Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Overall Brand

By
Sanyukta A. Kulkarni
Sahir U. Gaulkar
PGDBM1 2005-07
Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research
L. Napoo Road, Matunga (CR), Mumbai–400 019
E-mail: kulkarnisanyukta@yahoo.com / sahirgaulkar@yahoo.com
 

Synopsis

Today 'Celebrity Endorsement' has attracted immense debate on whether it really contributes to the brand building
process or whether it is just another lazy tool to make the brand more visible in the minds of the consumers.
Although it has been observed that the presence of a well-known personality helps in solving the problem of over-
communication that is becoming more prominent these days, there are few undesirable impacts of this practice on
the brand. The theories like 'Source Credibility Theory, Source Attractiveness Theory and Meaning Transfer Theory'
provide a basis on which the methodology of celebrity endorsement works and also explains how the process of the
celebrity endorsement influences the minds of the consumers. Firms invest huge amounts as advertising
expenditure for hiring the right celebrity. However there lies uncertainty with respect to the returns that the
company might be able to garner for the brand. The issue of matching the values of the celebrity with the brand
values is also very important, i.e. getting the right celebrity to endorse the right brand. Consumers perceive the
brand as having superior quality because it has been endorsed by a credible source. This makes endorsement as one
of the indictors of quality for any brand. Corporate credibility along with endorser credibility plays a significant role
in the attitude of the consumer towards the brand and the advertisement respectively. On the other hand, the over
popularity of the celebrity sometimes overshadows the brand. If the celebrity is involved in multiple endorsements,
it tends to create confusion among consumers and hence negatively affects the perception of the advertisement and
the brand. Hence, to say clearly whether the practice of celebrity endorsement impacts positively or negatively to
the brand still remains a debate.

Introduction

The society that we live in can not only be called secular or democratic, it should be more appropriately termed as
over-communicated these days. A typical super-market in USA displays more than 12000 brands, an American family
has at least one television set and a consumer is exposed to around 1000 ads per day1. Likewise, there are around
130 television channels in India broadcasting over 3 million television commercials each year in India. The media-
explosion can thus be easily demonstrated. More over, people forget 80% of the information in just 24 hours! Just
imagine the plight of the marketer to make his brand shout over the deafening clutter of all the brands! Some where
in the 80's, Indian marketers found the solution, 'Celebrity Endorsement' for the brand!

Firms endorse celebrity for a variety of reasons. It might be the life experience of the celebrity that fits the
advertising message or the endorser's high appeal with the firm's consumer target group. Studies associated with
the market effect of celebrity endorsement suggest that consumers positively value the use of celebrity endorsers in
the advertisements. Firms invest significant money in putting together brands and organisations with endorser
qualities such as attractiveness, likeability, and trustworthiness. But today's dynamic market conditions make these
investments unviable. In this paper we are attempting to discuss the positive and negative effects of celebrity
endorsement with few examples.

History

Celebrities are involved in endorsing activities since late nineteenth century2. 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 models3. One of the first sports endorsements in India was when
Farokh Engineer became the first Indian cricketer to model for Bryl cream. The Indian cricket team now earns
roughly Rs. 100 crore through endorsements. 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).

Mechanism and Theories of Celebrity Endorsement

Celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamour and the hope that a famous face will provide added appeal
and name recognition in a crowded market. In the battle for the mind, you get the customer excited by showing him
a known face, and an effective demand is created. In short it helps increase the recall value of the brand. A piece of
research states that the target audience age group of 15-30 gets influenced first by cricketers, then Bollywood stars
and only then music, festivals and food4.

According to Source Credibility Theory5, acceptance of the message depends on 'Expertness' and Trustworthiness'
of the source. Expertness is defined as the perceived ability of the source to make valid assertions. Trustworthiness
is defined as the perceived willingness of the source to make valid assertions. Audience acceptance increases with
the expertness of the source and the ability of the audience to evaluate the product.

According to Source Attractiveness Theory, which is based on social psychological research, the acceptance of the
message depends on familiarity, likeability and similarity. Familiarity is the audience's knowledge of the source
through exposure; likeability is the affection for the source's physical appearance and behavior while similarity is the
resemblance between source and receiver. This theory explains the message acceptance in two ways: Identification
and Conditioning. Identification is when the receiver or the target audience of the communication begins to identify
with the source's attractiveness, and hence tends to accept his opinions, beliefs, habits, attitudes etc. On
identification, a quote from Bijou Kurien, COO, Titan, "We decided on Aamir because we wanted someone who is a
biticonic, who is style-conscious himself, and somebody who cuts across both sex and age group, between urban
and rural India. A celebrity who is mouldable and who is not over-exposed". Conditioning is when the attractiveness
of the source is supposed to pass on to the brand after regular association of the source with the brand.

Grant McCracken6 has criticized the previous two theories and proposed the Meaning Transfer Theory. The theory
explains that a celebrity encodes a unique set of meanings which if well used can be transferred to the endorsed
product. Such a transfer takes place in three stages – encoding meanings, meaning transfer, meaning capture
(Figure 1). 

I. Encoding Meanings: Each celebrity has a unique set of meanings, which can be listed by age, gender, race, wealth,
personality or lifestyle. In this way, the celebrities encode a set of meanings in their image. For example Preity Zinta
can be seen as a lively, charming, bubbly, witty and enthusiastic. 

II. Meaning Transfer: This stage transfers those meanings to the product. When skillfully portrayed, celebrities can
communicate this image more powerfully than lay endorsers.

III. Meaning Capture: This assumes that consumers purchase products not merely for their functional value but also
for their cultural and symbolic value. The theory says that consumers buy the endorsed product with the intention
of capturing some of the desirable meanings with which celebrities have passed on to the product. This is more
eminent in lifestyle products like clothes, perfumes, cell phones etc.

Discussion

Does celebrity endorsement really work? Theoretically yes, because the qualities associated with the endorser are
associated with the brand and the brand therefore remains at the top of the consumer's mind. However one needs
to realize that the impact of an endorser cannot be sustainable in all product categories and in all the stages of
brand life cycles. It really depends upon the type of product. If it is a 'functional brand', then the product itself is the
hero. Here any celebrity association with the brand without corresponding performance of the product will not be
sustainable. While incase of 'image brands', like the categories of soaps, soft drinks, cigarettes etc., where it is
difficult to distinguish between the products, celebrity endorsements help to distinguish between the brands at an
emotional level. A research conducted by Synovate7, a global market research firm, revealed that 47% people would
be more likely to buy a brand that was endorsed by their favorite celebrity.

Pepsi Co. has used a variety of celebrities including Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena
Kapoor, Rahul Khanna, Fardeen Khan, Sachin Tendulkar etc. Amongst advertisements featuring celebrities, Pepsi
tops the heap with the highest recall of 70%, while arch rival Coke is lower across all markets with 52% recall. This
proves that Pepsi has really exploited the use of celebrities in their advertisements and has worked8.
Hindustan Lever's 'Lux' soap in India has been using popular film actresses to endorse the soap since its launch four
decades ago implying that they owe their stunning looks to the brand. This consistent message hence reinforces the
brand values and has been successfully able to position the soap rightly as the 'beauty soap'9 .

It would be difficult to judge the direct effect of celebrity endorsement on the sales or profits of the company. On
Amitabh Bachchan endorsing RIN, an HLL spokesperson says that it was too early to gauge the success of 'Rin' in
terms of sales and that though Dabur healthcare products' sales had improved, the increase could not be solely
attributed to him10. Similarly, there are also cases wherein there was a dramatic change in the sales figure after the
endorsements. For example Rahul Malhotra, Associate Director Marketing, P&G India quotes "Certainly, it has
helped us promote our brand 'Head & Shoulders'. Last year, we were ranked as No. 2 and this year we are market
leaders in this segment with over 45% market share".

D. Garg, Vice-President (Marketing), Dabur India Ltd quotes, "A celebrity does help in increasing brand sales, but
only if he/she is selected carefully and used effectively. The personality of the brand and the celebrity have to
complement each other and the selection of the celebrity is, therefore, very important."

Positive Impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the Brand

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 product11. Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of
advertisements and making the advertisement and the brand more noticeable. A celebrity's preference for a brand
gives out a persuasive message and hence, because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will
also benefit. There is a demographic and psychographic connection between the stars and their fans. Demographic
connection establishes that different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments i.e. age, gender,
class, geography etc., while psychographic connection establishes that stars are loved and adored by their fans.
Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest among the masses.
Another invaluable benefit from celebrity endorsements is the public relation opportunities.

Dwane Hal Dean12 studied the effects of three extrinsic advertisement cues viz. third party endorsement, event
sponsorship and brand popularity on brand / manufacturer evaluation. It was observed that endorsement
significantly affected only product variables (quality and uniqueness) and one image variable (esteem). The third
party endorsement hence may be perceived as a signal of product quality.

Goldsmith et al.13 assessed the impact of endorser and corporate credibility on attitude-toward-the-ad, attitude-
toward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. 152 adult consumers were surveyed who viewed a fictitious
advertisement for Mobil Oil Company. They rated the credibility of the ad's endorser, the credibility of the company,
and attitude-toward-the-ad (Aad), attitude-toward-the-brand (AB), and purchase intentions. It was observed that
endorser credibility had its strongest impact on Aad while corporate credibility had its strongest impact on AB. The
findings suggest that corporate credibility plays an important role in consumers' reactions to advertisements and
brands, independent of the equally important role of endorser credibility.

Looking at the effect of celebrity endorsement on the wealth of a company a classic example of Michael Jordan can
be used. At the time of rumors of Michael Jordan returning to NBA in 1995, he was endorsing products of General
Mills (Wheaties), Mc'Donalds (Quarter Pounders, Value Meals), Nike (Air Jordan), Quaker Oats (Gatorade) and Sara
Lee (Hans Underwear). Study conducted by Mathur et al.14associated with Jordan's endorsements shows that the
anticipation of Jordan's return to NBA, and the related increased visibility for him resulted in increase in the market
adjusted values of his client firms of almost 2 percent, or more than $1 bn in stock market value. From this study
one can observe that the major celebrity endorser with rumors or otherwise has a tremendous potential to
influence the profitability of endorsed products.

Semi-partial endorsement indicates that when a company uses famous characters from any TV soaps for brand
endorsements, consumers tend to relate to the character that he or she plays in the soap and hence can attract
more credibility. For example, Smriti Irani who plays 'Tulsi' in a famous soap has garnered a lot of support from the
middle-class housewife today. If she would endorse a brand, there would be more relativity and credibility. Same
can be said about Priya Tendulkar who used to play the character of Rajani.

Negative impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the brand

More often talked about is the extreme usage of a celebrity called 'lazy advertising', that is inadequate content
masked by usage of a celebrity15 . A good example is the use of Boris Becker by Siyaram and Steve Waugh by ANP
Sanmar. Also as said earlier, associating with a star, in itself does not guarantee sales. There is also the fear of Brand-
celebrity disconnect which points out that if the celebrity used represents values that conflict with the brand values,
the advertising would create conflict in the minds of the target audience.

Clutter in brand endorsements is very prominent these days and such kind of over-exposure can be bad for the
brand as the recall value drops by a huge margin. A popular drawback of celebrity endorsement is the 'Vampire
Effect' or the celebrity overshadowing the brand16. 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. For example, Air Jordan's
generated revenue sales of $130 million in the first year. The sales dropped miserably in the second year when
Jordan missed 62 games due to a broken foot18. Another main worry of the advertisers is that their celebrity
endorser would get caught in a scandal or an embarrassing situation.

Multiple product endorsement also has a negative impact on customers' purchasing intentions. Tripp et
al.19 investigated the effects of multiple product endorsement by celebrities on customers' attitudes and intentions.
They found that the number of products a celebrity endorses negatively influences consumer perception of the
endorser and the advertising itself. It was suggested that when as many as four products are endorsed, celebrity
credibility and likeability, as well as attitude towards the ad, may attenuate.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan endorses multiple brands like Pepsi, Mirinda, ICICI, BPL, Parker pens, Nerolac, Dabur,
Reid & Taylor, Maruti Versa, Hajmola, Tide, Cadbury and a few social messages. It has worked in some cases, while
in some cases it has not. D. K. Jain, Chairman and President, Luxor Writing Instruments Pvt. Ltd, the marketer of the
Parker brand said, "Using Amitabh Bachchan as our brand ambassador has helped in strengthening our brand image
and recall within the target audience". Tarun Joshi, Communications Custodian, Reid & Taylor said, "Amitabh
Bachchan is an icon with universal appeal and has helped us to reach out to the real 'Bharat.' In fact, agents and
retailers have told us that already customers have started asking about the 'Amitabh wali suiting.'" Incase of Nerolac
Paints, which was endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan, around 80% of the respondents when asked to associate
Bachchan with any paint, did so with Asian Paints, which is the biggest competitor of Nerolac20.

The budget or cost is an important factor for celebrity endorsement21. Depending on the status of the celebrity,
remuneration could run into millions of rupees for several years or may also include a profit sharing plan. For
example when S. Kumar's used Hrithik Roshan 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. Sachin's endorsements got him $18 million
over five years. When Aamir first endorsed Pepsi in 1995, he received Rs 17 lakh for it; his Coke commercials in 1999
got him Rs 2 crore. Hrithik Roshan in his highflying days reportedly made over Rs. 20 crore in endorsements and
events by 200122.

However, a number of brands have been built without celebrity endorsement. For some of their brands, Hindustan
Lever and Procter & Gamble do not believe in celebrity endorsement because they think that consumers, especially
housewives, are more likely to identify with a lay person on screen than a celebrity. Procter & Gamble launched its
'Rejoice' brand in India with testimonials from ordinary women in their TV advertising. Few more examples of this
will be Lifebuoy, Wheel, Dettol, Close Up, Fevicol etc.

Conclusion

Whether Celebrity endorsement has a positive or a negative impact on the brand is a debate that is open to
interpretation. But till the time the corporate world continues to foot fancy bills of celebrity endorsers and till
consumers continue to be in awe of the stars, the party is not likely to break up.

References

1 Positioning: A battle for mind - Jack Trout and Al Ries

2 Erdogan (1999), "Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review", Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 291-314
3 www.thedayaftertomorrow.com
4 Hindu Business Line, 2003
5 Tellis, Effective Advertising: Understanding When, How, and Why Advertising works
6 McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who is the Celebrity Endorser?" Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (December), 310-
321.
7 www.synovate.com – 2003
8 www.indiantelevision.com
9 www.magindia.com
10 Business Standard, May 13, 2005
11 www.blonnet.com
12 Dean (1999), "Brand Endorsement, popularity, and Event Sponsorship as advertising cues affecting consumer Pre
purchase attitude", Journal of Advertising, Volume XXVIII, Number 3, 1-12
13 Goldsmith, Lafferty and Newell (2000), "The Impact of Corporate Credibility and Celebrity Credibility on
Consumer Reaction to Advertisements and Brands", Journal of Advertising, Volume XXIX, number 3, 43-54
14 L. K. Marhur, I. Mathur and N. Rangan (1997) June, "The Wealth Effects Associated with a Celebrity Endorser: The
Michael Jordan Phenomena", Journal of Advertising Research, 
15 www.blonnet.com
16 B. Zafer Erdogan, Michael J. Baker and Stephen Tag (2001) June, "Selecting Celebrity Endorsers: The Practitioner's
Perspective", Journal of Advertising Research, 39-48
17 www.rediff.com – article by Country head, O&M India
18 indiainfoline.com – article 'Celebrity Endorsements in brands
19 Tripp, Jensen and Carlson (1994) March, "The Effect of Multiple Product Endorsements by Celebrities on
Consumers' Attitude and Intentions", Journal of Advertisement Research, Vol 20, 535-547
20 www.magindia.com
21 Agrawal and Kamakura (1995) July, "The Economic worth of celebrity endorsers: An event study analysis", Journal
of Marketing, Vol 59, 56-62
22 www.blonnet.com

"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:

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.

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.

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

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.

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.
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.
 Team India and their brand endorsements
“Boost is the secret of our energy” – The ads become part of our life and we
associate unconsciously brand to the player.Because of this influence for the brand, brand
marketing makes all big companies do their best to get the top brass of Team India as their
brand ambassadors.
Here is our team India’s brand endorsements :
 Sachin Tendulkar – signed as brand ambassador for Cannon until 2010.Cannon kept aside
more than 40 crores in ad spending this year in India, so guess what most of it goes to SRT.

 Ganguly -  (see picture)Nooyi’s Pepsi did not renew its contract with dada and went
for Sehwag, Dada endorsing for Puma andTata Indicom currently.
 Rahul Dravid – brand ambassador for Sansui (television and home theater systems maker)
and Max New York Life. Some of the other brands endorsed by him in are – Pepsi, Reebok and Hutch.
 Harbhajan Singh – (see picture – can you believe it is

our Bhaji)  He has endorsed brands like Reebok, Royal Stag

Whisky to name a few. Harbhajan,Yuvaraj and Dhoni got notices for liquor ads.Harbhajan Apologizes
for Letting Hair Down
 Anil Kumble – Samsung and Indian Oil.
 Virendra Sehwag – Sehwag has endorsed: Boost, Coke, Team Samsung, Britannia, Hero
Honda, Colgate, Adidas and Mayur Suitings. Now, as per the market, Sehwag’s estimated market
value is between Rs 50 and Rs 60 lakh
 Yuvraj Singh – Royal stag and SBI card.
 Mahendra Singh Dhoni -(see picture )

 Reliance
 Communications Ventures Ltd (RCoVL) and Reliance Energy,Royal Stag,Brilcream, Titan Sonata,
Orient fans, Reebok, Pepsi, Mysore Sandal soap

 Irfan Pathan – (see picture) Worth

Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) a year, endorses Gillette Vector Plus

Endorsements by Bollywood Stars are nothing new in today's market. Several Bollywood movie stars are involved in
the promotion of various products. According to the market studies, the Bollywood stars add further value to the
branding of such products. Endorsements by Bollywood Stars impress the common people and motivate them to
purchase these commodities. 

At present, different film stars are spotted in the launch sessions of several products. The appearance of the silver
screen stars in the promotional advertisements on air makes these products more appealing to the prospective
buyers. The consumers then take interests in knowing and purchasing the product. The dialogues and the punchline
in the advertisements are delivered by the stars themselves so that the consumers are further convinced about the
credibility of the commodity. Many of the actors are made brand ambassadors of various well-known international
products. 
The most popular actors engaged in product endorsements include Amitabh Bachchan promoting Parker pen,
Boroplus, Dabur, Dairy Milk, Binani cement, Eveready and Reid and Taylor. 

You can also see Shahrukh Khan endorsing Pepsi, Sunfeast biscuits, Belmonte, Airtel and Videocon; and, Saif Ali
Khan promoting Taj Mahal tea, Royale Paints, Aveo and Lays. 

Many other endorsements by Bollywood stars include those of Whirlpool, Fiesta and Motorola by Abhishek
Bachchan; Titan watches and Coke by Amir Khan; Coke, Nakshatra diamond jewelry, L'Oreal and Lux by Aishwarya
Rai; and, Godrej, Santro, Rexona, Perk, and BSNL by Preity Zinta. 

Several other Bollywood stars who feature in promotions of products are Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Zayed
Khan, Isha Koppikar, Priyanka Chopra, Sushmita Sen, Vivek Oberoi, Juhi Chawla, Hema Malini, Sonali Bendre,
Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor and Tabu. The other notable commodities which are endorsed by Bollywood actors
comprise Tata Indicom, Whirlpool, Asmi jewelry, Fanta, Munch, Mirinda, Garnier, Spice, Pantene, Babool Toothpaste,
Kurkure, Henko, Kent Mineral Water, Nirma Beauty Soap, Clinic All Clear, Lux and Tetra Pak. 

Other renowned endorsements by Bollywood stars consist of those of John Players, Sony Ericsson, Tata Sky and
Coke by Hrithik Roshan; Yamaha Motor Cycle and Clinic All Clear by John Abraham; and, Thums Up by Akshay
Kumar. 

The well-known image and fame of the Bollywood stars enhance the popularity of the products. The purchasing
behavior and the preferences of the consumers are largely molded by the Bollywood actors. The endorsements are
made more effective and impressive by certain acts and stunts of the stars. 

Bollywood stars may jostle for roles on the silver screen but they are also vying for other
lucrative deals -- company endorsements -- with celebrity branding surging in India but fears the
race is out of control.

View Full Image

Reuters

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan gestures in Mumbai

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In a rapidly expanding market, nothing makes a product stand out better than a familiar face
and Bollywoodstars can promote from 10 to 15 products a year, making $1 million plus from
each deal which can far exceed their earnings from movies or TV shows.
Take Bollywood A-lister Amitabh Bachchan, one of the country's biggest stars and the lord of
endorsements. He has endorsed everything from a premium suit brand, India's largest selling
auto brand, cement, cold cream, chocolates, to hair oil.
Shah Rukh Khan, another of the country's top leading men, endorses Tag Heuer watches,
Pepsi, a fairness cream and an hair oil.

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A recent article by magazine Open estimated these actors each earned about $30 mllion over
five years in endorsements as brand ambassadors are seen as a good way to get high visibility
in a short time in a huge, fragmented market.

But in one of the world's most competitive markets, big names are entering endorsement deals
at such a rapid pace that critics say it is almost at random, with no thought to their image or the
brand.
"Everyone just wants to make money. It's plain greed. Most Indian brand ambassadors look at it
as a business, a short term thing," said Anirban Blah of Kwan Entertainment and marketing
solutions, a firm that manages stars Ranbir Kapoor and Genelia D'souza.

There was a time when cricketers and other sports stars starting notching up deals alongside
actors but the tide has again shifted towards the stars of the big screen and television with the
country obsessed with Bollywood and glamour.

The celebrity endorsement market in India is estimated to be worth about US$185 million a year
with Bollywood stars last year accounting for 80 percent of endorsements on Indian television.

Sports stars took up just 15 percent of screen time, according to figures released by TAM Media
Research.

"The kind of reach and aspirational quality that Bollywood actors and actresses will give you is
unparalleled, especially in a cinema crazy nation like India. The minute they are associated with
a brand, they give it credibility," says Rajnish Sahay, CEO of Percept Talent Management.
FEARS OVER CREDIBILITY

But brand consultants are starting to voice concerns that the rush to sign deals has become
indiscriminate and, unlike in Hollywood, the stars are not really concerned about which products
they are backing.
Kiran Khalap, co-founder of brand consultancy chlorophyll, said this practice could be
"disastrous to the entire string of brands they are associated with," and end up hurting both the
brand and the star.

"The more reckless (brand ambassadors) are in signing up, the faster they are sending the
signal that they do not really stand for anything! They have no central belief in life," said Khalap.

Bachchan, 67, took on the role of brand ambassador for Gujarat this year not foreseeing a
controversy.

But several groups, including sections of ruling Congress party, questioned Bachchan's
association with Gujarat's right-wing Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is accused of turning a
blind eye to the 2002 riots in the state.

Blah said he now advises his clients to associate themselves with brands that may not be as
promiment but are aspirational while companies are adding clauses into contracts that take into
account behaviour and extraordinary circumstances.
He cited actor Aamir Khan who is known to be extremely involved in his advertisements and is a
rare example of a Bollywood star who has planned his brand image down to a tee.

Khan, star of the hit comedy "3 Idiots," broke the record for a celebrity endorsement earlier this
year when he landed a Rs 300-350 million (US$6.5-$7.6 million) a year deal with Etisalat, the
UAE telecoms giant, which has just entered the Indian market.

Most other Bollywood stars can bank about Rs 80-100 million (US$1.7-$2.2 million) a year for
each endorsements.

Advertising guru Prahlad Kakkar said it was the brands' fault if they rushed to get a celebrity
name that did not necessarily fit the product.
"Ultimately, it is the brand that suffers. But we are too lazy to think about brand values, whether
a certain celebrity will suit those values or not, and the same goes for the endorser as well," he
said.