);

y The psychology ofhow the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, signs, media);

y The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;y

Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions anmarketing outcome;y How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their

of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; andy How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies

more effectively reach the consumer.y Their Age, Religion, Culture, Income, informal group and Referent Group.

Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into consideration

Consumer Decision-making process


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The given process is very complicated though on first sight it does not look so. Process starts withproblem recognition or with an unsatisfied need. Something that a consumer would like to have orpurchase in order to attain satisfaction. This need can be Psychological, attitudinal or Physiological yes it should have the capacity to be fulfilled by consuming a particular product or service.To satisfy the given need what all are the components that should be taken into consideration andwe can maximize the satisfaction is the next stage. In this stage, we will cover ability to purchase, of involvement, people whose opinion will count and other relevant details that will help us in optimsatisfaction.Based upon information search we will generate various alternatives i.e. which brand or product isaffordable for me, where will it be available comfortably and above all in comparison to other brandproducts how better or economical it is.

Evaluation stage will look like cost benefit analysis and based upon maximum value or utility per ruspend, we will decide or shortlist the product or brand. This is the decision and confirmation stage wthe consumers prepares himself for the purchase of a particular brand and give preference to one aonly one over and above the others.

Next comes the purchase when the consumer will finally go to the market and look for the brand orproduct, physically verifies it and purchases it.

Last is the post purchase Evaluation in which the customer wants to justify his consumption or purcdecision. He tries to find out whether his purchase decision was right or not. Companies make lot oto tackle this situation successfully and they want the customer to be satisfied with their product.

This stage may result into three situations, first is satisfaction where customer is satisfied and he goexpected results but this does not necessitates the repeat purchase by the consumer. Second isdissonance where the consumer is not satisfied as he got less utility or less than expected result fro

consumption or product performance. Third is Delight, here the consumer gets more than expectedsatisfaction and utility and this will assure the repeat purchase and creation of brand loyalty.


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Traditional Factors affecting consumer decision makingThere are several factors that affect consumer's decision to purchase a brand and a product. Thesefactors though at time are not very much visible but they make an impact and affects sales of a proor brand up to a great extent. The table below shows some of these factors.

Impact of a Brand on consumer purchase decisionResearch studies have proven that known products and names are sold more than unknown ones.Therefore, a known brand or an optimally exposed brand will find more recognition and buyers in thmarket in comparison to completely unknown or unexposed brand. Recognition of brand and its

significance along with the traditional factors plays a very significant role in consumer decision-makprocess.More or less every consumer has a brand preference and given the affordability and societal norms

buyer would like to buy and consume one of the highly acceptable, recognizable, and reputed brand

The above given model explains the important role that a brand plays in three different stages of


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consumer's purchase decision making. A consumer start collecting data or information about his favbrand than he keeps his favourite as one of the alternatives and he evaluate his selected brand agaavailable options and on finding it suitable or best among all options based upon a qualitative andquantitative evaluation he will ultimately purchase the selected or favourite brand.

The diagram above explains how various traditional factors along with brand preference interact dupurchase decision process and finally results into a consumer's final product choice or ultimate purc

Celebrity and a brandSurveys suggest that compared to any other types of endorsers, famous people achieve a higher deof attention and recall. They increase awareness of a company's advertising as well as help in retenmessage in the psyche of the audience. They can also help the company in reducing their expendituMedia and other forms of publicity. An example will bring more clarity, When S Kumars, a known tebrand entered into readymade garments business they used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advericon for their launch advertising for TAMARIND, now one of the premium readymade brands. Theyreckoned that they have spent 40-50 percent less on media due to sheer impact of using hottest stHrithik. The Ad recall was as high as 70 percent and the campaign can be termed as a great succes

Celebrities also create positive feelings towards brands, connect user to brand and are perceived byconsumers as more entertaining.

Using a celebrity in advertising or for any, other type of communication for brand building is likely tpositively affect consumers' brand preference, brand attitude, brand association and purchase intenTo ensure positive results, however, it is critical for advertisers to have a clear understanding ofconsumer's reactions and reinforcement of celebrity endorsement. The impact of celebrity endorsemon any brand as well as on consumer's purchase decision is very critical.

Source Credibility

Central goal of advertising is the convincing of consumers and persuasion to purchase, the ultimateobjective, though not openly spoken, is to some how attract consumers to the market offering of thcompany, generating positive attitude, reinforce positive association and ultimately to generate salemay be a trial purchase. At later stages, the sponsor may work towards creating a brand loyalty bugenerating initial sales or increasing the existing sales is the primary objective. In this respect, thecredibility of an endorser along with advertisement plays an important role in convincing the targetaudience of the attractiveness of the company's brand and generates sales. Pursuing a celebrityendorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise,persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness.


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To create effective messages, celebrity advertisers also have to consider the attractiveness of thespokesperson. Source attractiveness refers to the endorser's Physical appearance, Personality, Likeand Similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived socialvalue of the source. This behavior mainlyback to halo effect, whereby persons who perform well on one dimension example: physicalattractiveness or top professional performance, social status are assumed to excel on other levels ai.e. happiness and coolness. This is evident from the use of Fardeen Khan, modern, dynamic, outgo

and smart personality for Provogue; he translates the modernism of the brand well. Titan uses AamKhan in his different avatars for communicating to the public that their watches are as reliable andpassionate as Aamir is for films. Both Fardeen and Aamir carry the message well and enhance thecredibility of the brand they endorse.Establishing a Perfect Match

Research proves that a spokesperson especially for a service product or organization (ICICI- FirstAmitabh Bachchan, now Shahrukh Khan) interacts with the type of brand being advertised. These scommunicate the value of the product and transform an ordinary service into a miracle solution for problems of an ordinary customer.

According to Friedman and Friedman (1979), a famous relative to a 'normal' spokesperson is moreeffective for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, selimage, and opinion of others. Several research studies have examined the congruency between celendorsers and brands to explain the effectiveness of using famous persons to promote brands.

In India, a brand called Reid &Taylor presented its perfect example when they first launched theiradvertising campaign featuring James Bond fame of the time Mr. Pierce Brosnan along with the tag'BOND WITH THE BEST' but the James Bond idea did not worked and the company was not happy wthe results.

After the debacle of the first campaign, company introduced a family ad where children are celebratthere parents silver wedding anniversary and they are out with their father to purchase a suit for hi

Even th

is commercial did not work and it was taken off th

e air. As a last resort, company introducedAmitabh Bachchan as Reid &Taylor man, a man propagating the brand for special occasion and for special people in life. The commercial from the initial days got good response and did extremely wepeople were able to connect with Mr. Bachchan and the values he was propagating.

For the masses, there was a perfect match of an ideal Indian family man, a star and a good qualitybit highly priced brand reserved especially for special occasions and for very special people.

Second example that can be quoted is ofVishwanathan Anand, who endorsed NIIT. NIIT adopted asmart strategy by roping in Vishwanathan Anand an international chess wizard for their advertisingcampaign. As chess is considered to be a game full of strategies and a game for smart people and wone of the greats of the game is asking people to join NIIT it was suppose to have a positive influenthe people and actually it had. There was complete congruency and compatibility between the celeb

endorser, the product and the message.

Contrary to only favorable outcomes, there are several examples where the product, even the entircampaign collapsed due to heavy weight celebrity as the agency or the ad failed to establish therelationship between the endorser and the product. Keeping the focus only on success, where the pand the celebrity were a perfect match, following are few examples:

Celebrity Endorser Company / ProductAmitabh Bachchan * Dabur


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* Cadbury* Reid and Taylor* Parker

Shahrukh Khan * Santro* Videocon* Sunfeast* Pepsi

Juhi Chawala * KurkureUstad Zakir Hussain * Taj mahal teaAamir Khan * Titan* Coke

* Toyota InnovaAishwarya Rai * Nakshatra

* LuxRani Mukherjee * Fanta

* Nestle MunchKajol and Ajay Devgan * Whirlpool

* Tata IndicomThe campaigns are not only basking with the glory of success stories, but there is considerable numfailures as well. Assuming that a person just have to be famous to represent a successful brand, howould be incorrect and may turn out to be a very dangerous preposition resulting into a big calamit

the entire advertising campaign or the brand.Very well accepted and attractive super stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan failed turning their endorsements into success i.e. Maruti Versa similarly Virendra Sehwag also failed to dReliance Telecommunication with the master stroke ofhis cricketing genius.Among the possible reasons identified by several authors, including overexposure and identification'match-up hypothesis' specifically suggests that the effectiveness depends on the existence of a 'fitbetween the celebrity spokesperson and endorsed brand.

Empirical work on the congruency of brand with the celebrity often has concentrated on the physicaattractiveness of the endorser. Results show that an attractive spokespersons are more effective in

of attitude change when prompting brands that enhance one's attractiveness i.e. cosmetics; healthor fashion wear.

Primary data states, for celebrity spokespersons to be truly effective, they should be knowledgeableexperienced, mature, and a bench mark in their respective field and qualified to talk about the prod

Transferring the Meaning

After watching an advertisement the consumers try to find the meaning of the advertisement andassociate the same with the endorser and eventually transfer to the brand. To understand thisphenomenon Mc Cracken (1989) suggested a comprehensive model known as Meaning Transfer MoThis three-stage model suggests how the meaning associated with the famous person moves from t

endorser to the product or the brand. Thus, meanings attributed to the celebrity become associatedthe brand in the consumer's mind. Finally, in the consumption process, the customer acquires the bmeaning. The third stage of the model explicitly shows the importance of the consumer's role in theprocess of endorsing brands with famous persons.

In contrast to anonymous endorsers, celebrities add value to the image transfer process by offeringmeanings of extra depth and power, what is complemented by their life style and personalities. Theto transfer the correct meaning to the consumer the company should select a celebrity that will prothe most favorable response for consumers and for the purpose the celebrity should have, the


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appropriate set of characteristics and the public should be able to visualize and comprehend the samThe company should consider the consumer's needs while developing their communication strategyselecting an appropriate celebrity to transmit the same, i.e. Kurkure used actress Juhi Chawala withpunch line 'Masti Bole To Kurkure' and the actress on screen and off-screen personifies the masti anhelps the brand in communicating the same easily.

Compatibility of the celebrity's persona with the overall brand image is very important, as a celebritimparts credibility and inspirational value to a brand and his or her image should perfectly match thbrand's image. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the mesare must for a successful campaign.

Certain elements that generate a perfect match or compatibility between the celebrity and brand imare:

* Celebrity's fit with the brand image along with celebrity-target audience match.* Celebrity associated values and celebrity-product match.* Costs of acquiring the celebrity and his or her popularity along with controversy risks associated wthe celebrity.

* Credibility, availability and physical attractiveness of celebrity.

The above points can be put to perspective by using two examples, first Kapil Dev's 'Palmolive da janahin' and second Nakshatra's brand recall due to its endorser, the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai BachchBoth brands have edged out and carved out their niche in consumer's mind due to image and crediof their endorsers. These were the cases of perfect match between the brand image and the image persona of the celebrity endorser.

ConclusionA brief assessment of the current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsement advertisingstrategy can under the right circumstances indeed justify the high costs associated with this form oadvertising. The use of celebrity for endorsements create a very favorable impact on the consumer creates a connect which forces a consumer to purchase a product. However, as several failures shoessential for advertisers to be aware of the complex processes underlying celebrity endorsement.It has been proved from the discussion that celebrity endorsements are a powerful and useful tool tmagnifies the effect of a campaign but the word of caution to be followed seriously; celebrities alonnot guarantee success nor does a great advertising campaign or the best possible product. It is thecombination of several factors and elements that work together for the success of a brand and itsacceptance in the minds of consumers as well as for its market offering.

Modern day consumers are well educated and smart, they know celebrities are being paid for theseendorsements and this knowledge makes consumers rather more cynical about the product and celendorsements. Majority of the consuming population also knows what is advertising and how it actuworks and this knowledge of consumer makes the task of celebrity endorsement all the more difficu


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challenging for the advertising companies and the sponsors. Indian companies both advertising andproduct offering companies have top make an effort to overcome this ever-mounting challenge.

References

* Aaker, David A. (1996), Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press.

* Daneshvary, Rennae and R. Keith Schwer (2000), "The Association Endorsement and* Consumers' Intention to Purchase,"Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17 (3), 203-213.* Friedman, Hershey H. and Linda Friedman (1979), "Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type,"JouAdvertising Research, 19 (5), 63-71.* McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the EndorsemeProcess,"Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3), 310-321.

Vivek JoshiSupreet Ahluwalia

Senior Lecturers

Department of BusinessManipal University Dubai CampusBlock #7 International Academic City Dubai

United Arab Emirates

Source: E-mail January 3, 2008

"A sign of a celebrity is that his name is often worth more than his services.

- Daniel J Boorstin

INTRODUCTION

The motif behind total branding may be decocted as an attempt to amalgamate diverse activities to

win customer preference. Apropos to this context, the topic Impact of celebrity endorsement on

overall brand, is a significant one. The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily

increasing over the past years. Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrities in influencing

consumer-purchasing decisions. It is a ubiquitously accepted fact that celebrity endorsement can

bestow special attributes upon a product that it may have lacked otherwise. But everything is not

hunky-dory; celebrities are after all mere mortals made of flesh and blood like us. If a celebrity can

aggrandize the merits of a brand, he or she can also exacerbate the image of a brand.

If I may take the liberty of rep

hrasing Aristotles quote on anger,

Any brand can get a celebrity.

That is easy. But getting a celebrity consistent with the right brand, to the right degree, at the right

time, for the right purpose and in the right way... that is not easy.

Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following motives:

y Instant Brand Awareness and Recall.y Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image.


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y Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image.y Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage.y Lack of ideas.y Convincing clients.

The scope of a celebrity on the incumbent brand:

Simply stating, a brand is a differentiated product and helps in identifying your product and making it

stand out due to its name, design, style, symbol, color combination, or usually a mix of all these.

Before we can scrutinize the effects of celebrity endorsement on the overall brand, we have to ferret

the implicit nuances that act as sources of strong brand images or values:

y Experience of use: This encapsulates familiarity and proven reliability.y User associations: Brands acquire images from the type of people who are seen using them.

Images of prestige or success are imbibed when brands are associated with glamorous

personalities.

y Belief in efficiency: Ranking from consumer associations, newspaper editorials etc.y Brand appearance: Design of brand offers clues to quality and affects preferences.y Manufacturers name & reputation: A prominent brand name (Sony,Kelloggs,Bajaj,Tata)

transfers positive associations

The celebritys role is the most explicit and profound in incarnating user associationsamong the

above-mentioned points. To comprehend this, let us analyze the multiplier effect formula for a

successful brand:

S=P* D*AV--the multiplier effectWhere S is a successful brand,

P is an effective product.

D is Distinctive Identity

and AV is Added values.

The realm of the celebritys impact is confined to bestow a distinctive identity and provide AV to the

brand; the celebrity does not have the power to improve or debilitate the efficiency and features of

the core product. Thus, we are gradually approaching an evident proposition claiming,

The health of a brand can definitely be improved up to some extent by celebrity endorsement. But

one has to remember that endorsing a celebrity is a means to an end and not an end in itself.

An appropriately used celebrity can prove to be a massively powerful tool that magnifies the effects of

a campaign. But the aura of cautiousness should always be there. The fact to be emphasised is that

celebrities alone do not guarantee success, as consumers nowadays understand advertising. They

know what advertising is and how it works. People realize that celebrities are being paid a lot of

money for endorsements and this knowledge makes them cynical about celebrity endorsements.

Compatibility of the celebritys persona with the overall brand image


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A celebrity is used to impart credibility and aspirational values to a brand, but the celebrity needs to

match the product. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the

message are musts for a successful campaign. Celebrities are no doubt good at generating attention,

recall and positive attitudes towards advertising provided that they are supporting a good idea and

there is an explicit fit between them and the brand. On the other hand, they are rendered useless

when it comes to the actual efficiency of the core product, creating positive attitudes to brands,

purchase intentions and actual sales.

Certain parameters that postulate compatibility between the celebrity and brand image are:

y Celebritys fit with the brand image.y CelebrityTarget audience matchy Celebrity associated values.y Costs of acquiring the celebrity.y CelebrityProduct match.y Celebrity controversy risk.y Celebrity popularity.y Celebrity availability.y Celebrity physical attractiveness.y Celebrity credibility.y Celebrity prior endorsements.y Whether celebrity is a brand user.y Celebrity profession.

Successful celebrity endorsements for a brand- An Indian perspective

The latter part of the '80s saw the burgeoning of a new trend in India brands started being endorsed

by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse prominent

brands. Advertisements, featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige pressure cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan

Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings) became common.

Probably, the first ad to cash in on star power in a strategic, long-term, mission statement kind of way

was Lux soap. This brand has, perhaps as a result of this, been among the top three in the country for

much of its lifetime.

In recent times, we had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign with the objective of mitigating the

impediment that an unknown Korean brand faced in the Indian market. The objective was to garner

faster brand recognition, association and emotional unity with the target group. Star power in India

can be gauged by the successful endorsement done by Sharukh for three honchos- Pepsi, Clinic All

Clear and Santro. Similarly, when S Kumars used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advertising icon for

their launch advertising for Tamarind, they reckoned they spent 40 -50 per cent less on media due to

the sheer impact of using Hrithik. Ad recall was as high as 70 per cent, and even the normally

conservative trade got interested.

In the Indian context, it would not be presumptuous to state that celebrity endorsements can

aggrandize the overall brand. We have numerous examples exemplifying this claim. A standard


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example here is Coke, which, till recently, didn't use stars at all internationally. In fact, India was a

first for them. The result was a ubiquitously appealing Aamir cheekily stating Thanda matlab Coca

Cola. The recall value for Nakshatra advertising is only due to the sensuous Aishwarya. The Parker pen

brand, which by itself commands equity, used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India.

According to Pooja Jain, Director, Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd (LWIL), post Bachchan, Parker's sales

have increased by about 30 per cent.

India is one country, whichhas always idolized the stars of the celluloid world.

Therefore it makes tremendous sense for a brand to procure a celebrity for its endorsement. In India

there is an exponential potential for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant,

thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product. This would especially prove true if the

endorser and the category are a natural lifestyle fit like sportspersons and footwear, Kapil-Sachin and

Boost or film stars and beauty products.

Some Global Examples:

Globally, firms have been juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers. Some

successful ongoing global endorsements are as follows:

y Celebrity endorsements have been the bedrock of Pepsi's advertising. Over the years, Pepsihas used and continues to use a number of celebrities for general market and targeted

advertising, including Shaquille O'Neal, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, and Busta Rhymes, who did

a targeted campaign for their Mountain Dew product.

y George Foreman for Meineke. He has also sold more than 10 million Lean Mean Fat-- ReducingGrilling Machines since signing with the manufacturing company.

y James Earl Jones for Verizon and CNN.y Nike golf balls, since the company signed Tiger Woods in 1996, have seen a $50 million

revenue growth. Nike's golf line grossed more than $250 million in annual sales. In 2000 herenegotiated a five-year contract estimated at $125 million.

y Other successful endorsements like NikeMichael Jordan, DunlopJohn McEnroe, AdidasPrince Naseem Hamed, and so on.

y Venus Williams, tennis player and Wimbledon champion has signed a five-year $40 millioncontract with sportswear manufacturer Reebok International Inc.

Advantages of a celebrity endorsing a Brand

Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in products

or services, more and more brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As soon as a new

face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to have it splashed all over. Witness thespectacular rise of Sania Mirza and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of a few months. The

accruement of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the following advantages that are bestowed

on the overall brand:

y Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for thatbrand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products. We had the


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Shah Rukh-Santro campaign. At launch, Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Santro and this ensured

that brand awareness was created in a market, which did not even know the brand.

y EnsuredAttention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter ofadvertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.

y PR coverage : is another reason for using celebrities. Managers perceive celebrities astopical, which create high PR coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity campaigns isone of the Worlds leading pop groups, the Spice Girls, who have not only appeared in

advertisements for Pepsi, but also in product launching and PR events. Indeed, celebrity-

company marriages are covered by most media from television to newspapers (e.g. The Spice

Girls and Pepsi)

y Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the personalities of the celebrity withthe brand thereby increasing the recall value. Golf champion Tiger Woods has endorsed

American Express, Rolex, and Nike. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is used by T-Mobile and

Elizabeth Arden. 007 Pierce Brosnan promotes Omega, BMW, and Noreico.

y Associative Benefit: A celebritys preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message -because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.

y Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the consumer's confidencein its chocolate brands following the high-pitch worms controversy; so the company appointed

Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last year, when the even more controversial pesticide issue

shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both soft drink majors

put out high-profile damage control ad films featuring their best and most expensive

celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fightback as an ingenious and fastidious Bengali

who finally gets convinced of the product's purity,' PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and

Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a television commercial which drew references to the

`safety' of the product indirectly.

y Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers usestars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.

y Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments(age, gender, class, geography etc.).

y Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet togenerate interest among the masses.

y Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnantchyawanprash category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in

Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore.

y Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas.Disadvantages of a celebrity endorsing a brand:

The celebrity approachhas a few serious risks:

1. The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after he/she has endorsed the product:Pepsi Cola's suffered with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael

Jackson. Since the behaviour of the celebrities reflects on the brand, celebrity endorsers may

at times become liabilities to the brands they endorse.


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2. The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of a celebrity overshadowing thebrand. If there is no congruency between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will

remember the celebrity and not the brand. Examples are the campaigns of Dawn French

Cable Association and Leonard RossiterCinzano. Both of these campaigns were aborted due

to celebrities getting in the way of effective communication. Another example could be the

Castrol commercial featuring Rahul Dravid.

3. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity: The celebrity may lose hisor her popularity due to some lapse in professional performances. For example, when

Tendulkar went through a prolonged lean patch recently, the inevitable question that cropped

up in corporate circles - is he actually worth it? The 2003 Cricket World Cup also threw up the

Shane Warne incident, which caught Pepsi off guard. With the Australian cricketer testing

positive for consuming banned substances and his subsequent withdrawal from the event,

bang in the middle of the event, PepsiCo - the presenting sponsor of the World Cup 2003 -

found itself on an uneasy wicket

4. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to overexposure: Thenovelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted ifhe does too many advertisements. This may

be termed as commoditisation of celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big bucks.Example, MRF was among the early sponsors ofTendulkar with its logo emblazoned on his

bat. But now Tendulkar endorses a myriad brands and the novelty of the Tendulkar-MRF

campaign has scaled down.

5. Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another (competitor): Sainsburysencountered a problem with Catherina Zeta Jones, whom the company used for its recipe

advertisements, when she was caught shopping in Tesco. A similar case happened with

Britney Spears who endorsed one cola brand and was repeatedly caught drinking another

brand of cola on tape.

6. Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the brand: Celebrities manifest acertain persona for the audience. It is of paramount importance that there is an egalitarian

congruency between the persona of the celebrity and the image of the brand. Each celebrityportrays a broad range of meanings, involving a specific personality and lifestyle. Madonna,

for example, is perceived as a tough, intense and modern women associated with the lower

middle class. The personality of Pierce Brosnan is best characterized as the perfect gentlemen,

whereas Jennifer Aniston has the image of the good girl from next door.

CONCLUSION

Despite the obvious economic advantage of using relatively unknown personalities as endorsers in

advertising campaigns, the choice of celebrities to fulfill that role has become common practice for

brands competing in today's cluttered media environment. There are several reasons for such

extensive use of celebrities. Because of their

high

profile, celebrities mayhelp advertisements standout from the surrounding clutter, thus improving their communicative ability. Celebrities may also

generate extensive PR leverage for brands. For example, when Revlon launched the "Won't kiss off

test" for its Colorstay lipsticks in 1994 with Cindy Crawford kissing reporters, the campaign featured

on almost every major news channel and equally widely in the press. A brief assessment of the

current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsementadvertising strategies can, under the

right circumstances, indeed justify the high costs associated with this form of advertising.


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But it would be presumptuous to consider celebrity endorsement as a panacea for all barricades.

Celebrity endorsement if used effectively, makes the brand stand out, galvanizes brand recall and

facilitates instant awareness. To achieve this, the marketer needs to be really disciplined in choice of a

celebrity. Hence the right use of celebrity can escalate the Unique Selling Proposition of a brand to

new heights; but a cursory orientation of a celebrity with a brand may prove to be claustrophobic for

the brand. A celebrity is a means to an end, and not an end in himself/herself.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the

views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report anycopyright issues related to this article.

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