YES, CELEBRITY advertising does work. After all, who does not fall for the charms of a celebrity? If Aamir Khan takes a swig from a cola drink, you and I want to do the same. Or if Aishwarya dazzles in a certain range of diamonds, we stop to think, “Maybe we’ll catch eyeballs in the neckpiece as well.” Small wonder then that marketeers are using every rule under the sun to persuade celebrities to endorse their brands. And if the effort comes at a heavy price, so be it. As Saumya Chattopadhyay, Head, Strategic Planning, Rediffusion Y&R, explains, “We want to connect with the brand because in our sub-conscious minds we want to adopt the same values that celebrities represent.” What’s interesting is the fact that not only are FMCGs pushing their brand messages across through celebrities but even real estate companies have jumped onto the bandwagon or should we say brandwagon! Today it’s either Yuvraj Singh or M.S. Dhoni who are luring potential home owners with their brand value. However, there are certain principles that need to be followed while choosing a celebrity, observes A. Seksaria, Planning Associate, Rediffusion Y&R. The first is, of course compatibility. The celebrity needs to represent the same values that a brand stands for. There must be a compatibility factor working between the duo otherwise the campaign will fall flat on its face. “Yes, both the brand and the celebrity need to have credibility. If both are low on that count, it may have a negative impact. An example could be that of Tiger Woods endorsing a product.”
The trend of a celebrity signing off a product began in the eighties. Everybody remembers Jalal Agha fishing out a string of mouth fresheners — Pan Parag — from his pocket or Tabassum waxing eloquent about the Prestige pressure cooker. “I remember Kapil Dev smiling and rubbing his hand on his freshly shaven chin and saying that there was nothing in the world like Palmolive shaving cream,” says Chattopadhyay. But these efforts were more sporadic and did not have a long-term impact. Perhaps the first advertisement to cash in on star power on a long term basis was Lux soap — something that swung it to the top tier in the country. And when Shah Rukh Khan was seen driving a Santro, it was seen more as an effort by a Korean brand to establish their presence in a foreign market. Hrithik Roshan too, did wonders for the flagging suit brand — S Kumars, and market surveys point out that brand recall zoomed to the magical figure of 70 per cent.
It’s not just India alone where you get to see celebrities recommending products. Globally too certain firms are doing the same. Pepsi, for instance, has been depending on stars like Mary J. Blige, Shaquille O’Neal, to make Mountain Dew fly high. CNN and Verizon also employed James Earl Jones to sell their products. And when Nike golf balls signed Tiger Woods way back in 1996, the company saw revenues going through the roof.
“But there are certain pitfalls to this as well. When the celebrity is caught on the wrong foot, he or she can do more damage to a product than good,” cautions Seksaria.
All said and done, it definitely makes sense for a brand to get hold of a celebrity and notch up sales a few tags. In India, in particular, there is a lot of potential for celebrity endorsement. After all, if it motivates customers to go in for the product, why should a brand not trade off on the goodwill or status symbol of the celebrity concerned?

The writer is a well-known industry watcher