With Sachin and Saurav, Amitabh and Preity Zinta appearing in too many ads to make any material difference to the brands they endorse, advertisers are signing on an entirely new class of celebrity.
It's about time, coz study after study shows that celebrity endorsements are becoming increasingly ineffective, although this varies across cultures and target groups.
Certainly, young people are becoming increasingly indifferent to a "I use this soap, so should you" kind of endorsement in India as well. The connect has to happen at a deeper much level.
New endorsers
Coke has just announced that it is signing up Jassi, Rajyavardhan Rathore to endorse the brand in India. This is the first time the brand is moving out of the Bollywood-cricket celebrity circuit.
"Both Singh and Rathore are seen as achievers, as go-getters in real life. They have stepped out of the shadows of anonymity to fame by the sheer dint of their hard work, " said Vikas Gupta, V-P Marketing, Coca-Cola, speaking to the TOI.
Hmm. So, the age of the Underdog is here. Even Abhishek Bacchhan, the current superhero, darling of the masses is all the more loved for the fact that he had to struggle through flop after flop before finally making an impact.
Then, there was Iqbal.
But, there is a thin line between being a loser, and an underdog.
Losers whine, while underdogs eventually shine
Losers blame the world for their problems, while underdogs try to see the problems in themselves, as well.
Losers are victims of their circumstances, underdogs overcome them
In that context, it's hard to understand how both Jassi and Rathore qualify as "go-getters". Jassi is a fictional characer. Mona Singh is playing a role - she herself was a successful model before getting into acting.
The old Jassi was an underdog. The new Jassi is a loser.
And Rathore - India's only individual silver medallist at the Olympics - is really in a class of his own!
What next: Pepsi and Abhijeet Sawant?
Finally, we move away from the controversies. Frankly, the whole thing was getting a little too messy for my comprehension. This post, on the other hand, is lighter on the brain, and that is not meant in a demeaning way. As for the Cricket Stars endorsements becoming ineffective in promoting sales of the products they endorse, it's pretty obvious that their clout directly depends on how well the Indian Cricket team is doing at this point. And we all know it isnt exactly "perfect".
ReplyDeleteregards,
Kiran
Dear Rashmi,
ReplyDeleteI have been a regular reader of your blog since the last few months.I have even taged your blog to all 3 of my blogsites.
Till date I restrained myself from posting any comments on your blogs,I guess nothing is as pleasurable as reading something insightful an incisive.
But unfortunately for the past few weeks i lost my interest in your blogs cause the whole mess on IIPM was rather uncouth and undesirable ...It was one of those wars of words which made all of us look silly and rather stupid.
I don't know who gained out of all this, but i must tell that if at all your blog would have continued the controversy any longer I am sure you would have gained in terms on hits per post but unfortunately you may have ended up losing some serious loyal readers .
Guess its time we understand that no individual or communication medium is powerful enough to tarnish the image of any reputed instituion worth its salt.I request you to use your creative skills to enlighten us with your real intellectual flavour and continue the good work.
My Best Wishes to You......Keep Blogging but try to avoid sensitive issues....
And what about this Boman Irani guy? He comes in almost all ads these days...atleast 10-12 I can say...I donno if he really is that effective, beyond any other celebrity! But yeah roping in persons who are winners in other fields is a very welcome move by the ad community.
ReplyDeleteuhuh..coke and saurav.. the prince fights back!! :)
ReplyDeleteI AM GLAD RASHMI THAT U ARE BACK ....PLEASE REMEMBER I SUPPORT U IN WATEVER U DO.
ReplyDeleteNOW THERE IS A TUG OF WAR BETWEEN ABHISHEK AND ABRAHAM FOR ENDORSEMENT DEALS , AS BOTH ARE HOT COMMODITIES IN THE MARKET.
BUT I THINK HUTCH DID THE TRICK BY HAVING IRFAAN TO ENDORSE THERE PRODUCT, THAT WAS INNOVATIVE AND ABOVE ALL USING HIS VOICE AND LOOKS , RATHER THAN OOZE OR OOMPH IS WAT I LIKE ABOUT THE ADD.
WITH BRAND SOURAV,SACHIN DOWN AND OUT.
AB AND SRK BEING PLASTERED ON ALMOST EVERYTHING ON EARTH.
.............THIS HAD TO HAPPEN.
MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES IS THE MANTRA FOR AD WORLD.......
liked the comparision between losers and underdogs.
ReplyDeletedont watch jassi now so cant comment.
its a pity but names do make a difference, especially when they could be pesticide water:)
wht do u think bout "blog marketing"?
ReplyDeletehi read u r blog i think qazi of fame gurukul might also bag some offers
ReplyDeletegood to see life beyond the iipm controversy!!
ReplyDeletebtw, i was just wondering, with jordan quitting the F1 circuit this year, what would happen to brand 'Narain Karthikeyan'? What happens to his many adverts on TV and more importantly to his future as a formula 1 driver?
Viewers like me still judge an ad by its concept like the creative ones by Fevicol and another whatchamacallit chocolate brand which I don't happen to recollect right now. I'm guessing there are others similar to me, for me it's really not a difference if a celebrity endorses in few ads or many.
ReplyDeleteI guess - endorse advertising is losing its efficacy any ways. As awareness levels among Indian consumers rise and real life heroes decline (if there are still some left) we shall see fewer Indians buying or believing in brands endorsed by anybody, be they "go-getters", "underdogs", "Losers" or for that matter a "no-one". A very narrow line of products/services will find buyers due to endorsement.
ReplyDelete....For want of creativity... At least a celebrity gives an excuse for the lack of creativity that we see in indian Commercials. Well, talking about commercials and endorsements, endorsements seem to work well,if a certain exclusivity is linked between the celebrity and the brand a la Nike and Jordan.. But when the same celebrity endorses many brands we only remmeber the celebrity and not the brands. But when a Brand gets to sign a celebrity, they happen to do some commercials... making up for the lack in creativity,,,tony
ReplyDeleteAdvertisements directly or indirectly do influence your purchase decisions. Atleast they can bring a brand to consideration set which is good enough. Now the point is whether celebrity endorsements help or not. Again its not celebrity per se but the creativity which matters. The second thing which matters is current awareness of the brand. Pepsi and Coke can bring in any celebrity, its going to help them as their current brand awareness is very good. Coke gained a lot from Aamir khan. It was mixture of both the factors..
ReplyDeleteBut look at Berger Paints. When they brought Amitabh bacchan as their brand ambassador, according to a study, junta thought he is promoting Asian paints :) .. What a waste!!! You spend money and your competitor gains from it..
Other point.. you might have a very nice entertaining ad.. Everyone will laugh ... remember the ad.. but no one will remember the product.. so it wont even get into consideration set..
So my take will be that.. you need to creative but brand should not get lost in creativity .. you need to be careful if your competitors brand is already strong..