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A INTEGRATED TERM PAPER

ON

IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON

BRAND
Session: 2013-2015

R.A. PODAR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

UNIVERSITY OF RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR

Submitted By: Rahul Bargujar

MBA SM IV Sem.

Submitted To:Mrs. Garima Ghiya

Acknowledgement

The beatitude, bliss & euphoria that accompany successful completion any
task would not be completed without the expression of appreciation of simple
virtues to the people who made it possible.
So, I take my immense pleasure in expressing a whole hearted thanks to all
the faculty members who guided me all the way making this project
successful.
It is my privilege to express a deep sense of gratitude and thanks to
Mrs.Garima Ghiya for providing us various information directly related to
project.

Date:23-06-2015
Place:

Jaipur

Submitted By:
Rahul Bargujar

Preface
The underlying aim of the seminar on contemporary issue as an integral part
of MBA program is to provide the students with practical aspects of the
organization working environment.
Such type of presentation helps a student to visualize and realize about the
congruencies between the theoretical learning in the premises of college and
actual followed by the organization. It gives the knowledge of application
aspect of the theories learnt in the classroom.
The seminar project in IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON
BRAND is a complete experience in itself, which provide me with the
understanding. This has become as inspirable of my knowledge of
management being learned in MBA program.

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEFINING THE MEANING & SCOPE OF THE TOPIC
3. IMPORTANT CELEBRITY ATTRIBUTES
4. THE NEED FOR CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
5. WHY COMPANIES USE CELEBRITIES
6. SCOPE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
7. IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
8. RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CELEB. ENDORSEMENT
9. CELEBRITY SELECTION
10. CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT: THE ISSUES INVOLVED
11. WHY CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT FAILS?
12. CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
The modern world of marketing communication has become
colorful and inundated with advertisements, and it is hard to get
noticed. It is an uphill task for the designer of an advertising
campaign to differentiate itself from others and attract viewers
attention.
Everyday consumers are exposed to thousands of voices and
images in magazines, newspapers, and on billboards, websites,
radio and television. Every brand attempts to steal at least a
fraction of an unsuspecting persons time to inform him or her of
the amazing and different attributes of the product at hand. The
challenge of the marketer is to find a hook that will hold the
subjects attention.In helping to achieve this, use of celebrity
endorsers is a widely used marcom strategy.
In this jet age, people tend to ignore all commercials and
advertisements while flipping through the magazines and
newspapers or viewing TV. But even then, the glamour of a
celebrity seldom goes unnoticed. Thus, celebrity endorsement in
advertisement and its impact on the overall brand is of great
significance. In this process, the companies hire celebrities from a
particular field to feature in its advertisement campaigns. The
promotional features and images of the product are matched with
the celebrity image, which tends to persuade a consumer to fix up
his choice from a plethora of brands. Although this sounds pretty
simple, but the design of such campaigns and the subsequent
success in achieving the desired result calls for an in-depth
understanding of the product, the brand objective, choice of a
celebrity, associating the celebrity with the brand, and a framework
for measuring the effectiveness.
Companies invest large sums of money to align their brands and
themselves with endorsers. Such endorsers are seen as dynamic
with both attractive and likeable qualities and companies plan that
these qualities are transferred to products via marcom activities.
Furthermore, because of their fame, celebrities serve not only to
create and maintain attention but also to achieve high recall rates
for marcom messages in todays highly cluttered environments.

Aristotle said, Beauty is a greater recommendation than any

letter of introduction. This could aptly summarize why innumerable
products are endorsed by celebrities, with or without a significant
need or benefit from the same.
Similarly every product has an image. The consumer tries to
consume a brand which has the maximum fit with his/her own
personality/image. The celebrity endorser fits in between these two
interactions, where he tries to bring the image of the product closer
to the expectation of the consumer, by transferring some of the
cultural meanings residing in his image to the product.
The model of Celebrity Endorsement, is essentially based on the
theoretical framework of Classical Conditioning given by Pavlov.
Upfront, this seems like a very effective weapon in mature and
saturated markets, which differentiates products from those of the
competitors by clearing the clutter and reaching the consumer. But
is the impact so significant, or are the celebrities themselves
adding to the clutter?
Through this paper we primarily try to evaluate the impact of any
celebrity endorsement campaign on the brand by analyzing it
through our Impact-Analysis Framework consisting of - brand,
consumer and the celebrity as well as the interactions between the
Consumer - Endorser and Brand - Endorser.

DEFINING THE MEANING & SCOPE OF THE

TOPIC
BRANDING & CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
Today, use of celebrities as part of marketing communication
strategy is fairly common practice for major firms in supporting
corporate or brand imagery.

What is a Brand?
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, once said, Our
most valuable assets are our intangible assets. The intangible
asset he was referring to is a brand. The Dictionary of Business &
Management defines a brand as: a name, term, sign, symbol, or
design, or a combination of them, intended to identify goods or
services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them
from those of competitor.

DEFINITION OF CELEBRITIES
Celebrities are people who enjoy specific public recognition by a
large number of certain groups of people. They have some
characteristic attributes like attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle
or special skills that are not commonly observed. Thus, it can be
said that within a society, celebrities generally differ from the
common people and enjoy a high degree of public awareness.
According to Friedman and Friedman, a celebrity endorser is an
individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements
in areas other than that of the product class endorsed. Compared
to other endorser types, famous people always attach a greater
degree of attention, recall and loyalty.
According to Melissa St. James, a doctoral fellow and marketing
instructor at The George Washington University, Studies show
that using celebrities can increase consumers awareness of the
ad, capture [their] attention and make ads more memorable.

In this age of intense competition, where capturing a position in the

consumers mind space is extremely tough, celebrity
endorsements give an extra edge to the companies for holding the
viewers attention. Celebrities can catalyze brand acceptance and
provide the enormous momentum that brands require by endorsing
the intrinsic value to the brand.
The term Celebrity refers to an individual who is known to the
public (actor, sports figure, entertainer, etc.) for his or her
achievements in areas other than that of the product class
endorsed (Friedman and Friedman, 1979). This is true for classic
forms of celebrities.
Like actors (e.g., Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya
Rai,, Preity Zinta, Aamir Khan and Pierce Brosnan).
Models (e.g., Mallaika Arora, Milind Soman, Naomi Campbell, ,
etc),
Television Personalities (Husain, Smriti Irani),
Sports figures (e.g., Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, Anna
Kournikova, Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods, etc),
Entertainers (e.g., Cyrus Broacha, Oprah Winfrey,),
And pop-stars (e.g., Madonna, Shakira).
But also for less obvious groups like businessmen (e.g., Vijay
Mallya, Bill Gates) or politicians.Clebrities appear in public in
different ways. First, they appear in public when fulfilling their
profession, e.g., Vishwanathan Anand, who plays chess in front of
an audience. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending
special celebrity events, e.g., award ceremonies, inaugurations or
world premieres of movies. In addition, they are present in news,
fashion magazines, and tabloids, which provide second source
information on events and the private life of celebrities through
mass-media channels (e.g., Smriti Irani being regularly featured in
various publications). Last but not least, celebrities act as spokespeople in advertising to promote products and services, which is
referred to celebrity endorsement.

IMPORTANT CELEBRITY ATTRIBUTES

While selecting a celebrity as endorser, the company has to decide
the promotional objective of the brand and how far the celebrity
image matches with it. The selection is in fact a collaboration, from
which both the company and the celebrity gains.
The most important attribute for a celebrity endorser is the
trustworthiness. The target audience must trust that a celebrity
carries a particular image and it must match with the product.
The second attribute in order of importance is likeability. The
celebrity also must be accepted as a popular icon by a large cross
section of the audience.
Similarity between the target audience and the celebrity is the
third important attribute. A person well-known in a society can have
greater impact than a celebrity of a different world. If the endorser
and receiver have similar needs, goals, interests and lifestyles, the
position advocated by the brand communication is better
understood and received. Similarity is also used to create a
situation where the consumer feels empathy for the person shown
in the commercial. The bond of similarity between the endorser
and the receiver increases the level of persuasiveness.
Apart from that, expertise is also believed to be another important
attribute.

Definition of Celebrity Endorsement

According to Friedman & Friedman, a celebrity endorser is an
individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements
in areas other than that of the product class endorsed. So, in the
Coco-Cola advertisement; actor Amir Khan is the celebrity
endorser for the product or brand called Coke, and this process is

referred to as Celebrity Endorsement. Celebrities might endorse as

a brand ambassador or a brand face.
Difference Between Brand Ambassador & Brand Face
A Brand Ambassador would be one who is not only a
spokesperson for the brand or is just appearing as a testimonial for
the brands benefits. He/she is an integral part of the brand
persona and helps to build an emotionale, which goes beyond just
appearing on TV commercials.
He takes up the cause of a Brand Champion and is associated
with every aspect related with the brand. What is more, there is a
significant difference between making just an endorsement for say,
a shampoo or an automobile, and being that brands alter ego.
Both parties take the latter far more seriously to the deal. So a
brand ambassador would be involved in press releases, he/she
would be actively participating in any sales promotion, sporting the
Brand all the while. For example, Fardeen Khan is the brand
ambassador for Provogue while he remains a brand face for Lux
Body Wash.
On the other hand, a Brand Face would be the current celebrity
who is just used as a tool to increase brand recall and is only
appearing in the advertisement. It is usually seen that a brand face
is a temporary contract and is very short term at times. An
example would be Sona Chandi Chawanpryash using Sourav
Ganguly for a while in its commercials. Brand faces are easily
forgotten and fades away with the campaigns end

THE NEED FOR CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

The charisma of the celebrities almost always entices people and
their words are worshipped by a lot of people. Their influence also
goes on the political front, where they are invited for political
endorsement. eg. Hema Malini for B.J.P. , Govinda for Congress ,
Amitabh Bachchan for S.P..When actor Shah Rukh Khan endorses
Santro-Zip drive; the consumers are made to think that he is giving
his opinion to go for this car. Similarly, actress Rani Mukherjee has
turned the tables for Batas ladies footwear brand called Sundrop
as sales increased by a whooping 500%.

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Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following

motives: Instant Brand Awareness and Recall
Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image
Celebrity adds new dimensions to the brand image
Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage
Lack of ideas
Convincing clients

WHY COMPANIES USE CELEBRITIES - THE

CELEBRITY EDGE
Psychological Factors: Celebrities generally satisfy the
'esteem needs' of an individual. For example a movie actress is
expected to possess a flawless skin and a blemish free face. Her
fans want to know the secret of her beauty, so she becomes a
natural endorser for beauty related products (cosmetics, soaps,
powder).
propping Up Awareness and Trust Levels: Rahul dravid - bob
To Communicate a Certain Message about the Company:
Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador gave it the desired facelift and
image for the launch of 'Victor'
Value for Money:
To Position their Brand Distinctively: Lux worldwide has positioned
itself as the 'soap the filmstars use'. From Leela Chitnis to Aishwarya Rai,
all top actresses have modeled for Lux.
Celebrity Standing for a Single Brand:Think Zakir Hussain and you
are reminded of 'Wah Taj' Taj Mahal tea. Ditto with A. R. Rahman for
Airtel.

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SCOPE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

The use of testimonials by advertisers dates back to the 19 th
century when medicines were patented. Firms have been
juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers
(e.g., athletes, actors) in the hope that celebrities may boost
effectiveness of their marketing and/or corporate communication
attempts for at least a century. One of the early example is Queen
Victorias endorsement of Cadburys Cocoa (Sherman, 1985). It
was not until the 1920s, however, that advertisers used famous
people for product endorsements.
Actresses Joan Crawford, Clara Bow and Janet Gaynor were
among the first celebrities to promote products (Fox, 1984). At that
time, the rationale given by advertising agencies for using
celebrities was the spirit of emulation (Fox, 1984, p.90). About a
decade ago, one in three television commercials used celebrities
endorsements (Business Week, 1978), and today this advertising
approach appeared to be on the increase across all media types
(Sherman, 1985 and Levin, 1988). Friedman (1977) found that
celebrities are featured in 15 percent of the prime-time television
commercials. In the United States, it was reported that about 20%
of all television commercials feature a famous person, and about
10% of the dollars spent on television advertising are used in
celebrity endorsement advertisements (Advertising Age, 1987;
Sherman, 1985). Thus, celebrity endorsement has become a
prevalent form of advertising in United States and elsewhere.
Today, the use of celebrity advertising for companies has become
a trend and a perceived winning formula of corporate image
building and product marketing (Media, July-August 1997). This
phenomenon is reflected by the recent market research findings
that 8 out of 10 TV commercials scoring the highest recall are
those with celebrities appearances .

IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

The increasing number of endorsements throws a valid question to
the consumers. Is there a science behind the choice of these
endorsers or is it just by the popularity measurement? What are
the reasons which lead to impact of celebrity endorsement on
brands?

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Through research and analysis, this paper develops a 14 point

model, which can be used as a blueprint criterion which can be
used by brand managers for selecting celebrities, and capitalizes
the celebrity resource through 360 degree brand communication,
since our research proposes it as the foundation brick of the
impact of celebrity endorsement. Our study reveals that the impact
of celebrity endorsement is proportional to the 14 factors
discussed in the model.
The success of a brand through celebrity endorsement is a
cumulative of the following 14 attributes. Greater the score of the
below parameters, greater are the chances of getting close to the
desired impact.

Fit with the Advertising Idea

One of the most successful celebrity endorsement campaigns
which reflect the fit between the brand and the 360 degree
advertising fit is Fardeen Khan and Provogue. Provogues
positioning in the apparel market is of a young, active, party-going,
attention-grabbing brand and so is Fardeen Khan. The conjunction
between the two has been immensely impactful and brand
managers have utilised this endorsement through 360 degree
reinforcement.
Celebrity-Target Audience Match
Smriti Irani endorsing the WHO recommended ORS Campaign in
India. Indian mothers can associate with Smriti Irani through the
facets she projects on screen or in regular life which helps develop
a connect with the target audience since mothers medicate their
children with ORS.
Celebrity Values
Tabu endorsing Tetra Packed Milk, Shabana Azmi campaigning for
AIDS Awareness, Amitabh Bachchan & Shahrukh Khan
campaigning for Pulse Polio or Aishwarya Rai appearing in the
Donate Eyes campaign are few examples, which reflect the
transfer of celebrity values to the brand, creating an impact that
generates recall.

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Costs of Acquiring the Celebrity

Recently, a newspaper report showed how cola firms had gone
beyond their advertising budgets to get the best celebrities. Small
firms that use celebrities services run greater risks if they invest
large amounts. Although nobody is willing to say exactly how much
celebrities get paid, industry sources say Sachin Tendulkars price
is believed to be between Rs. 2.0-2.5 crores per endorsement, and
musician A. R. Rehman, who had signed up with AirTel, is believed
to have picked up Rs. 1.75 crores. Film-star Hrithik Roshan was
rumored to have picked up Rs. 2 crores for the Fly With Hrithik
campaign to push Close-Up, and Shahrukh Khans rate seems to
be between Rs. 2.5-3.0 crores. Aishwarya Rai apparently picks up
Rs. 1.25 crores for an endorsement and the Indian cricket captain
Saurav Ganguly is believed to get between Rs. 90 lakh to Rs. 1.5
crores, while film-star Aamir Khan apparently makes Rs. 1.5 crores
per endorsement.
Celebrity Regional Appeal Factors
R. Madhavan endorsing Pepsi in southern India or Sachin
Tendulkar endorsing in India are few examples of how celebrities
are chosen to reach out to target audiences for brands in regional
markets.

Celebrity-Product Match
Cyrus Broacha is the brand ambassador for MTV since both the
celebrity and the brand are considered as friendly, young, moodboosting, humorous and outspoken. MTVs brand personality
overlaps Cyrus Broachas image as a brand.
Some more examples of compatible celebrity product match in
which celebrity brand attributes get transferred to the brand and
increases the brand equity is of Govinda & Navratan Tel,
Aishwarya Rai & Nakshatra, etc.
Celebrity Controversy Risk
The perfect example here is of Salman Khan and the controversy
in which he crushed a man to death with his Pajero when he was
driving under the influence of alcohol. Also, any act on the part of

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the endorser that gives him a negative image among the audience
and goes on to affect the brands endorsed. The brand, in most
instances, takes a bashing.
Celebrity Popularity
Celebrity Brand association like Garnier endorsed Tara Sharma &
Simone Singh, Agni Diamonds & Riama Sen dont get much brand
recall, and even if they do, its difficult to attribute it to the
celebrities endorsing the brand.On the other hand, HPCL has had
increased popularity and share of voice due to the endorsement of
the brand through Sania Mirza.
Celebrity Availability
In case of various brands, there are situations in which they prefer
to go without a brand face, since there is no brand-fit between the
celebrities available and the brand. Also, due to multiple
endorsements by certain celebrities, brands refuse to adopt
celebrity endorsement since they fear dilution of the brand image.
Celebrity Physical Attractiveness
John Abraham endorsing Wrangler and Timex Sunglasses are
some examples which portray the celebrities physical
attractiveness that helps create an impact.
Celebrity Credibility
The most important aspect and reason for celebrity endorsement
is credibility. In a research carried out among 43 ad agencies and
companies, most experts believed that the most important
dimensions of credibility are trustworthiness and prowess or
expertise with regard to the recommended product or service. One
of the most obvious reasons of Amitabh Bachchan endorsing
plethora of brands is the credibility of the celebrity and his
recognition across consumers.
To site one of the most successful campaigns in which the
celebritys credibility has had an indelible impact on the brand and
has saved the brand is of Cadburys. After the worm controversy,
Amitabh Bachchans credibility infused into the brand through the
campaign, helping it to get back on track. The campaign has won
an award for the same.

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Multiple Endorsements
Not many people can remember all the brands that a celebrity
endorses and the chances of losing brand recall increases if the
celebrity endorses multiple brands. For example, in case of Sachin
Tendulkar people recall Pepsi, TVS Victor and MRF, but might not
remember brands like Britannia and Fiat. Similarly, for Amitabh
Bachchan, consumers remember ICICI, Pepsi, Parker Pens, Pulse
Polio and BPL. They might get confused in the endorsement of
Nerolac or Asian Paints. Thus, for multiple endorsements where
the same celebrity endorses several brands, it boils down to the
strength of the brand and the advertising content.
Whether Celebrity is a Brand User
Various celebrities endorse NGOs and social causes since they
believe in the social message that they need to convey to the
audience. One of the most successful campaigns has been
executed by PETA in which celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Amisha
Patel, Yana Gupta, Sheetal Malhar, Mahima Choudhary claimed to
believe in PETAs philosophy, and thereby endorse the brand.

RISKS
ASSOCIATED
ENDORSEMENT

WITH

CELEBRITY

The concept of Total Branding is slowly emerging and many

companies are focusing on that. They are emphasizing on their
best practices, customer relationship management, and employee
training and knowledge management. Internal brand management,
under which the company ensures that employees and channel
partners are convinced about the brand, is becoming particularly
important, for they are the ones who have to deliver. Thus, the
celebrity endorsement can be considered only as a carrier of
whats inside.
Besides, while designing an ad campaign, one should also keep in
mind that the overuse of some extremely popular celebrities often
tends to confuse consumers and reduce the utility of celebrity
endorsement. Another argument against celebrity endorsement
involves the behavior of the celebrity. The marketing function of a
company should also understand that brands should assume a

16

much greater space than the celebrities, because their association

may be temporary but the brands are permanent.
The various risks associated with celebrity endorsements are as
follows: Negative publicity - If the celebrity is strongly associated with the
brand then the occurrence of the negative publicity can spill over
the brand.. E.g., Salman Khan lost his endorsement deal with
Thumbs-Up after his infamous incidents like buck-killing and rashdriving.
Overshadowing - When celebrity endorser is used, the risk of
consumers focusing on the celebrity and not on the brand exists.
Overexposure - This risk arises when the celebrity chooses to
endorse several different products simultaneously which might
leave the consumers confused. E.g., Sachin Tendulkar endorses
several brands such as MRF, TVS Victor, Pepsi, Fiat, Boost, etc.
Overuse - Sometimes the company can use many different
celebrities to appeal to different market segment. But multiplicity of
endorser might blur the image.
Extinction - The favorable response obtained by a particular
brand may weaken over time if the brand gets significant exposure
without the association of the celebrity. If the celebrity contract is
for a considerable period of time, then it can lead to draining out
capital without proper return.
Financial Risk - The decision for hiring an expensive endorser
may not be always feasible if there is a poor brand fit.
Therefore, for celebrity endorsements to work effectively there are
some fundamental ground rules: Clear brand promise and brand personality.
The communication objectives for the campaign should be
frozen.
Focus must be on the synergy between the brand and the
celebrity image

17

Establish explicitly
communicate

what

the

celebrity

is

going

to

CELEBRITY SELECTION
There are various scientific ways in which the right celebrity is
selected for the product endorsement, which are discussed here
after

Stereotyping
Tellis defines stereotypes as perceptions and depictions of
individuals based on simplistic, biased image of the group to which
they belong, rather than on their own individual characteristics. For
example: its better to select celebrities who say are teens for
chocolate advertisements and females for detergent ads, etc.

The TEARS Model

The attributes highlighted by the acronym TEARS are gauged for
celebrity selection. These are: Trustworthiness: For example - Legendary actor Amitabh
Bachchan who is an icon of trust; promoting ICICI Bank.
Expertise: For example - Golfer Tiger Woods for a sports brand.
Attractiveness: For example Actor John Abraham who has
attractiveness endorsed Yahama motor
Respect: For example - Former Miss World Aishawarya Rai and
the Eye donation campaign.
Similarity: For example - a child artist promoting a chocolate
brand.
A celebrity scoring high on all the above attributes can turn out to
be a good endorser for the brand under question.

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The No TEARS Model

The No TEARS approach is a tool for managers and their
advertisers how to go about selecting celebrities so as to avoid the
pitfalls from making an unwise decision. It gauges the following
information:

Celebrity & audience match up,

Celebrity & brand match up,

Celebrity credibility,

Celebrity attractiveness,

Cost consideration,

A working ease and difficulty factor,

An endorsement saturation factor,

A likelihood-of-getting-into-trouble factor

Selecting the right celebrity does more than increasing sales; it can
create linkages with the celebrities appeal, thereby adding new
dimension to the brand image. Research conducted by Katherine
Eckel has revealed that celebrities can get people to make a
better choice but cannot influence people to make a foolish
choice.
The success of celebrity endorsement in India can be sought from
a market research conducted earlier which found that 8 out of 10
TV commercials scored the highest recall were those with celebrity
appearances. A few examples: Sachin Tendulkar - Adidas, Sourav
Ganguly - Britannia, Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupati - J.
Hampstead, Shah Rukh Khan - Pepsi, Sushmita Sen - Epson, and
Aishwarya Rai - Coke.

CELEBRITY
INVOLVED

ENDORSEMENT:

THE

ISSUES

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There are several factors to consider before resorting to celebrity

endorsement. There is no single formula to win in the world of
marketing. A company must analyze the prospect of endorsement
from 360 degrees, prior to product promotion.

Price vs. Profit

The most important issue is that of return on investment (ROI).
Companies need to perform a cost-benefit analysis prior to
endorsement. The process of gauging the effectiveness of
endorsement on the overall brand is but difficult. The companies
expect to bring, in the long run, future sales, revenues and profit
from the present investments on celebrity endorsement. Celebrity
endorsement is an expensive means of brand promotion and the
price burden almost always shifts on to the consumers; if not, then
it narrows the companies profit.

WHY CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT FAILS?

There maybe cases where brands are not able to take-off even
after the backing of celebrities. And this leads to speculations in
the Ad World on the soundness of celebrity endorsement as an
effective communication strategy.
Negative impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the brand
A popular drawback of celebrity endorsement is the 'Vampire
Effect' or the celebrity overshadowing the brand 16. Some viewers
forget the brand that a celebrity is approving. Others are so
spellbound by the personality of the celebrity that they completely
fail to notice the brand being advertised. Two new drawbacks can
be seen these days what marketers call Celebrity Trap and
Celebrity Credibility17. Celebrity trap is when the celebrity becomes
an addiction for the marketing team and the task to find substitutes
becomes more and more difficult, leading to surfeit of celebrities.
Celebrity credibility refers to skepticism by the consumers
regarding the celebrities, especially when there is anything
negative regarding the celebrity associated with the brand in the
news, then brand is bound to be affected.

The Reasons

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According to leading management thinker, Dr. Seamus Phan,

Many celebrity endorsements fail because they identify a celebrity
they like in an emotive and un-researched manner and then try to
create advertising to force-fit the celebrity into the creative
concept. Therefore, the advertisers must associate the celebrity to
the advertisement and not vice versa. Thinking on the similar lines,
the advertisers shouldnt identify the brand to associate with the
celebrity but do vice versa.
The success of celebrity endorsement also depends upon the
capacity, knowledge, experience, and qualification to talk about the
product. Failure may be attributed to improper positioning
(Example: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan & Maruti
Versa), negative perception after use of product / service (inferior
products), misapprehension of the meaning of the endorsement,
etc.
The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old
observation that every man is really two men - the man he is and
the man he wants to be.
- William
Feather

The Solutions
As discussed, celebrity management is very crucial to avoid the
brand-celebrity disconnect, and subsequently, brand failures. If the
consumers have questions in their minds regarding the quality or
performance of the product then even God cannot save the brand.
The obvious solution to the problem of overshadowing is to make
sure that both the advertisement and the celebrity are focused on
the brand or product. To avoid any bad publicity arising out of
celebrity defames, companies may resort to multiple celebrity
endorsement. For Example: Pepsi while capitalizing on the
popularity of cricket and films in India used several cricketers and
film stars in their ads. So when Azharuddin and Jadeja got
embroiled in the match-fixing controversy, Pepsi severed its

21

association only with these stars, but its relationship with cricket
continued.

CONCLUSION
There is an increasing challenge to the marketing manager to
develop and implement an integrated marketing communication
(IMC) plan to realize the true value of the celebrity endorsements.
There is a gradual shift from the traditional approach of showing
celebrities in advertisement to making them the spokes-person of
the brand. Companies have taken celebrity endorsement to next
level by projecting brands as a way of life. Smart companies are
using their brand ambassadors in other mediums such as movies
to promote their brands.
E.g., Amitabh Bachchan, who endorses the financial instruments
of ICICI Bank, is shown as a branch-manager of ICICI Bank in the
movie Baghban.
Wooing the key existing and potential target customers is the trait
of a successful promotion strategy. However, the marketing
manager should be able to offer significant value propositions in
the services / products offered to the customers. Thus, one needs
to integrate celebrity endorsement with other marketing programs
and ensure that the celebrity attributes align with the overall brand
or company. Companies that succeed in developing such an
integrated IMC plans is the one to succeed in the long-term.