RETHINKING CELEBRITY ENDORSERS

EMERGENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS

Celebrities are involved in endorsing activities since late 19th century. One of the first sports endorsement in India starred Farokh engineer, the first Indian cricketer model for Bryl cream. The Indian cricket team now earns approx. 100 crore through endorsements. Examples *Tabassum advertised for pressure cooker. *Kapil dev advertised for Palmolive shaving cream.

ETHICS OF CELEBRITIES ENDORSING PRODUCTS

Celebrities should not endorse brands that are hazardous to health & to the society. Eg. alcohol, cigarettes etc.
Endorsements should not be politically motivated. Eg. Amitabh Bachchan in Uttar Pradesh advertisement .

Contd.
A promotion should be intended to create goodwill for a person or for brand image. Examples: Bipasha Basu advertising TAJ MAHAL as one of the 7 wonders of the world. Aamir Khan convincing people that coca-cola is free from pesticides. Thanda matlab Coca-cola

DO CELEBRITIES HURT THEIR REPUTATION??

WHY? When they do advertisements only for money. Eg. SRK in Lux ad. Their work gets effected. Eg. Saurav Ganguly featuring in so many advertisements. Celebrities endorse brands without having knowledge about the product. And without doing any research about the product WHY NOT? Enhances their reputation. Increases their popularity among masses & can reach out to more people. Doing advertisements act as stress buster for them. They have agents working for them before signing any contract.

POSITIVE IMPACT
Celebrities add to the appeal and glamour. Instills a sense of trust . Makes the ad and brand more noticeable. There is a demographic and psychographic connection between the stars and the fans. Helps in raising awareness. Easy recognition of the new product.

Attracts new audience for the product.

EXAMPLES
*Recently world known actor Richard Gere was in Delhi to create AIDS and HIV awareness.

*Universal appeal of Amitabh Bachchan is used for the advertisement of Reid & Taylor suiting.

NEGATIVE IMPACT
Associating with a star in itself does not guarantee sales. Sometimes a celebrity overshadows the brand. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity. Celebrity endorser caught in a scandal or an embarrassing situation affects the brand negatively. Multiple endorsements by a celebrity would lead to his/her overexposure resulting to confusion in the mind of the target audience.

EXAMPLES
*Basketball superstar Michael Jordans foot injury declined his endorsement value miserably.

*Superstar Amitabh Bachchan endorses multiple brands & few social messages. It has worked for some cases while for some it has not.

THEORY ON CELEBRITY USAGE

Source Credibility Theory > Expertness & Trustworthiness Source Attractiveness Theory > Familiarity, Likeability, Similarity > Identification & Conditioning Grant McCrackens Meaning Transfer Theory > Encoding Meaning > Meaning Transfer
> Meaning Capture

CURRENT SCENARIO
Today,companies invest huge amount of advertising expenditure for hiring the right celebrity. Celebrity endorsements are used for every brand whether it is soaps,cigarettes,soft drinks etc.. According to a global market research firm 47% people would be more likely to buy a brand that was endorsed by their favourite celebrity..

 Target audience in the age group of 15-30 gets influenced first by cricketers,then bollywood stars and only then music,festivals and food. E.g:-Amongst the ads featuring celebrities Pepsi has the highest recall of 70% while the rival Coke has 52% recall. Hindustan Levers Lux soap in India has been using popular film actresses to endorse their soap which has helped in positioning the soap as the beauty soap.

CONCLUSION
Celebrity endorsement has both pros and cons on a brand or product. It is all about getting the right celebrity for endorsing the right brand. Consumers perceive the brand as having superior quality when endorsed by a credible source. A consumers attitude towards a brand or an ad is affected by corporate credibility and endorser credibility.

 Impact of a celebrity endorsement depend upon the type of the product. Personality of the brand and celebrity has to complement each other. However, there are number of brands that have been built without celebrity endorsement. Example : Proctor & Gamble launched its Rejoice brand in India with testimonials from ordinary women in their TV ad.

 Companies before selecting their endorsers should weigh all the four points of FRED principle : F : Familiarity R : Relevance E : Esteem D : Differentiation

THANK YOU!