Brand Ambassadors

reviving the brands at

the time of recession
Team: Branded Monks
College: NMIMS
Team Members:

Binit Kumar Kartikey Sharma Vikas Soni

+91 9867764657 +91 9833220538 +91 9920782879

adonis.binit@gmail.com kartikey038@gmail.com sonivikas@gmail.com

Signing up stars for endorsements is a time-tested strategy and has been effectively used by
some of the top brands in the world including Nike and Pepsi. In India too, HLL has used
Hindi film stars to endorse their beauty soap Lux since the fifties. Vimal, Thums Up, Gwalior
and Dinesh are some of the other brands that used star-appeal in the early days of mass
advertising. And who can forget Kapil „Palmolive‟ Dev?

Ask about the objective of using a celebrity in an ad and most admen will talk about making
an impact on the bottom line. They believe that star endorsements have several benefits, key
among them being building credibility, fostering trust and drawing attention… any or all of
which can translate into higher brand sales. In an extremely cluttered world of advertising
brand ambassadors help brands break the clutter. So when there are thousand mint brands
running their ads, association with Salman Khan helps Chloromint stand out and be noted.
Also there is a flow of values from celebrity to the brand. When Amitabh Bachchan promotes
Parker, trust and credibility of Amitabh rubs on to the Parker brand as well.

Recession with it has brought a reality check for the advertisers. The benefits that Brand
Ambassadors bring to any brand are not cheap. So companies in the slow down across the
board are feeling the pinch and the major corrective measure is cost cutting. As in any
economic downturn, advertising takes a big hit when costs are cut. Several companies are
demanding more accountability from their ad agencies and marketing departments. Gone are
the days of “I know half of my ad spending is wasted but not sure which half”. Companies
now want laser like precision in their advertising. As a result celebrity advertising has come
under pressure. With big celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Amitah Bachchan, Sachin
Tendulkar costing companies crores, advertisers are now looking to use celebrities more
cautiously. Also with celebrities like Shahrukh, Amitabh endorsing almost 30 brands, the
whole idea of celebrities breaking the clutter has come under a question mark.

Does this then mean death of the brand ambassadors? If success of some of the ad campaigns
during this recession is any indication, answer is a profound no. As Mohammed Khan,
Chairman of Enterprise Nexus puts it, “Using a celebrity by itself is not a bad idea provided it
is done intelligently.”

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Idea whose time has come

Idea needed to have a strong communication plank. In its initial days, the brand did falter
with its various propositions as most of its communication looked high on imagery and low
on promise and offering. This made the brand re-think its strategy and it went in for the
“different-strokes-for-different folks” strategy to clearly communicate to its core users. Idea‟s
real stroke of luck came during the past two years after it signed Abhishek Bachchan as its
brand ambassador and used various socially relevant, progressive and disruptive ideas
weaved around mobility to connect to its core TG in non-metro circles. And today Idea not
only sailed through rough weathers of recession but made inroads in the market share of the
existing players.

Frito Lays: Chala change ka chakkar

Since snacking is mostly a hunger-driven impulse decision, staying fresh in the consumer
mind is very important. To maintain top of the mind recall among its customers the brand has
undertaken several unique communication initiatives for example, was called "Chala Change
ka Chakkar," which is an umbrella campaign for Frito Lay India‟s entire product portfolio
(Lay‟s, Kurkure, Cheetos, Uncle Chips, and Lehar). This promotion had allowed chosen
consumers to live a day in the life of an Indian Bollywood celebrity (who are the brand
endorsers) like Juhi Chawla or Saif Ali Khan. The idea did the magic in generating
excitement around the brand and made it stand out in the clutter of existing brands at the time
of recession.

Bajaj Allianz: Life after super agent

Bajaj Allianze for last few years have used their mascot Bajaj Allianze Super Agent for its
advertising. Customer could discuss and clear doubts with the mascot. Now the company has
signed Olympic Bronze medallist Vijender Singh as its brand ambassador. “When we signed
on Vijender, we did so with a view to talk to a younger target group (TG) in the age range of
28-33 years,” says Akshay Mehrotra, head, marketing, Bajaj Allianz Life. “Our products
have been adapted to suit the younger generation.” The new campaign not only helps Bajaj
Allianze to stand out among the slew of Insurance companies but also sends the message loud

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and clear. When someone takes out a life insurance policy, the idea is to protect and defend
oneself against unseen harm. Therefore, when an accomplished boxer, who can knock the
living daylights out of his opponent, tells you to buy insurance, it's in line with the brand
identity.

Ministry of tourism: Atithi Devo Bhav

With recession looming large coupled with terrorist attack on India made a huge impact in
terms of foreign travelers coming to India for business or pleasure. To tackle the situation, the
Ministry of Tourism had roped in Aamir as the brand Ambassador for its brand campaign
'Atithi Devo Bhava' (guest is akin to god) to showcase the country's rich heritage and culture.
The kind of personality which Aamir has did a favor to the Incredible India initiative and this
has increased the confidence of tourists which was reflected with the improved number in the
tourists this fiscal.

Zoozoos: Not just mascots

A brand ambassador may not always be a celebrity or for that matter it need not be human. It
could be a symbol or a mascot which symbolizes the values of a brand. The advantage of a
mascot over celebrity endorsement is that it is cost-effective. Also a celebrity endorses
multiple products, creating confusion in the minds of the consumers, unlike the mascot that is
unique to each brand. Not only do the mascots create instant recognition for the brand, it also
helps advertisers cut through the clutter. In a diverse market like India where mass brands
have not less than 16 language translations for their ads, mascots are a very powerful means
to create a stronger connect with the consumers. It appeals not only to the educated mass, but
even an illiterate consumer, who instantly identifies the brand with help of the mascot.

In 2008, Vodafone had unveiled the „Happy to Help‟ series during the first season of the
Indian Premier League (IPL). With the launch of the second season, Vodafone has given birth
to the Zoozoo: a special character created specifically to convey a value added service (VAS)
offering in each of the newly released commercials. The popularity of zoozoos, the white,
ghost-like creatures promoting Vodafone‟s value-added services, are indicative of the fact
that mascots are definitely here to stay.

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Not one but range of ambassadors

Another new phenomenon this recession has been using multiple brand ambassadors. Harish
Bijoor, brand-strategy specialist and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults, believes, “Celebs with
universal appeal are no longer available and the Shah Rukhs and Amitabhs, by endorsing 30-
odd brands at the same time, have led to a disappearance of the single-star-to-single-brand
concept.” If one of them were to leave the brand, it will still have some faces on board.
Therefore while Dabur has Dhoni alongside Amitabh, Kurkure has retained Juhi Chawala
while roping in Kareena Kapoor for its sub brand.

Conclusion

This recession has highlighted the fact that Brand Ambassadors including celebrities and
mascots remain the most efficient way of getting quick and real consumer mind share in the
smallest possible time. Companies which realised the fact that cutting marketing expenses
was a short sighted approach that will not help them get out of the slow down and lack of
sales invested wisely in brand ambassadors which were a natural fit with the brands and thus
realised the benefits, cases in point being success of Abhishek Bachchan for Idea, Genelia for
Fanta and Amir Khan for Tata Sky. The learning from this economic slowdown was not
going for wild cost cuttings but making effective and efficient investments. So brands
invested wisely in synergistic brand ambassadors and in turn brand ambassadors imparted
credibility and aspiration to their endorsed brands. Thus breaking the clutter, reinforcing trust
in brands, reinvigorating sales and bringing the profits back to the positives.

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References
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/recession-bruises-big-brand-faces-freshers-lucky/89882-7.html

http://www.topnews.in/fanta-drops-rani-mukerjee-its-brand-ambassador-2121492

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies/genelia-d%E2%80%99souza-brand-ambassador-
spinz-523

http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/features/2008/brand-endorsement-hit-
081208.html

http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/aamir-khan-selected-as-brand-ambassador-for-mots-atithi-
devo-bhava-campaign

http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/jul/14/slide-show-1-what-an-idea-sir-ji.htm

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