Who’s bigger? Brand or celebrity?

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

: Recently while chatting casually with my wife, who in all these years has never expressed the slightest interest in cricket, I realised how keenly she has been following the entire IPL saga as if it were a reality show unfolding on national television. Ask her any question related to the individual teams, and you will be amazed by the speed at which the response is delivered, to the extent that she even knows the slogan of Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata team. Maybe it’s the effect of SRK on women. Whatever.

Knowing very well that India is a cricket-crazy country, one would not be surprised by the extent of coverage these new teams are getting. What does surprise me, though, is how each of these teams has become a household name. Once a gentleman’s game, cricket has become a topic of household discussion, thanks to the over-powering presence of celebrities like Shah Rukh and Preity Zinta. Just proves how celebrities have the power to make something as big as cricket even bigger!

If cricket, which is considered to be second religion in India, can become bigger thanks to the sheer eyeball-grabbing power of celebrities, why shouldn’t brands? Hence, the deluge of celebrity-endorsed brand campaigns.

Celebrities have been involved in endorsing activities since the early 1980s. The advent of celebrity endorsements in advertising in India began when Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons began encroaching on a territory that was, until then, the exclusive domain of models. One of the first sports endorsements in India was when Farokh Engineer became the first Indian cricketer to model for Brylcreem.

From then on, there was a spurt of advertising featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige Pressure Cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive shaving cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings).

Moving on from there, one started seeing celebrities take along the brands that they endorsed on the small screen onto the silver screen. Whether it was Aishwarya Rai swigging Coke in a scene in Taal, or Shah Rukh driving around in a Hyundai in Don and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, these brands became extensions of the celebrities endorsing them.

As advertisers pour crores of rupees every year into celebrity advertising, the question is: is it worth all the money and the headaches of coordinating stars and managing their tantrums? Think of Sachin Tendulkar. He stands for Pepsi in soft drinks, Boost in malted beverages, MRF in tyres, Fiat Palio in cars, TVS Victor in two-wheelers, Colgate Total in toothpastes, Britannia in biscuits, Visa in credit cards and Airtel in mobile services. Clearly, an overload of brands and categories associated with one star.

Does anyone really recall the various brands that Sachin has endorsed over the years? Have there been times when you cannot distinguish one brand endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan from another? When was the last time you noticed the brand being advertised because of its features and not because of the good looks of a celebrity trying to sell it to you? Does the consumer think in categories and slot brands accordingly or is it one big maze of brands and saliency is dependent on ‘recency’? And finally, does it really help the brand?

This is a debate that has raged on ever since the wave of celebrity brand endorsements swept over the Indian advertising industry. Ever since, the fine line between the brand and celebrity has blurred to an extent that one wonders whether it’s the star projecting the brand, or vice versa. Case in point is the Aamir Khan-Innova ad, in which the star plays multiple roles. One would think that it was an Aamir Khan ad, not so much an automobile one. Or for instance, would anyone remember that Shah Rukh Khan endorsed a brand of ready-to-eat noodles Top Ramen. And in the celebrity clutter, chances that the brand and category become difficult to remember for the average consumer.

On the other hand, these same advertising gurus have given the common man (in this case woman) a face by introducing a Lalitaji, who epitomised the typical Indian woman for so many years. Then there was Digen Verma, a phenomenon no one had seen but everyone knew. And then there are brands like Fevicol, that don’t need a face to get it noticed.

The creative stands out so beautifully that the brand never needs to depend on one person to give it that boost.

The other question is what happens when a legend is created by a brand? Take beer baron Vijay Mallya. He is a brand in himself. Yes, he typifies the Kingfisher personality—he’s fun, exciting, irreverent, challenging - but he won't live forever. In my view, brands associated with a living legend should focus on building the relationship during their lives in order to sustain momentum.

In the advertising world, celebrity advertising is seen as a substitute for ‘absence of ideas’, and is frowned upon. Most frequently, celebrities are given as mandates to the agency. And scripts are written around them. What clients and agencies forget is that if the celebrity is not integral to the brand and the storyline, he/she can stick out like a sore thumb, leaving negative impact on the consumer’s mind. The oldest reason for using stars in commercials is that it builds credibility for the brand. But does the consumer really believe that Shahrukh drives a Santro?

Research conducted by Subhash Kamath of Bates in India that tracked consumer opinion on the ‘relevance and effectiveness of celebrity advertising in building brands’, urged brands to focus on ideas. Concluding that ideas, and not celebrities, build brands, the study identified the optimum celebrity ‘fits’ and the cases where celebrities overshadowed brand-building performance. Whatever the reasons, the reality is that celebrities can—and do—play a role in building brands. However, there are factors that brand marketers need to bear in mind while choosing an ambassador:

Personality: It is critical that the personality of the celebrity must match with that of the brand. For instance, Thums Up has action-star Akshay Kumar performing death-defying stunts, which is a perfect fit between personalities of the brand and the star.

Values & emotions: Preity Zinta, known for her bold and courageous nature, endorsing the Red & White Bravery Awar-ds is a perfect example of synergy in the values of the brand and the ambassador.

Code of conduct: If a celebrity reputed for having not-so-positive reputation is roped in to endorse a no-mischief product (like say Rakhi Sawant for a financial product), it’s sure to spell doom for the brand.

Creative execution: Creative teams would do well to remember that it is the star who is endorsing a product and not vice versa.

Finally, making the right choices in terms of personality, values, associated emotions, code of conduct and creative execution is critical. A wrong choice could be suicidal for the brand. Behaviour, performance and reputation, are critical.