Vivek Joshi 

Supreet Ahluwalia
Senior Lecturers
Department of Business
Manipal University Dubai Campus
Block #7 International Academic City Dubai
United Arab Emirates
 

The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years or so.
Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrity in influencing buyer's purchase decision. They have
firm believe that likeability or a favorable attitude towards a brand is created by the use of a celebrity. The
crore of rupees spent per year on celebrity endorsement contracts show that celebrities like Amitabh
Bachchan, Sharukh khan and Sachin Tendulkar play an important role for the advertising industry. It is an
established fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow unique features or special attributes upon a
product that it may have lacked otherwise.

In India from late 1970's and early 80's the new trend in advertising started. Brands started being
endorsed by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse
prominent brands. Advertisements featuring stars like Late Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Tabassum (Prestige
cookers), Sunil Gavaskar for Dinesh Suiting, Ravi Shastri and Vivian Richards (Vimal), Persis Khambhata
and Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving cream) became common.

Though marketers should remember that celebrities are mere living beings like us and if they can highlight
the benefits or advantages of a brand they can also have some uncanny negative impact. Theory and
practice suggests that the use of stars and their unleashing power in advertising generate a lot of publicity
and attention from the public but the underline questions are, do these stars really help a brand by
increasing its sales? On the other hand, can they really have an Impact on the person's consumption
pattern, thereby changing his brand preference? How an advertisement featuring a celebrity can influence
consumers buying decision and can create an association between a brand and a common man.

To answer these questions, the article will examine the relationship between celebrity endorsements and
brands, and the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer's buying behaviour as well as how
consumer makes brand preferences.

We will apply a wide range of accepted principles of how consumers brand attitudes and preferences can
be influenced, how buyer's behavior can be influenced, how buyer's behavior can be molded. We will use
the principles of credibility of source and attractiveness, the match-up hypothesis, the consumer decision-
making model and the communication model to understand this phenomenon.

Brand- A layman perspective

Brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you can associate with a
company or the product. Few examples will bring home the meaning i.e. Amul - utterly butterly
delicious;Coke – thanda matlab coca-cola; Pepsi – Yeh dil mange more; Kurkure- Masti bole to kurkure
andDaewoo ka India.

These examples convey one message that when people watch advertisement a connect is being created
and result is that people go for experience of buying. People feel by using the brand they will portray
certain traits or characteristics that otherwise they do not have. This generates a certain level of
emotional affiliation and a sense of fulfillment. It is this emotional relationship with brands that make
them so powerful.

Advertisements enforces what exactly the brand stands for and what to expect by its consumption and
above all what factors, features and attributes makes it better from competition. Advertisements along
with other marketing efforts generate expectations and feelings in a customer and force them to think
when they see or hear the brand name. This Thinking process and emotional bonding gets more mature
and relevant when a celebrity endorses the brand. The subjective intangible feelings of a customer
become objective and tangible in the form of celebrity and the level of expectations will rise.  The
customer will start to perceive himself in the reference frame of the celebrity after the brand or the
advertised product has been purchased or consumed by him.

to Celebrity

Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition and mostly they are the experts of their respective
fields having wider influence in public life and societal domain. Attributes like attractiveness, extraordinary
life style or special skills, larger than life image and demigod status can be associated with them.

It is safe to deduce that within a corresponding social group celebrities generally differ from the social
norm and enjoy high degree of public awareness.

Celebrities appear in public in different ways. To start, they appear in public when fulfilling their
professional commitments example: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who played cricket in front of an audience in
Twenty-Twenty World Cup. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending special celebrity events,
example: the movie award nights; special screening; world premiers of movies or for social causes. These
celebrities have universal presence and appeal, they are present everywhere, in news, fashion shows and
magazines, tabloids and above all advertisements.

Celebrity and a Brand

Star power in India can be gauged by the successful endorsements done by Sharukh Khan (Pepsi, Hyundai
Santro, Sunfeast, and Navratan etc.), Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hrithik Roshan
and the others. The inevitable question is, if and how the lively interest of the public in the rich and
famous can be efficiently and effectively used by companies to promote their brands and consequently to
increase their sales revenues.

This fact can be brought out by using certain examples i.e. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan promoting Cadbury
chocolates after the fiasco of infestation when the image of Cadbury India went very low in the eyes of
people. Soon the company found a perfect fit and a reliable celebrity to transmit the correct message and
help regenerating the lost trust. The fit between the product and celebrity is evident as Mr. Bachchan and
Cadbury chocolates both have tested troubled times and still they stand tall and the love and trust they
both share with the people all across India. This is a live example of how a celebrity brought certain
attributes a product like chocolate.

Actor Sharukh khan has also endorsed diversified products. His endorsement basket is ranging from
Hyundai Santro to Sunfeast biscuits on one hand and from Compaq computers to Videocon electronics on
the other.

According to Advertising research companies both the actors are doing well and the ad spent on both by
the companies is increasing at a phenomenal rate, so does their basket of endorsements. These actors
bring reliability and trust in the brand and above all, they help in increasing the sales revenues.

Celebrity endorsements are powerful, has become evident from the above two examples but, why is it so?
This power is offered by the following elements, which also creates a 'Top of the Mind Position'.

* Instant Awareness, knowledge about the brand and easy recall.

* Values and image of the brand is defined, highlighted and refreshed by the celebrity.
* The celebrity adds new edge and dimension to the brand.
* Credibility, trust, association, aspiration and connectivity to brand.
* Belief in efficiency and new appearance that will result in at least trial usage.

Understanding Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy.
It blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts
to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually and in groups. It studies
characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral variables in
an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups
such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

The study and knowledge of consumer behavior helps firms and organizations to improve their marketing
strategies and product offerings. Following are the important issues that have significant influence on
consumer's psyche and their ability to take decisions:

 The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives
(e.g., brands, products);
 The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, family,
signs, media);
 The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;
 Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and
marketing outcome; 
 How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level
of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and
 How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to
more effectively reach the consumer.
 Their Age, Religion, Culture, Income, informal group and Referent Group.

Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into consideration.

Consumer Decision-making process

The given process is very complicated though on first sight it does not look so. Process starts with
problem recognition or with an unsatisfied need. Something that a consumer would like to have or
purchase in order to attain satisfaction. This need can be Psychological, attitudinal or Physiological but yes
it should have the capacity to be fulfilled by consuming a particular product or service.

To satisfy the given need what all are the components that should be taken into consideration and how we
can maximize the satisfaction is the next stage. In this stage, we will cover ability to purchase, level of
involvement, people whose opinion will count and other relevant details that will help us in optimizing
satisfaction.

Based upon information search we will generate various alternatives i.e. which brand or product is
affordable for me, where will it be available comfortably and above all in comparison to other brands or
products how better or economical it is.

Evaluation stage will look like cost benefit analysis and based upon maximum value or utility per rupee
spend, we will decide or shortlist the product or brand. This is the decision and confirmation stage where
the consumers prepares himself for the purchase of a particular brand and give preference to one and only
one over and above the others.

Next comes the purchase when the consumer will finally go to the market and look for the brand or the
product, physically verifies it and purchases it.

Last is the post purchase Evaluation in which the customer wants to justify his consumption or purchase
decision. He tries to find out whether his purchase decision was right or not. Companies make lot of effort
to tackle this situation successfully and they want the customer to be satisfied with their product.

This stage may result into three situations, first is satisfaction where customer is satisfied and he got
expected results but this does not necessitates the repeat purchase by the consumer. Second is
dissonance where the consumer is not satisfied as he got less utility or less than expected result from the
consumption or product performance. Third is Delight, here the consumer gets more than expected
satisfaction and utility and this will assure the repeat purchase and creation of brand loyalty.
Traditional Factors affecting consumer decision making

There are several factors that affect consumer's decision to purchase a brand and a product. These factors
though at time are not very much visible but they make an impact and affects sales of a product or brand
up to a great extent. The table below shows some of these factors.

Impact of a Brand on consumer purchase decision

Research studies have proven that known products and names are sold more than unknown ones.
Therefore, a known brand or an optimally exposed brand will find more recognition and buyers in the
market in comparison to completely unknown or unexposed brand. Recognition of brand and its
significance along with the traditional factors plays a very significant role in consumer decision-making
process.

 More or less every consumer has a brand preference and given the affordability and societal norms, each
buyer would like to buy and consume one of the highly acceptable, recognizable, and reputed brands.

The above given model explains the important role that a brand plays in three different stages of
consumer's purchase decision making. A consumer start collecting data or information about his favourite
brand than he keeps his favourite as one of the alternatives and he evaluate his selected brand against all
available options and on finding it suitable or best among all options based upon a qualitative and
quantitative evaluation he will ultimately purchase the selected or favourite brand.

The diagram above explains how various traditional factors along with brand preference interact during
purchase decision process and finally results into a consumer's final product choice or ultimate purchase.

Celebrity and a brand

Surveys suggest that compared to any other types of endorsers, famous people achieve a higher degree
of attention and recall. They increase awareness of a company's advertising as well as help in retention of
message in the psyche of the audience. They can also help the company in reducing their expenditure on
Media and other forms of publicity. An example will bring more clarity, When S Kumars, a known textile
brand entered into readymade garments business they used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advertising
icon for their launch advertising for TAMARIND, now one of the premium readymade brands. They
reckoned that they have spent 40-50 percent less on media due to sheer impact of using hottest star like
Hrithik. The Ad recall was as high as 70 percent and the campaign can be termed as a great success.

Celebrities also create positive feelings towards brands, connect user to brand and are perceived by
consumers as more entertaining.

Using a celebrity in advertising or for any, other type of communication for brand building is likely to
positively affect consumers' brand preference, brand attitude, brand association and purchase intentions.
To ensure positive results, however, it is critical for advertisers to have a clear understanding of
consumer's reactions and reinforcement of celebrity endorsement. The impact of celebrity endorsement on
any brand as well as on consumer's purchase decision is very critical.

Source Credibility

Central goal of advertising is the convincing of consumers and persuasion to purchase, the ultimate
objective, though not openly spoken, is to some how attract consumers to the market offering of the
company, generating positive attitude, reinforce positive association and ultimately to generate sales, may
be a trial purchase. At later stages, the sponsor may work towards creating a brand loyalty but generating
initial sales or increasing the existing sales is the primary objective. In this respect, the credibility of an
endorser along with advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target audience of the
attractiveness of the company's brand and generates sales. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy
enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and
objectiveness.

To create effective messages, celebrity advertisers also have to consider the attractiveness of the
spokesperson. Source attractiveness refers to the endorser's Physical appearance, Personality, Likeability
and Similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived social value of the source. This behavior mainly goes
back to halo effect, whereby persons who perform well on one dimension example: physical attractiveness
or top professional performance, social status are assumed to excel on other levels as well i.e. happiness
and coolness. This is evident from the use of Fardeen Khan, modern, dynamic, outgoing and smart
personality for Provogue; he translates the modernism of the brand well. Titan uses Aamir Khan in his
different avatars for communicating to the public that their watches are as reliable and passionate as
Aamir is for films. Both Fardeen and Aamir carry the message well and enhance the credibility of the
brand they endorse.

Establishing a Perfect Match

Research proves that a spokesperson especially for a service product or organization (ICICI- First Amitabh
Bachchan, now Shahrukh Khan) interacts with the type of brand being advertised. These stars
communicate the value of the product and transform an ordinary service into a miracle solution for all
problems of an ordinary customer.

According to Friedman and Friedman (1979), a famous relative to a 'normal' spokesperson is more
effective for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, self-
image, and opinion of others. Several research studies have examined the congruency between celebrity
endorsers and brands to explain the effectiveness of using famous persons to promote brands.

In India, a brand called Reid & Taylor presented its perfect example when they first launched their
advertising campaign featuring James Bond fame of the time Mr. Pierce Brosnan along with the tagline
'BOND WITH THE BEST' but the James Bond idea did not worked and the company was not happy with the
results.

After the debacle of the first campaign, company introduced a family ad where children are celebrating
there parents silver wedding anniversary and they are out with their father to purchase a suit for him.
Even this commercial did not work and it was taken off the air. As a last resort, company introduced Mr.
Amitabh Bachchan as Reid & Taylor man, a man propagating the brand for special occasion and for very
special people in life. The commercial from the initial days got good response and did extremely well as
people were able to connect with Mr. Bachchan and the values he was propagating.

 For the masses, there was a perfect match of an ideal Indian family man, a star and a good quality but
bit highly priced brand reserved especially for special occasions and for very special people.

Second example that can be quoted is of Vishwanathan Anand, who endorsed NIIT. NIIT adopted a very
smart strategy by roping in Vishwanathan Anand an international chess wizard for their advertising
campaign. As chess is considered to be a game full of strategies and a game for smart people and when
one of the greats of the game is asking people to join NIIT it was suppose to have a positive influence on
the people and actually it had. There was complete congruency and compatibility between the celebrity
endorser, the product and the message.

Contrary to only favorable outcomes, there are several examples where the product, even the entire
campaign collapsed due to heavy weight celebrity as the agency or the ad failed to establish the
relationship between the endorser and the product. Keeping the focus only on success, where the product
and the celebrity were a perfect match, following are few examples:
 Company / Product
Celebrity Endorser
* Dabur
* Cadbury
Amitabh Bachchan
* Reid and Taylor
* Parker
* Santro
* Videocon
Shahrukh Khan
* Sunfeast
* Pepsi
Juhi Chawala * Kurkure
Ustad Zakir Hussain * Taj mahal tea
* Titan
Aamir Khan * Coke
* Toyota Innova
* Nakshatra
Aishwarya Rai
* Lux
* Fanta
Rani Mukherjee
* Nestle Munch
* Whirlpool
Kajol and Ajay Devgan
* Tata Indicom

The campaigns are not only basking with the glory of success stories, but there is considerable number of
failures as well. Assuming that a person just have to be famous to represent a successful brand, however,
would be incorrect and may turn out to be a very dangerous preposition resulting into a big calamity for
the entire advertising campaign or the brand.

Very well accepted and attractive super stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan failed in
turning their endorsements into success i.e. Maruti Versa similarly Virendra Sehwag also failed to deliver
Reliance Telecommunication with the master stroke of his cricketing genius.

Among the possible reasons identified by several authors, including overexposure and identification, the
'match-up hypothesis' specifically suggests that the effectiveness depends on the existence of a 'fit'
between the celebrity spokesperson and endorsed brand.

Empirical work on the congruency of brand with the celebrity often has concentrated on the physical
attractiveness of the endorser. Results show that an attractive spokespersons are more effective in terms
of attitude change when prompting brands that enhance one's attractiveness i.e. cosmetics; health drinks
or fashion wear.

Primary data states, for celebrity spokespersons to be truly effective, they should be knowledgeable,
experienced, mature, and a bench mark in their respective field and qualified to talk about the product.

Transferring the Meaning

After watching an advertisement the consumers try to find the meaning of the advertisement and
associate the same with the endorser and eventually transfer to the brand. To understand this
phenomenon Mc Cracken (1989) suggested a comprehensive model known as Meaning Transfer Model.
This three-stage model suggests how the meaning associated with the famous person moves from the
endorser to the product or the brand. Thus, meanings attributed to the celebrity become associated with
the brand in the consumer's mind. Finally, in the consumption process, the customer acquires the brand's
meaning. The third stage of the model explicitly shows the importance of the consumer's role in the
process of endorsing brands with famous persons.

In contrast to anonymous endorsers, celebrities add value to the image transfer process by offering
meanings of extra depth and power, what is complemented by their life style and personalities. Therefore,
to transfer the correct meaning to the consumer the company should select a celebrity that will produce
the most favorable response for consumers and for the purpose the celebrity should have, the appropriate
set of characteristics and the public should be able to visualize and comprehend the same. The company
should consider the consumer's needs while developing their communication strategy and selecting an
appropriate celebrity to transmit the same, i.e. Kurkure used actress Juhi Chawala with the punch line
'Masti Bole To Kurkure' and the actress on screen and off-screen personifies the masti and helps the brand
in communicating the same easily.

Compatibility of the celebrity's persona with the overall brand image is very important, as a celebrity
imparts credibility and inspirational value to a brand and his or her image should perfectly match the
brand's image. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the message
are must for a successful campaign.

Certain elements that generate a perfect match or compatibility between the celebrity and brand image
are:

* Celebrity's fit with the brand image along with celebrity-target audience match.
* Celebrity associated values and celebrity-product match.
* Costs of acquiring the celebrity and his or her popularity along with controversy risks associated with the
celebrity.
* Credibility, availability and physical attractiveness of celebrity.

The above points can be put to perspective by using two examples, first Kapil Dev's 'Palmolive da jawaab
nahin' and second Nakshatra's brand recall due to its endorser, the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Both brands have edged out and carved out their niche in consumer's mind due to image and credibility of
their endorsers. These were the cases of perfect match between the brand image and the image or
persona of the celebrity endorser. 

Conclusion

A brief assessment of the current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsement advertising
strategy can under the right circumstances indeed justify the high costs associated with this form of
advertising. The use of celebrity for endorsements create a very favorable impact on the consumer and it
creates a connect which forces a consumer to purchase a product. However, as several failures show, it is
essential for advertisers to be aware of the complex processes underlying celebrity endorsement.

It has been proved from the discussion that celebrity endorsements are a powerful and useful tool that
magnifies the effect of a campaign but the word of caution to be followed seriously; celebrities alone do
not guarantee success nor does a great advertising campaign or the best possible product. It is the
combination of several factors and elements that work together for the success of a brand and its
acceptance in the minds of consumers as well as for its market offering.
Modern day consumers are well educated and smart, they know celebrities are being paid for these
endorsements and this knowledge makes consumers rather more cynical about the product and celebrity
endorsements. Majority of the consuming population also knows what is advertising and how it actually
works and this knowledge of consumer makes the task of celebrity endorsement all the more difficult and
challenging for the advertising companies and the sponsors. Indian companies both advertising and
product offering companies have top make an effort to overcome this ever-mounting challenge.

References

* Aaker, David A. (1996), Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press.
* Daneshvary, Rennae and R. Keith Schwer (2000), "The Association Endorsement and
* Consumers' Intention to Purchase," Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17 (3), 203-213.
* Friedman, Hershey H. and Linda Friedman (1979), "Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type," Journal of
Advertising Research, 19 (5), 63-71.
* McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement
Process," Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3), 310-321.
 

Vivek Joshi
Supreet Ahluwalia
Senior Lecturers
Department of Business
Manipal University Dubai Campus
Block #7 International Academic City Dubai
United Arab Emirates
 
Source: E-mail January 3, 2008

"A sign of a celebrity is that his name is often worth more than his services.”
- Daniel J Boorstin

INTRODUCTION

The motif behind total branding may be decocted as an attempt to amalgamate diverse activities to
win customer preference. Apropos to this context, the topic “Impact of celebrity endorsement on
overall brand”, is a significant one. The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily
increasing over the past years. Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrities in influencing
consumer-purchasing decisions. It is a ubiquitously accepted fact that celebrity endorsement can
bestow special attributes upon a product that it may have lacked otherwise. But everything is not
hunky-dory; celebrities are after all mere mortals made of flesh and blood like us. If a celebrity can
aggrandize the merits of a brand, he or she can also exacerbate the image of a brand.

If I may take the liberty of rephrasing Aristotle’s quote on anger, “Any brand can get a celebrity.
That is easy. But getting a celebrity consistent with the right brand, to the right degree, at the right
time, for the right purpose and in the right way... that is not easy.”
Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following motives:

 Instant Brand Awareness and Recall.

 Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image.
 Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image.
 Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage.
 Lack of ideas.
 Convincing clients.

The scope of a celebrity on the incumbent brand:

Simply stating, a brand is a differentiated product and helps in identifying your product and making it
stand out due to its name, design, style, symbol, color combination, or usually a mix of all these.

Before we can scrutinize the effects of celebrity endorsement on the overall brand, we have to ferret
the implicit nuances that act as sources of strong brand images or values:

 Experience of use: This encapsulates familiarity and proven reliability.

 User associations: Brands acquire images from the type of people who are seen using them.
Images of prestige or success are imbibed when brands are associated with glamorous
personalities.
 Belief in efficiency: Ranking from consumer associations, newspaper editorials etc.
 Brand appearance: Design of brand offers clues to quality and affects preferences.
 Manufacturer’s name & reputation: A prominent brand name (Sony,Kellogg’s,Bajaj,Tata)
transfers positive associations

The celebrity’s role is the most explicit and profound in incarnating user associationsamong the
above-mentioned points. To comprehend this, let us analyze the multiplier effect formula for a
successful brand:

S=P* D*AV --the multiplier effect

Where S is a successful brand,
P is an effective product.
D is Distinctive Identity 
and AV is Added values.

The realm of the celebrity’s impact is confined to bestow a distinctive identity and provide AV to the
brand; the celebrity does not have the power to improve or debilitate the efficiency and features of
the core product. Thus, we are gradually approaching an evident proposition claiming,

“The health of a brand can definitely be improved up to some extent by celebrity endorsement. But
one has to remember that endorsing a celebrity is a means to an end and not an end in itself.”

An appropriately used celebrity can prove to be a massively powerful tool that magnifies the effects of
a campaign. But the aura of cautiousness should always be there. The fact to be emphasised is that
celebrities alone do not guarantee success, as consumers nowadays understand advertising. They
know what advertising is and how it works. People realize that celebrities are being paid a lot of
money for endorsements and this knowledge makes them cynical about celebrity endorsements.

Compatibility of the celebrity’s persona with the overall brand image

A celebrity is used to impart credibility and aspirational values to a brand, but the celebrity needs to
match the product. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the
message are musts for a successful campaign. Celebrities are no doubt good at generating attention,
recall and positive attitudes towards advertising provided that they are supporting a good idea and
there is an explicit fit between them and the brand. On the other hand, they are rendered useless
when it comes to the actual efficiency of the core product, creating positive attitudes to brands,
purchase intentions and actual sales.

Certain parameters that postulate compatibility between the celebrity and brand image are:

 Celebrity’s fit with the brand image.

 Celebrity—Target audience match
 Celebrity associated values.
 Costs of acquiring the celebrity.
 Celebrity—Product match.
 Celebrity controversy risk.
 Celebrity popularity.
 Celebrity availability.
 Celebrity physical attractiveness.
 Celebrity credibility.
 Celebrity prior endorsements.
 Whether celebrity is a brand user.
 Celebrity profession.

Successful celebrity endorsements for a brand- An Indian perspective

The latter part of the '80s saw the burgeoning of a new trend in India– brands started being endorsed
by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse prominent
brands. Advertisements, featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige pressure cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan
Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings) became common.
Probably, the first ad to cash in on star power in a strategic, long-term, mission statement kind of way
was Lux soap. This brand has, perhaps as a result of this, been among the top three in the country for
much of its lifetime.

In recent times, we had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign with the objective of mitigating the
impediment that an unknown Korean brand faced in the Indian market. The objective was to garner
faster brand recognition, association and emotional unity with the target group. Star power in India
can be gauged by the successful endorsement done by Sharukh for three honchos- Pepsi, Clinic All
Clear and Santro. Similarly, when S Kumars used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advertising icon for
their launch advertising for Tamarind, they reckoned they spent 40 - 50 per cent less on media due to
the sheer impact of using Hrithik. Ad recall was as high as 70 per cent, and even the normally
conservative trade got interested.

In the Indian context, it would not be presumptuous to state that celebrity endorsements can
aggrandize the overall brand. We have numerous examples exemplifying this claim. A standard
example here is Coke, which, till recently, didn't use stars at all internationally. In fact, India was a
first for them. The result was a ubiquitously appealing Aamir cheekily stating Thanda matlab Coca
Cola. The recall value for Nakshatra advertising is only due to the sensuous Aishwarya. The Parker pen
brand, which by itself commands equity, used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India.
According to Pooja Jain, Director, Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd (LWIL), post Bachchan, Parker's sales
have increased by about 30 per cent.

India is one country, which has always idolized the stars of the celluloid world. 
Therefore it makes tremendous sense for a brand to procure a celebrity for its endorsement. In India
there is an exponential potential for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant,
thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product. This would especially prove true if the
endorser and the category are a natural lifestyle fit like sportspersons and footwear, Kapil-Sachin and
Boost or film stars and beauty products.

Some Global Examples:

Globally, firms have been juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers. Some
successful ongoing global endorsements are as follows:

 Celebrity endorsements have been the bedrock of Pepsi's advertising. Over the years, Pepsi
has used and continues to use a number of celebrities for general market and targeted
advertising, including Shaquille O'Neal, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, and Busta Rhymes, who did
a targeted campaign for their Mountain Dew product.
 George Foreman for Meineke. He has also sold more than 10 million Lean Mean Fat-- Reducing
Grilling Machines since signing with the manufacturing company.
 James Earl Jones for Verizon and CNN.
 Nike golf balls, since the company signed Tiger Woods in 1996, have seen a $50 million
revenue growth. Nike's golf line grossed more than $250 million in annual sales. In 2000 he
renegotiated a five-year contract estimated at $125 million.
 Other successful endorsements like Nike—Michael Jordan, Dunlop—John McEnroe, Adidas—
Prince Naseem Hamed, and so on.
 Venus Williams, tennis player and Wimbledon champion has signed a five-year $40 million
contract with sportswear manufacturer Reebok International Inc.

Advantages of a celebrity endorsing a Brand

Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in products
or services, more and more brands are 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. Witness the
spectacular rise of Sania Mirza and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of a few months. The
accruement of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the following advantages that are bestowed
on the overall brand:

 Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that
brand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products. We had the
Shah Rukh-Santro campaign. At launch, Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Santro and this ensured
that brand awareness was created in a market, which did not even know the brand.
 Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of
advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.
 PR coverage : is another reason for using celebrities. Managers perceive celebrities as
topical, which create high PR coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity campaigns is
one of the World’s leading pop groups, the Spice Girls, who have not only appeared in
advertisements for Pepsi, but also in product launching and PR events. Indeed, celebrity-
company marriages are covered by most media from television to newspapers (e.g. The Spice
Girls and Pepsi)
 Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the personalities of the celebrity with
the brand thereby increasing the recall value. Golf champion Tiger Woods has endorsed
American Express, Rolex, and Nike. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is used by T-Mobile and
Elizabeth Arden. 007 Pierce Brosnan promotes Omega, BMW, and Noreico.
 Associative Benefit: A celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message -
because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.
 Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the consumer's confidence
in its chocolate brands following the high-pitch worms controversy; so the company appointed
Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last year, when the even more controversial pesticide issue
shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both soft drink majors
put out high-profile damage control ad films featuring their best and most expensive
celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fightback as an ingenious and fastidious Bengali
who finally gets convinced of the product's `purity,' PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and
Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a television commercial which drew references to the
`safety' of the product indirectly.
 Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use
stars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.
 Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments
(age, gender, class, geography etc.).
 Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to
generate interest among the masses.
 Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant
chyawanprash category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in
Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore.
 Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas.

Disadvantages of a celebrity endorsing a brand:

The celebrity approach has a few serious risks:

 1. The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after he/she has endorsed the product:
Pepsi Cola's suffered with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael
Jackson. Since the behaviour of the celebrities reflects on the brand, celebrity endorsers may
at times become liabilities to the brands they endorse.
2. The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of a celebrity overshadowing the
brand. If there is no congruency between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will
remember the celebrity and not the brand. Examples are the campaigns of Dawn French—
Cable Association and Leonard Rossiter—Cinzano. Both of these campaigns were aborted due
to celebrities getting in the way of effective communication. Another example could be the
Castrol commercial featuring Rahul Dravid.
3. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity: The celebrity may lose his
or her popularity due to some lapse in professional performances. For example, when
Tendulkar went through a prolonged lean patch recently, the inevitable question that cropped
up in corporate circles - is he actually worth it? The 2003 Cricket World Cup also threw up the
Shane Warne incident, which caught Pepsi off guard. With the Australian cricketer testing
positive for consuming banned substances and his subsequent withdrawal from the event,
bang in the middle of the event, PepsiCo - the presenting sponsor of the World Cup 2003 -
found itself on an uneasy wicket
4. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to overexposure: The
novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he does too many advertisements. This may
be termed as commoditisation of celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big bucks.
Example, MRF was among the early sponsors of Tendulkar with its logo emblazoned on his
bat. But now Tendulkar endorses a myriad brands and the novelty of the Tendulkar-MRF
campaign has scaled down.
5. Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another (competitor): Sainsbury’s
encountered a problem with Catherina Zeta Jones, whom the company used for its recipe
advertisements, when she was caught shopping in Tesco. A similar case happened with
Britney Spears who endorsed one cola brand and was repeatedly caught drinking another
brand of cola on tape.
6. Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the brand: Celebrities manifest a
certain persona for the audience. It is of paramount importance that there is an egalitarian
congruency between the persona of the celebrity and the image of the brand. Each celebrity
portrays a broad range of meanings, involving a specific personality and lifestyle. Madonna,
for example, is perceived as a tough, intense and modern women associated with the lower
middle class. The personality of Pierce Brosnan is best characterized as the perfect gentlemen,
whereas Jennifer Aniston has the image of the ‘good girl from next door’.

CONCLUSION

Despite the obvious economic advantage of using relatively unknown personalities as endorsers in
advertising campaigns, the choice of celebrities to fulfill that role has become common practice for
brands competing in today's cluttered media environment. There are several reasons for such
extensive use of celebrities. Because of their high profile, celebrities may help advertisements stand
out from the surrounding clutter, thus improving their communicative ability. Celebrities may also
generate extensive PR leverage for brands. For example, when Revlon launched the "Won't kiss off
test" for its Colorstay lipsticks in 1994 with Cindy Crawford kissing reporters, the campaign featured
on almost every major news channel and equally widely in the press. A brief assessment of the
current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsementadvertising strategies can, under the
right circumstances, indeed justify the high costs associated with this form of advertising.

But it would be presumptuous to consider celebrity endorsement as a panacea for all barricades.
Celebrity endorsement if used effectively, makes the brand stand out, galvanizes brand recall and
facilitates instant awareness. To achieve this, the marketer needs to be really disciplined in choice of a
celebrity. Hence the right use of celebrity can escalate the Unique Selling Proposition of a brand to
new heights; but a cursory orientation of a celebrity with a brand may prove to be claustrophobic for
the brand. A celebrity is a means to an end, and not an end in himself/herself.

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