THE INCLINATION towards celebrity endorsements of a product to create a brand image among customers has seen a steady rise in last few decades. Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time now. In the 80’s, advertisements featured stars like Tabassum (Prestige pressure cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings) and the trend continues till today with Shahid Kapoor (VIP bags), Abhishek Bachchan (Idea cellular), M S Dhoni (Boost) and many more.
Across categories, whether in products or services, more and more brands have been 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. Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrities in influencing consumer-purchasing decisions.
There are many ways how the presence of a celebrity can enhance the image of a brand/product. If a celebrity talks about a product, it naturally encapsulates familiarity and a proven reliability in the viewer’s mind. The consumer thinks that the celebrity has experienced the benefits of the product or brand.
The brand is also bestowed with a personality coming naturally from the celebrity’s own persona. In fact some brands approach particular celebrities to create a desired brand personality around the product.
Actor Akshaye Kumar has a persona of a strong fighter and this has helped ‘Thums up’ build a brand personality of a drink for the strong and adventurous. Another product that has been cashing in on the celebrity endorsement in a strategic, long-term mission way is “Lux Beauty Soap”. It has been known to be endorsed by the most beautiful actresses of their times for many years from Hema Malini, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit to Priyanka Chopra and now Aishwarya Rai.
It is evident that a celebrity endorsing a product gives the product an instant ‘Brand Awareness and Recall.’ The values of a celebrity not only help define and refresh the brand image but may also cover up for the lack of idea in a product’s advertisement. One of the essential benefits the brand gets is the instant credibility and aspiration apart from wide PR coverage. A product like hair removal cream Veet when endorsed by actress Katreena Kaif not only creates a brand around the product but also gives strong competition to other brands in the same category. A prominent celebrity when associated with a brand, transfers a positive association. A customer also ends up having a higher and prestigious image of the manufacturer, which can afford to endorse their product with a big celebrity.
The Parker pen brand, appointed Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India and gained a higher equity. According to the Director, Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd, post Amitabh Bachchan ads, Parker's sales increased by about 30 per cent.
Apart from all the benefits there needs to be explicit fit between the celebrity and the brand and it is very important while choosing an endorser to keep in mind the target audience of the product. For instance, purchasing a refrigerator generally involves a couple or a family decision and not an individual and this is why Kajol and Ajay Devgan both were together chosen to endorse the Whirlpool refrigerators. Kajol’s appearance in the latest Knorr soup ad again caters to the mothers as the target audience.
A celebrity ad not only promises an ensured attention and higher degree of recall but also helps in mitigating a tarnished image of a brand. The appearance of Amitabh Bachchan in the Cadbury Dairy Milk is the best illustration of using celebrity power in ads to overcome the spoilt brand image. Some brands also choose celebrity endorsement to rejuvenate a stagnant brand like Dabur product. Chyawanprash was endorsed again by the legend Amitabh Bachchan.
The ads issued in public interest are the ones that have the best of benefits from a celebrity endorsement. An Aishwarya Rai pledging her eyes motivates thousands to queue up to pledge theirs or Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan urging the public to get their infant vaccinated against polio, the public service advertisements have been endorsed by the celebrities for the best cause and for best use.
But with the revolution in the world of small screen and with the family soaps finding a place in almost every household of the country, TV personalities have also become a profitable option for the advertisers to endorse their product with. With the launch of daily soaps like “Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and “Kasauti Zindagi ki” to name some, it became evident gradually that TV personalities scored higher than the film celebrities as their characters were identifiable, trustworthy and viewers shared an intimate bond with them on a daily basis. They were seen more frequently and the role played by them became a household name. Also, the TV personalities were readily available and accessible to advertising agencies at cheaper and cost-effective rates.
If a celebrity can aggrandize the merits of a brand, he or she can also exacerbate the image of a brand. The celebrity approach has a few serious risks like the reputation of the celebrity may be tainted after he/she has endorses the product, a celebrity overshadowing the brand like Rahul Dravud and Castrol ad, inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity. A major disadvantage in such commercial campaigns is multi brand endorsements by the same star or commoditization of the star.
An appropriately used celebrity can prove to be a massively powerful tool but the fact to be emphasised is that celebrities alone do not guarantee success, as consumers nowadays understand advertising. People realize that celebrities are being paid a lot of money for endorsements and this knowledge makes them cynical about celebrity endorsements.
The health of a brand can definitely be improved up to some extent by celebrity endorsement. One has to also remember that endorsing a celebrity is a means to an end and not an end in itself.
