In India celebrity advertising is being used across the entire spectrum of products and services that people use it in their day-to-day lives. Today, it is nearly impossible to witness an ad break without having a celebrity endorsing some product. Colgate toothpaste, Lux soap, Pepsi, Airtel, Mayur suiting, LG refrigerators, Chevrolet Aveo, etc. – across categories - are using celebrities to endorse their products. India is still a growing economy and the competition between players is quite intense. With products being more-or-less at par, marketers are jostling to snatch the customer at the time of purchase. Different categories use celebrities for a variety of purposes. In the case of most FMCG products, the usage of celebrities is more from a saliency building perspective with the added benefit that celebrities are able to build an instant connect with the target audience. In certain categories with no history of celebrity advertising, the usage of one by a brand could help to differentiate the brand from competitors. When Palmolive used Kapil Dev in the 1980s, the first of its kind in the category, his line ‘Palmolive da jawab nahin’ became an instant hit and is remembered even today.
The thing with celebrity advertising is that the role they play if different for different categories. And so, in the case of FMCG products the role of celebrities is quite different from what it is when it comes to durables or lifestyle products. As we go up the value chain towards durables and automobiles, the brand used by celebrities does impact the perceptions of that brand. So, when a Shahrukh Khan sports a Tag Heuer, it connotes certain imagery and provides a certain asprational value for the brand. And in public, it would be inappropriate to witness him wearing any other brand. That is reason why marketers insist that celebrities use the products they endorse in public as well. This does have a positive rub-off on the perception of the brand and the final purchase. Thus, apart from generating saliency and connect, the celebrity is able to send across a brand message fast. The same is true for automobile advertising where celebrities are used.
Take for example, the use of Rani and Saif for Chevrolet Aveo. Chevrolet Aveo was launched in March 2006 at a time when the auto industry was growing rapidly and with cut-throat competition. The Chevrolet Aveo is a new generation car with class leading performance, amazing looks and style and great mileage. Hence we were looking at ambassadors who not only connected emotionally with the audience but also embodied the two dimensions of performance and aesthetics, substance and style plus class and exuberance. The search brought us to Saif and Rani, two new generation and very successful stars. They represent style, class and depth. In the roles that they have featured, they have won the hearts of millions and are well entrenched icons for the people that the campaign was addressing. Together they dramatised the superiority of Aveo over the competition and brought alive the positioning of Aveo as the embodiment of great performance and immaculate aesthetics. The brand has positively benefited as the celebrity values, category benefits and brand values were closely interlinked.
All said and done, it has to be said that the debate on celebrity advertising could go either ways. The success of celebrity advertising depends on the strength of the creative thought and the usage of the right celebrity. If the thought is weak, the chances are that the celebrity is remembered more than the brand he/she is endorsing.
