Celebrity Endorsement - An Effective Tool for Building Brands?
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Authors
Authors: Sadhu Ramakrishna & A Santhosh Reddy
Research Associate, Research Associate,
ICMR (IBS Center for Management Research).
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Abstract: The article focuses on celebrity endorsement and its use by marketers. It also explains the problems that marketers face when they do not choose the right celebrity for their brands.
Introduction
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Celebrity endorsements pull in hundreds of crores every year, and are widely preferred by marketers to promote their products. Using celebrities for endorsing brands has become a trend for building the brands as well as the company's image. Who are these celebrities? And what does celebrity endorsement mean? A celebrity is a person who is well recognized by the public, and has a reputation for his/her expertise in his/her chosen silos. Sports persons and film stars fit the bill perfectly. Promotion of a company's products through these celebrities is termed as celebrity endorsement. The company makes use of the celebrity's characteristics and qualities to establish an analogy with the products specialties with an aim to position them in the minds of the target consumers. Celebrity endorsement, thus, is one of the powerful tools adopted by companies/marketers to consolidate their brand(s) in the crowded marketplace. Consumers prefer to own a brand that has a good reputation, and when someone like a famous film star or a sport star is associated with that particular brand, it is obvious that the consumers will get attracted to it, because the consumer wants to maintain some status, and feels that using a brand promoted by a star can satisfy that longing. |
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Why Celebrities
There is a myth that celebrity endorsement is used to give a brand advantage over its competitors. However, choosing a celebrity for this purpose requires considerable amount of calculations. There should be something common between the brand and the celebrity promoting it. Let us come to the main question as to why marketers use celebrities to promote their brands. Is there a real need to associate a celebrity with the product? Yes seems to be the resounding answer. This is because a company needs to create awareness and interest in the consumers mind when it unveils a new brand or product. To be successful, brands need to convince consumers that they carry a different image and value from other competing products. In other words, brands have to show their true personality to the potential consumer(s).
An effective way to do this is through celebrity endorsements. As MG Parmeswaran, executive director of FCB Ulka says, "As advertising professionals, we recommend celebrity endorsements when the case is justified. There are many cases where you need to use the celebrity to break out of a category clutter. At times, celebrity endorsement is used to build credibility to the brand offer." People always wish to see their favorite stars and marketers, and advertisers are quick to capitalize on such ideas. Endorsement of a product/service by a celebrity gives out the message that it is as authentic and credible as the celebrity is. The urge that people have of enjoying the same recognition and status like their favorite stars is often the main reason for the increasing use of celebrities for products/services endorsement.