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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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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.
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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-ambassadorspinz-523 http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/features/2008/brand-endorsement-hit081208.html http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/aamir-khan-selected-as-brand-ambassador-for-mots-atithidevo-bhava-campaign http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/jul/14/slide-show-1-what-an-idea-sir-ji.htm
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