n part, the reasoning behind celebrity endorsements harkens back to the principal that humans

are by nature social creatures. We all, even at a very young age, take cues about how to behave
by both observing the actions of and striving to please those whose opinions we value. These
people we seek to please and imitate are known in many disciplines as "reference groups". It has
been found that reference groups exert either a normative or comparative influence on a person.

Normative influences involve setting and enforcing standards of conduct whereas comparative
influences involve decision making about specific activities and or branding choices. In addition,
normative influences tend to come from small informal groups like our families whereas
comparative influences tend to come from larger more formal groups. An example of
comparative influences at play is when a teenager pleads with his parent that he just has to have a
new iphone because all his friends have one.

Another widespread application of the power of reference groups is affinity marketing. This
strategy allows consumers to underscore their identification with a celebrity or organization by
attaching aspects of the group’s identification to their own personal life. Examples of an affinity
marketing strategy being used are the bank issued credit cards which are tied to either a
membership or symbolic group, such as a credit card that ties into membership with the
Worldwide Wildlife Fund.

The use of celebrity endorsements is a popular way to differentiate among similar products when
consumers do not perceive many actual differences among the products competitive set as well
as during the mature stage of the product’s life cycle. An example of celebrity endorsements
used in this way can be seen by examining recent ads from both Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Both have
seemingly run out of things to say about their products so they rely heavily on celebrity
endorsements.

Celebrity endorsements can come from either direct endorsements (on-site placements,
spokespeople) or indirectly via creative placement such as Reese’s Pieces candy in the
blockbuster movie E.T.

There are a variety of methods used to assess a celebrities marketing value, like the "Q" rating.
"Q" rating is a widely used marketing technique to pre-qualify a celebrity’s eligibility for product
endorsement. This technique takes into consideration the consumers’ levels of both familiarity
and favorability with the celebrity in question.

The effectiveness of celebrities as spokespeople often depends on whether they are credible,
attractive or both as well as what they are famous for.

Not all consumers trust a celebrity’s motives for endorsing a product or they may question the
celebrity’s ability to effectively evaluate the product itself. Credibility can be enhanced if the
source’s qualifications are perceived as somehow relevant to the product being endorsed. Like in
the case of master golfer Tiger Woods endorsing a certain brand of golf balls.

To be credible the celebrity also has to show that their knowledge of the product or topic is
accurate. If the celebrity falters in their display of the topic or product knowledge it can have a
serious negative impact. A recent example of this is Alaskan Governor Sara Palin’s 2008 Vice
Presidential campaign. Palin’s marketing team was trying to position her as being knowledgeable
about world affairs. Her much covered statement about knowing about Russian politics because
she could "see Russia from her house" did nothing to help her credibility.

A celebrity’s lack of credibility is referred to in marketing as the credibility gap. Two classic
examples of credibility gap that occurred between the celebrity endorsing the product and the
product itself are when Michael Jackson endorsed drinking Pepsi when he admittedly did not
drink it his self and when actress Cybill Sheppard publically endorsed beef consumption when
she was privately a Vegan. This kind of credibility gap can not only hurt the image of the
product being advertised but the image of the celebrity as well.

To avoid credibility gaps some companies employ animated characters as spokespeople. This too
can be as effective as the use of a human or animal celebrity. Some examples of effective uses of
animated characters would be the California Raisins, Count Chocula, Toucan Sam, Geico Gecko
and the Jolly Green Giant. When discussing animated characters it should also be stated that
myths are also embodied in many aspects of those types of commercials.

Certain figures such as Comic book super heroes being used as celebrity endorsers plays upon
people’s love of myths. Some comic book characters are actually considered mono-myths. A
mono-myth is a myth that is common to many cultures such as Superman. Superman is seen as a
messianic figure that resists evil temptations and restores harmony to the world. Therefore, a
product that would want to create that kind of image for it self would employ a Superman like
figure as its’ spokesperson.

A spokesperson’s attractiveness is tied to his or her perceived social value. It should be noted
that different cultures tend to vary in their definition of what is "beautiful". Even so, many
societies tend to place a very high premium on physical attractiveness. "Beautiful people" are
often seen as better than everyone else. Marketers refer to this principal as the halo effect. But
are these "beautiful people" truly ads effective?

Not necessarily so. Though it is true that an ad with a "beautiful" spokesperson may be looked at
more often, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the ad is read more often or that the ad’s message is
more readily recalled and acted upon. The effectiveness of highly attractive spokespeople in ads
appears to be largely limited to those situations wherein the advertised product is overtly related
to attractiveness or sexuality. Under the right circumstances however, a spokespersons level of
attractiveness can function as a source of information that serves as a catalyst to change
consumer behavior. An example of this would be a "beautiful" actress selling make-up that she
claims to actually use herself.

It is generally imperative that the celebrity have a clear and popular image. Consumers often like
to publicize their connections with celebrities or organizations to enhance their own standing
among their reference groups. If there is any doubt about America’s love of celebrities all you
have to do is look at the number of active fan clubs in the U.S. There are over 1,200 fan clubs all
whose sole purpose is to show their devotion to an individual.
Celebrities are often idolized to the point where they become set apart from the masses. They in
essence become almost sacred and their fans will do almost anything to have a piece of them.
Hence the popularity of celebrity auctions, celebrity impersonators and celebrity memorabilia.
Within this concept of idolization is the notion of Para-social interaction. Para-social interaction
is when people actively relate to television and movie stars so much so that they seek to
vicariously experience and emulate the different lifestyles portrayed by their idols. Para-social
interaction can quickly accelerate into obsession as seen by the countless accounts of
overzealous fans stalking or even killing their idols.

The idea that people want to create a perceived link between themselves and a celebrity who is
positively valued by society is sometimes called balance theory. Balance theory works in
conjunction with congruity theory which essentially states the same thing.

The principals of congruity theory are often used by marketers to address how attitudes are
affected when a celebrity is linked with a product. The theory states that the value of the more
negatively valued element will rise when linked to a positively valued one such as a favorite
celebrity. It is important to note that this relationship between positive and negative elements is
reciprocal.

The positive rating can also be diminished by its’ association with the negative element. An
example would be an instance wherein the celebrity is endorsing something that the public
perceives as counter-culture to his or her image either directly or indirectly. For instance the
recent news coverage of singers Chris Brown and Rhianna’s public display of physical abuse had
a negative effect on their image and thus caused several companies to dismiss Brown as their
celebrity spokesperson.

Another example is when Pepsi used the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" in their ads. Market
researchers at Pepsi later discovered that the King’s image did not appeal to their 25 to 45 year
old African American demographic who interpreted his excessive use of plastic surgery and
eccentric behaviors negatively. Instead of boosting Pepsi’s image, the use of Jackson actually
decreased Pepsi’s image in the eyes of certain target market segments.

There is however an exception to the rule that celebrities serving as spokespeople must be well-
liked. There are times when people who are obnoxious and down-right aggravating can be
effective pitch people. This exception takes into consideration what is known as the sleeper
effect. The sleeper effect states that in instances where consumers’ differences in attitudes waiver
between positive and negative, certain negative differences seem to get erased overtime.
Examples of the sleeper effect at work can be seen in ads that featured the annoying Wendy’s
"Where’s The Beef" spokesperson "Clara" and the equally annoying "Mr. Whipple" chastising
his grocery store patrons with his patented phrase "Don’t squeeze the Charmin".

Some celebrities are effective as spokespeople because they are perceived to have what is called
social power. Someone with social power is said to have the capacity to alter the actions of
others. It is a theory that runs in tandem with both balance and congruity theory. The idea of a
spokesperson having social power is one of the primary reasons that marketers use celebrity
endorsements.
There are several dimensions of social power and classifications of power bases. Examples of the
various power bases are; referent, information, legitimate, expert, reward and coercive.

Though there are several different power bases, the power base of celebrity endorsements tends
to fall in the referent arena. It is believed that people with a referent power base can cause a
consumer to try and imitate them through their buying decisions. The theory states that because
Michael Jordan is believed to have referent power over those basketball players who aspire to be
like him, those "aspiring fans" will in turn be more apt to buy Air Jordan sneakers.

In summary there are many theories, techniques, advantages and disadvantages when it comes to
the use of celebrity endorsements in marketing strategy. In the end the basic things that make a
celebrity endorsement work are the celebrity’s perceived credibility, attractiveness and overall
"star power". They are also the very same things that can make a celebrity endorsement fail.
With that said marketers must use caution and remain ever vigilant to the changes in public
opinion when using celebrity endorsements. For more information on this or other business
related topics consult your local marketing professional.
Marketing Guru
Additional Artciles By Killeen

alling Stars: celebrity endorsement

Celebrities have long been adored by marketers looking to pedal their product. But with some
firms turning their back on stars, is the curtain finally coming down on celebrity endorsements?

‘Sex sells', or so the saying goes. But if there's one thing that businesses believe sells even better
than sex, it's celebrity. Marketers have long clamoured to encourage high-profile stars to endorse
their product or service. Coca-Cola used glamorous actresses and opera singers like Hilda Clark
and Lilian Nordica in its advertising campaigns at the turn of the last century. And in the late
‘30s, Grand Ole Opry country musicians were regularly singing the praises of sponsors on the
radio.

But celebrity endorsements are commonplace in the modern market - and the sums of money
involved are a world away from those pocketed by Hank Williams Sr and his country
companions. Catherine Zeta-Jones recently pocketed a staggering US million, two-year deal with
T-Mobile according to AdWeek. But even that pales into comparison to the US million that
PepsiCo is rumoured to have paid Britney Spears for her promotional run with the Pepsi brand.

So what is it that companies expect to get in return for these enormous sums? Certainly a
campaign headed by a high-profile star provides valuable differentiation for a product, service or
company in a crowded marketplace. And these can be particularly effective in a market where
there is little difference between various providers' offerings, such as telecom services.

And celebrity marketing is also a valuable way to build instant name recognition, attaching
yourself to a person who is well-known to achieve awareness that otherwise might have taken
years of marketing. "Because of the very nature of being a celebrity these people are well-known
and so brands try to tap into their fame," says William Grobel, Consultant at brand management
firm Intangible Business.

"In a sense it is extension of word of mouth, which is the most influential decision-maker - we
feel we know these celebrities and so we trust what they say, the same as we would trust what a
friend told us. They may also look to deflect some of the celebrity's values on to their own brand
They may hope that by employing the celebrities they can engender some of what they stand for
themselves and consumers will be able to identify with that. It helps give the brand a personality
that the market can engage with."

Million dollar hunt

When it comes to choosing which star will be the face of a new campaign, companies choose
according to what quality they want to engender. If they want to lend the product or service an
air of credibility, for instance, firms may hire a celebrity expert, such as a TV chef for a food
store's marketing. The choice will also reflect whether the company is looking to reinforce or re-
establish their brand.

"Somebody like Coca-Cola would look to Britney Spears to reinforce its position because she is
a teen icon and that is the company's core audience," explains Gavan Stewart, Founder of
Touchdown Brand Affinity Marketing. "Whereas a company like Brylcreem, for instance, which
was a pretty tired and dated brand, wanted to work with a celebrity to change and update its
image, which is why it hired David Beckham. So you can reinforce your position or change
perception of your brand with a celebrity because the public has a perception of that star."

Nevertheless, irrespective of the celebrity-brand fit sought out by some firms, the celebrity
world's biggest names naturally remain those most in demand. The world of sports is a
particularly aggressive battleground as companies bid enormous sums to capture the services of
the biggest stars. Tiger Woods, for instance, signed a five-year US0 million endorsing contract
with Nike shortly after his 21st birthday, which at the time was the largest endorsing deal ever
signed by an athlete.

Swooping for sports stars such as Woods while they were still young is a well-worn tactic for
firms looking to save cash in the long-term. A generation after Nike revolutionized the marketing
of athletic footwear by signing a 21-year-old NBA rookie, Michael Jordan, to an endorsement
deal, firms are looking to middle schools to find the next megastar to wear their equipment.
Brands such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok lead a multi-million dollar hunt, inviting exciting
young players from ninth and 10th grades to attend special sports camps run by the company and
where they receive free branded shoes and other gear.

"The sums are vast in sports, but the rewards are also vast if you get the right talent and you
nurture them," says Stewart. "You have a variety of different brands and large sports clubs
scouring the country for sportspeople because if you can sign them early then you can hopefully
get a degree of loyalty from the celebrity and get them at a better price. These sorts of schools of
excellence are not just operating in the area of sports - you can also have McDonald's and Burger
King sponsoring schools and education."
Celebrity scandal
But with Nike signing LeBron James to a US million contract before he even received his high
school diploma, is the whole process spinning out of control? Certainly there are signs that the
celebrity endorsement era may be showing cracks. Xavier Adam, Managing Director of the
Adam Media Consultancy, believes that the problem lies in the growing belief that celebrity
endorsements are a cure-all solution.

"I see it all the time - companies see that things aren't going well so they slap a bit of PR on it
and hope that it will sort it all out," he explains. "Quite often celebrity endorsements aren't all
that well thought through. They should be asking themselves whether the person is right for what
they're trying to do, but instead it's just a case of "they're famous, people know them, let's go
ahead and do it." To the outside world it can seem a lot more planned than it is and it is actually
quite haphazard and can be done on a whim."

Some recent celebrity signings certainly lend credence to this suggestion - both Wal-Mart's
campaign featuring Beyonce Knowles (can you imagine Destiny's Child walking up the frozen
food aisle at Wal-Mart?) and Reebok's recent decision to team with film star Scarlett Johansson
have raised eyebrows.

But even the cutest celebrity campaigns can come unglued unexpectedly from time to time.
When Britney Spears was the face of Pepsi she was famously photographed drinking Coca-Cola,
for instance. More seriously, LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant saw many of his endorsement contracts
terminated in the wake of a rape allegation in 2003. Most recently, companies including Chanel,
Burberry and H&M all dropped Kate Moss from their publicity campaigns when a British tabloid
published pictures of the supermodel allegedly snorting cocaine.

A celebrity scandal can wreak havoc on a company that has spent millions on marketing based
around the star. Celebrities are often committed to a large schedule of events as part of their
contracts and if the digression is serious enough such events would have to be pulled, having a
serious impact on a global marketing initiative that may have taken up to 12 months to create,
produce and execute.

"If you are working with a celebrities you are dealing with human beings and they are fallible,"
emphasizes Stewart. "That means if they get up to something that has an impact on your brand, it
could cost you an awful lot of money. So you have to be aware of the positives and the negatives
when you are dealing with celebrities." Concerned about the negatives, a growing number of
brands are now seeking alternative arrangements to boost their marketing profile, according to
Stewart. Highlighting the recent example of Motorola's hook up with D&G, he suggests that
there may be a move away from endorsements towards the importing of robust brand value from
other firms.

"More and more brands are choosing to ignore celebrities and work with other brands simply
because it is a safer bet. You don't have to pay a fee to them and you can get a deal up and
running by reciprocal marketing. This trend is really starting to emerge because large global
brands have got to be very protective over their image and working with a brand is less of a risk
than working with a celebrity."
The cult of celebrity
There are other signs that firms are becoming disillusioned with the cult of celebrity. Some
brands are shying away from big names and ditching endorsements not because of the
skyrocketing fees or scandals but because marketing execs are expressing concerns over their
brands being overshadowed by the stars who are promoting them. Soft drink giant Pepsi, for
instance, has recently indicated that it dropped Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears from a
campaign because the Pepsi brand didn't get the promotion they were paying for, with the stars
instead getting all the attention.

"The celebrity and the agent tend to be the winners," suggests Adam. "With the amount of
money that companies pay out to celebrities, they have to get back a lot and there are probably
cheaper ways they could make that number of sales. Having a celebrity helps you, but does it
help you to the degree of X million dollars? I'm just not sure. But with a lot of the bigger firms,
especially if they see a competitor doing it, they assume that they also need to do it. For the
celebrities the endorsement also gives them coverage and helps them shift records or films."

There certainly appear to be the beginnings of a shift away from the trusted endorsement strategy
in the marketing world. An increasing number of advertisements are now featuring, for instance,
customers and staff - Dove, for example, has built a whole campaign around the general public,
featuring users of its moisturiser in an ad for ‘real' people. "Celebrity endorsements are coming
to maturity," suggests Grobel. "We are saturated by celebrities, day-in-day-out in all different
mediums and advertisers are beginning to feel that too. So we could see slightly less celebrity
endorsements in the future, maybe going back to just using staff or suppliers or fictional
characters - which obviously cost less money, are easier to control and there is less risk attached
to it."

So if the endorsements start drying up, where will the celebrities get their meal tickets now? It
seems you shouldn't underestimate the power of celebrity, for although the future may see fewer
stars peddling products and services, another door is opening up - in the boardroom. A share
package worth almost US million recently secured supermodel Elle Macpherson's place on the
board of surfwear fashion firm Hot Tuna. As an Executive Director, Macpherson will advise the
company on product development, brand positioning and sales strategy.

She is the latest in a string of celebrity boardroom signings that also number former Pink Floyd
drummer Nick Mason, who sits on the board of HR Owen, an upmarket car dealer. "Maybe this
is a way of changing from endorsements to actually bringing them into the businesses and using
their contacts and network skills and image internally," concludes Grobel. "Rather than just use
their image, they are actually using the qualities that the celebrities have built up for themselves
over the years, applying their knowledge and experience. And it is a lot cheaper!"

"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 rephrasing Aristotle’s 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:

• Instant Brand Awareness and Recall.

• Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image.
• Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image.
• Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage.
• Lack of ideas.
• 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:

• Experience of use: This encapsulates familiarity and proven reliability.

• 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.
• Belief in efficiency: Ranking from consumer associations, newspaper editorials etc.
• Brand appearance: Design of brand offers clues to quality and affects preferences.
• Manufacturer’s name & reputation: A prominent brand name
(Sony,Kellogg’s,Bajaj,Tata) transfers positive associations

The celebrity’s role is the most explicit and profound in incarnating user associations among
the above-mentioned points. To comprehend this, let us analyze the multiplier effect formula for
a successful brand:
S=P* D*AV --the multiplier effect
Where S is a successful brand,
P is an effective product.
D is Distinctive Identity
and AV is Added values.

The realm of the celebrity’s 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 celebrity’s persona with the overall brand image

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:

• Celebrity’s fit with the brand image.

• Celebrity—Target audience match
• Celebrity associated values.
• Costs of acquiring the celebrity.
• Celebrity—Product match.
• Celebrity controversy risk.
• Celebrity popularity.
• Celebrity availability.
• Celebrity physical attractiveness.
• Celebrity credibility.
• Celebrity prior endorsements.
• Whether celebrity is a brand user.
 • 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
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, which has 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:

• Celebrity endorsements have been the bedrock of Pepsi's advertising. Over the years,
Pepsi has 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.
 • George Foreman for Meineke. He has also sold more than 10 million Lean Mean Fat--
Reducing Grilling Machines since signing with the manufacturing company.
• James Earl Jones for Verizon and CNN.
• 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
he renegotiated a five-year contract estimated at $125 million.
• Other successful endorsements like Nike—Michael Jordan, Dunlop—John McEnroe,
Adidas—Prince Naseem Hamed, and so on.
• Venus Williams, tennis player and Wimbledon champion has signed a five-year $40
million contract 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 the spectacular 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:

• Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for

that brand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products. We
had the 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.
• Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter
of advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.
• PR coverage : is another reason for using celebrities. Managers perceive celebrities as
topical, which create high PR coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity
campaigns is one of the World’s 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)
• Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the personalities of the celebrity
with the 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.
• Associative Benefit: A celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message -
because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.
• Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the consumer's
confidence in 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.
• Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers
use stars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.
• Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic
segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.).
• Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to
generate interest among the masses.
• Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant
chyawanprash category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India
roped in Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore.
• Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas.

Disadvantages of a celebrity endorsing a brand:

The celebrity approach has 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.
2. The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of a celebrity overshadowing
the brand. 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 Rossiter—Cinzano. 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 his
or 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: The
novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he 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 of Tendulkar 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): Sainsbury’s
encountered 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 a
certain 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
celebrity portrays 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 may help
advertisements stand out 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
endorsement advertising strategies can, under the right circumstances, indeed justify the high
costs associated with this form of advertising.

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.
will be highly appreciated. Questionnaire 1.Name: _________________( Not optional )
2. 3.Email address : ______________ ( Not optional ) Gender: •Male •Female Age: •13-
19 •20-30 •30-40 •40-50 •50 and Above Occupation: •Service Business •Housewife
•Student Others (Please Specify) _________ 2. What are the motivating factors when
you plan to buy mobiles or cars? •Discounts and offers •Fewer prices •Latest
models and trends •Celebrity endorsing the product 3. Do you believe products
specifically advertised by the celebrities are of good quality? •Yes •No •50% •Not
sure 4. What is the most persuading factor to purchase the following products? a)
Motor vehicle? •Brand Name •Celebrity •Luxury •Self Esteem b) Clothing •Brand
Name •Celebrity •Status •Cost c) Food Products Celebrity • Attractive Package •
Quality • Brand Name • 5. Companies are investing large amounts of money for
using celebrities; do you think its helping them to increase their total revenue?
Yes • No • Don’t know • 6. Which TV channels do you watch? (Specifically Indian
channels) 7. Does the presence of celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachan
or Aishwariya Rai in an advertisement encourages you to purchase the product or
service? Yes • No • Not sure • 8. Do you believe the celebrities also use those
products which they themselves endorse? Yes • No • Not sure • 9. What type of
celebrity endorsement persuades you personally to purchase products? •Film star
•Famous personalities •Cricketer •Politician 10. Please rate the following celebrities
as a brand endorser:- a) Aishwariya Rai for L’Oreal Excellent • Average • Poor •
Unsure • b) Amir Khan for coca cola Excellent • Average • Poor • Can’t rate • c)
Sushmita Sen for Olay creams Excellent • Average • Poor • Can’t rate • d) Juhi
Chawla for Kurkure- Excellent • Average • Poor • Can’t rate • e) Amitabh Bachan
for Cadbury chocolates- Excellent • Average • Poor • Can’t rate • 11. What do you
value the most when purchasing a product? Price of the product • Celebrity
endorsement • Quality of the product • Value for money • 12. Does celebrity
endorsement help in brand promotion? Yes • No • Not sure • 13. What means of
advertisements persuades you the most to purchase a product? •Television •Radio
•Newspaper •Magazines •Internet 14. What do you think is the reason for the
companies to choose celebrity endorsement for promoting their products? Easy
recognition of product • Can’t generate new ideas • to be able to increase sales
and profit • To compete strongly •

Summary:
Celebrity endorsement is one of the popular marketing strategies. Marketers use celebrities in ads
when there is no or very little product differentiation. Multiple celebrities endorsement (more
than one celebrity in a single ad) is relatively new phenomena in advertising. The purpose of the
current study is to explore the perceptual difference between gender and different age groups
toward single celebrity ads and multiple celebrities ads. Questionnaires were administered on a
sample of 300 university students to asses if there is any difference in male and female and
different age groups perception about single celebrity endorsement and multiple celebrities
endorsement. Four print media ads, two containing one celebrity in them and two containing
three and five celebrities in them were used as a stimulus. The results shows that there is no
significant difference between male and female toward single or multiple celebrities ads
similarly age is also not significantly associated with attitude toward ad, attitude toward brand
and purchase intentions for both single and multiple celebrities ads.ABSTRACT FROM
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version of the material for the full abstract.
Excerpt from Article:

IMPACT OF GENDER AND AGE ON SINGLE AND MULTIPLE CELEBRITIES

ENDORSEMENTS Farida Saleem, Foundation University, FUMICS, Islamabad, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Celebrity endorsement is one of the popular marketing strategies. Marketers use celebrities in ads
when there is no or very little product differentiation. Multiple celebrities endorsement (more
than one celebrity in a single ad) is relatively new phenomena in advertising.

“ Celebrity endorser is a person who enjoys recognition by public and who can use this
recognition on the behalf of a product by appearing in an advertisement with that product.”
McCracken (1989)

“Celebrity endorser is a person who is known to the public not due to the product he or she
endorses but due to the achievements in the areas other than that .”-Friedman and
Friedman(1979).

celebrity endorser is a person who uses his fame to advertise a product which has no direct
effect on his previous recognition. Celebrity endorsement is one of marketing strategies like
many others for instance, direct marketing, sales promotions, on spot advertising etc.

Empirical finding support the fact that celebrities have positive effect on both attitude toward ad
and brand (Ohanian, 1990). These results are in favor of celebrity endorsers because they are
widely recognized, are perceived to be more credible and produce greater influence on
evaluation of brand and its purchase intentions (Cohoi and Rifon, 2007; Atkin and Blok, 1983;
Ohanian, 1990; Ohanian, 1991).

The credibility components are interconnected with other traits of the celebrity and the image
dimension which reflects good qualities e.g. pleasant, wise, educated etc. produce sincere and
positive perception of the celebrity in consumer minds (Choi & Rifon, 2007).

Credibility is the most important criteria in choosing a celebrity endorser by the firm which is
followed by familiarity and likeability and at last we have gender, and in credibility expertise is
the most important piece which is followed by trustworthiness and than attractiveness (Knott &
James, 2004).

The celebrities that were perceived as having constant media coverage are trusted more than the
celebrities who are not in the constant spotlight (Friedman, Santeramo, & Traina, 1978).

Physical attractiveness of the endorser may be central in context with change in attitude of the
customer (Kahle & Homer 1985).

The celebrity endorsements based on the attractiveness of the endorser most of the time
produces positive effect on consumers. In general attractive endorsers are more effective
promoters than unattractive endorsers (Till & Busler, 1998).
 Most advertisements use attractive celebrities and the consumers are accustomed to see pretty
people in ads that is why the physical attractiveness and trustworthiness of a celebrity were not
significantly related to the purchase intentions but the expertise is (Ohanian, 1991). There is a
strong effect of celebrity attractiveness as well as interaction of likeability, involvement, and sex
on the recall of the product.

"Celebrities are in fact highly individualized and complex bundles of cultural meanings"
(McCracken, 1989, pp. 320). The endorsement process consists of transferring these cultural
meanings from the celebrity to the product and from the product to the consumer. Celebrities do
have some common characteristics which include their recognition, their status or their
popularity but each celebrity may have his or her own unique image or cultural meaning which
has been identified by McCracken (1989).

All previous studies with single celebrity endorsement conclude that characteristics of the
celebrity should match with the characteristics of the product which they are endorsing (Khale
and Homer, 1985; Till and Busler, 1998; Kiminis and Gupta, 1994).

The fit factor is also very important and vital for the multiple celebrity endorsements (when we
have more than one celebrity in an advertising campaign) (Hus and McDonald, 2002). Multiple
celebrities can have a positive impact on attitude toward ad, attitude toward brand and purchase
intentions (Saleem, 2007). When we have more than one celebrity in an ad it means that all
celebrities view the product the same way and consensus is developed, this consensus according
to attribution theory (Kelly, 1967) pull the customer by developing positive evaluation of the ad,
brand and product (Hus and McDonald, 2002).

Celebrity endorsements has proven to be very costly, especially within highly

competitive product
markets, such as the soft-drink industry, which requires higher advertising
budgets just to stay
even with competitors. Examples of such companies that spend billion of dollars
on
advertising in order to stay key players in their industry are The Coca-Cola
Company and
PepsiCo (http://business.enotes.com) (see Appendix 1 and 2).

Not only are Coca-Cola and Pepsi dominant market leaders on the worldwide
beverage
market, but they are also two of the most notable and widely sold commercial
brands in the
world (http://en.wikipedia.org), and annually spend billions of dollars on
advertising
campaigns that include celebrity endorsements

Today, Coca-Cola and Pepsi depends heavily on “images of

happiness and togetherness, tradition and nationalism”, whereas Pepsi relies more on the
appeal of celebrities, popular music, and young people in their television
commercials.”(www.geocities.com).