Trends in Celebrity Endorsements

The Economic Times on Sunday
JUNE 5-11, 2011
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The Economic Times on Sunday
JUNE 5-11, 2011
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Trends in Celebrity Endorsements
Longer Contracts
Ambassadors’ deals
range between two
and five years. Earlier
many companies
opted for one-year
contracts but it is now
considered too short
CELEBRITIES
New Sectors
Real estate, education,
financial services,
auto ancillaries and
business-to-business
companies are
queuing up to sign
up celebrities
New Focus
Instead of productspecific brands,
celebrities are
now being asked
to endorse
the company’s
flagship brand
STAY ON
T
Shah Rukh Khan
Kajol
(2005)
Yuvraj
Singh
(2010)
Sachin
Tendulkar
(2002)
Levi’s
years
Chitrangada
Singh
(2010)
Longines
Aishwarya Rai
years
L’Oreal
Aishwarya Rai
11
Priyanka
Chopra
(2009)
Fiat
Hyundai
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360-degree
Promotions
In addition to ads,
brand ambassadors
attend dealer meets,
and brand-related contests. Voice chats and
blogs are big online
Asmi
Brands with Long-serving Ambassadors
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Different Celebs
Big brands eager
to associate with
non-Bollywood
and non-cricket
celebrities like
boxers, wrestlers,
shooters
Brands that Change Ambassadors Often
In an age when novelty and change are key to marketing success, you would expect brands
to change their ambassadors frequently. Yet, many have retained the same faces for nearly
a decade. Kamya Jaiswal & Neha Dewan find out what makes this strategy tick
hink machismo. What comes to mind? Details
may vary, but men with rippling muscles toting guns and guzzling beer is the first image.
Now replace the beer with a cola. The impact is
lost. Even if the cola is Thums Up. Yet, the
brand is famous as a macho drink. Why? Ask
fans and they will credit one man with the
image: Akshay Kumar.
For eight years, Kumar has been jumping
off roofs and lunging over speeding cars
for his favourite bottle of cola. The brand
repeated the message, and the messenger,
till the bubbly beverage morphed into a
man’s drink. Such is the impact of a long
association between brands and their
ambassadors. It can create an unnatural USP
with instant recall.
This result is the Holy Grail for advertisers.
Yet most prefer change to continuity and sign
on different ambassadors. Their logic: new
celebrities pique interest and convey a young
image. “You can't change a brand’s name,
colour or logo. One thing that can be changed
to add zing to the advertising campaign is the
brand endorser,” says Harish Bijoor, CEO of
Harish Bijoor Consults.
But this strategy may not have a lasting
impact on consumers. “The brain is not as
comfortable with change as is assumed. It
craves consistency. Long-serving ambassadors
reinforce long-term memory which builds
brand loyalty,” says Biju Dominic, CEO of
FinalMile Consulting, a behaviour architecture
firm. He adds that people respond strongly to
loyalty: “This is why country flags and political party symbols are rarely changed.”
There are no numbers to prove either case.
You, the consumers, are the best judge. So
here’s a compendium of brands from both
schools: one loyal to celebrity ambassadors,
another fickle in its tastes. Which of the two do
you recall the most?
Higher Impact
Companies like
Sony and Nikon
have reported
22-40% rise in
sales since they
signed up celebrity
brand ambassadors
Source: Devraj Sanyal, Chief Executive Officer, Percept Sports & Entertainment
+Ileana D’ Cruz
and Jacqueline
Fernandez
Imran Khan
(2010)
Shahid
Kapoor
(2009)
Akshay
Kumar
(2008)
Lux
years
Reid & Taylor
Brands which stick
to the same celebrity
must keep changing
their campaigns to
make them
contemporary.
Things just cannot
fall in place
automatically
because you
have signed on a
popular endorser
Amitabh Bachchan
8 years
Thums Up
Akshay Kumar
8 years
Benefits of Sticking to the
Same Brand Ambassador
●
Tag Heuer
Shah Rukh Khan
●
8 years
●
Kurkure
Juhi Chawla
7 years
●
●
Becomes a signature for the brand—
improves ad recognition and recall
Breaks the clutter of too many
advertisements, message is delivered
faster to consumers
Helps maintain continuity across
all campaigns
Consumers reward brands for consistency,
the same ambassador reflects these values
Gives the creative team time to develop
ideas and let them grow
ILLUSTRATION: ALANKAR
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Asin
(2010)
Katrina Kaif
(2010)
Priyanka
Chopra (2009)
Pantaloons
Lara Dutta
and Bobby
Deol
(2009)
Bipasha
Basu and
Zayed Khan
(2005)
Benefits of frequently changing
brand ambassadors
●
●
Prahlad Kakkar, Ad Guru
●
●
Maintains freshness in the brand’s communication
Brands are static, consumers are not: new ambassadors help
cater to the change in consumer needs and preferences
Helps rebranding exercises when the company wants to send
a new message to consumers
Ensures that ambassadors remain relevant to the target
audience of the brand. Insulates brands from the rough
patches in celebrities’ career or a dip in their popularity