Michael Jordan is Nike's "Air" and Pierce Brosnan is Omega's "Seamaster." Is this really true?
India is witnessing an era of competition that its industries never imagined. Consequently, one of the most noticeable trends over the last five years has been the plethora of celebrity endorsements. Across product categories, from toiletries to telecom, hi-fi's to hotels, ready-mades to razor blades, everyone seems to use a "Brand Ambassador" to sell their products. If we take a look at the set of brand ambassadors who have been contracted so far, they are all either from the world of film or cricket.
Being a brand ambassador can be very tricky because you have to maintain a good image. They have to make sure that they won’t do something stupid that can tarnish the image of the company. There have been instances in which some celebrity endorsers have been kicked out of the advertising campaign because of a bad thing that they did. Of course, companies are paying a lot of money to hire celebrities to be the face of their campaign. The least thing that a celebrity can do is to maintain a clean image.
Our most celebrated cricket icon), Sachin Tendulkar endorses everything from Tyres to Pepsi, Visa, Adidas, stock trading portals and music systems. But the question is "Will the real Tendulkar really uses it?" Can he really be all of these?
This brings us immediately to the term "endorsement." By definition we must be endorsing some trait or character of the brand. Theoretically, anybody can endorse anything if he carries credibility. After all celebrities are who they are for a strong streak they possess. So, James Bond is dashing, Michael Jordan breaks limits and Andre Agassi doesn't give up. By this logic, could we ever visualize Sean Connery endorsing the Rolls-Royce or John McEnroe as a brand ambassador for the Four Seasons?
Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating a ban on celebrity endorsement. Because celebrities can catalyze brand acceptance and provide the enormous momentum that brands require. However, as the term suggests, they must endorse something. And that something must be intrinsic to the brand. But for celebrity endorsements to work, they should work on some fundamental ground rules:
a)clarity on the brand promise (What am I?) and the brand personality (Who am I?)
b) create consensus among the brand team on what the communication objectives for the campaign are
c) focus single-mindedly on the characteristics the chosen celebrity should possess, in order to provide synergy with the brand to be advertised
d) overtly establish what the celebrity is going to communicate.
Once these criteria are met, endorsements can work as a force multiplier. On the flip side, the greatest danger is that because celebrities already carry a strong brand character, a mismatch could be counterproductive to the brand. It is very tempting to be carried away by the short-term exposure and interest that an endorsement could generate.
As you can see, the world of branding has changed significantly in past years. While there are still some companies that opt to use ordinary people to star in their campaign, most major brands prefer to use celebrities. This is their way of preserving status and prestige in the competitive world of business.
Being a brand ambassador can be very tricky because you have to maintain a good image. They have to make sure that they won’t do something stupid that can tarnish the image of the company. There have been instances in which some celebrity endorsers have been kicked out of the advertising campaign because of a bad thing that they did. Of course, companies are paying a lot of money to hire celebrities to be the face of their campaign. The least thing that a celebrity can do is to maintain a clean image.
Our most celebrated cricket icon), Sachin Tendulkar endorses everything from Tyres to Pepsi, Visa, Adidas, stock trading portals and music systems. But the question is "Will the real Tendulkar really uses it?" Can he really be all of these?
Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating a ban on celebrity endorsement. Because celebrities can catalyze brand acceptance and provide the enormous momentum that brands require. However, as the term suggests, they must endorse something. And that something must be intrinsic to the brand. But for celebrity endorsements to work, they should work on some fundamental ground rules:
a)clarity on the brand promise (What am I?) and the brand personality (Who am I?)
b) create consensus among the brand team on what the communication objectives for the campaign are
c) focus single-mindedly on the characteristics the chosen celebrity should possess, in order to provide synergy with the brand to be advertised
d) overtly establish what the celebrity is going to communicate.
Once these criteria are met, endorsements can work as a force multiplier. On the flip side, the greatest danger is that because celebrities already carry a strong brand character, a mismatch could be counterproductive to the brand. It is very tempting to be carried away by the short-term exposure and interest that an endorsement could generate.
As you can see, the world of branding has changed significantly in past years. While there are still some companies that opt to use ordinary people to star in their campaign, most major brands prefer to use celebrities. This is their way of preserving status and prestige in the competitive world of business.
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