Brand Ambassadors

The Flip Side of Advertising

While flipping through the pages of a newspaper or magazine and cruising through numerous television channels advertisements are hard to miss. Harder still is to miss the celebrities gracing these ads by their presence.

In a trend that refuses to die down, celebrities are lending themselves to products and services of all sorts. There was time when the appearance of celebrities in advertisements was a rare phenomenon. When they did, it was sure to create a few ripples at least. One of the most memorable advertisements of Pepsi remains the one where Juhi Chawla emerged from a bottle of the cold drink, while Remo Fernandes played the music. There were a few products such as cold drinks and soaps such as Lux that used celebrities grabbing the consumer’s attention.

But, the scene today is quite the opposite. The once unique selling point of the advertisements has now become a routine thing. Agrees, Mr. Umesh Prasad who has worked with several advertising agencies and is also a freelance c o n s u l t a n t , " E a r l i e r c e l e b r i t y endorsement was not so rampant. It is in the past few years that this trend has caught up."

The fact hardly requires any testimony. Stars and starlets endorse an exhaustive list of products today. Amitabh Bachhan can be seen endorsing all types of products from hair oil to Cadbury’s chocolate. It is quite odd to see a star of his stature recounting the values of Navratan hair oil. Shahrukh Khan is another celebrity who is endorsing a number of products. "Such over use of the same celebrities for a wide range of products and services leads to viewer fatigue. Often the target audience remembers the advertisement but forgets the brand and the product," comments Mr. Prasad. It also erodes the brand value of a celebrity to a certain extent.

However, he also points out that celebrity endorsement works in certain cases. He further adds, “Amir Khan certainly worked for Coke. It makes sense when you use Aishwarya Rai for Nakshatra diamond jewellery, but it makes little sense when Katrina Kaif is used to promote the Royal Challengers. She hardly adds any value to the brand.” In his views, several products today in their desperation to be seen sign celebrities even if the celebrities do not help the product in any way.

The celebrities who lend their names to products are today not just the endorsers of a product but are known as brand ambassadors. Every new product that is launched today has a brand ambassador. From watches to cars, it holds true for almost all the products.

While the celebrities often provide visibility to a product, their use has a flip side too. As Mr. Prasad oints out, “If they fall in the public eyes, it rubs off on the brand. Former Indian cricketers, Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were signed for a number of products at the peak of their careers. But, after the match fixing scandal all these products gradually pulled them out of the advertisements." The celebrities are often used to provide a shock value to the product which in turn is considered a ploy to grab the consumers’ attention. Shahrukh Khan in a bath tub promoting Lux soap definitely managed to create some ripples.

According to Mr. Prasad it is advisable for the celebrities to attach themselves to the product after considering all aspects otherwise there are chances of controversial issues cropping up.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team for one day ran into such a controversy after endorsing Mysore Sandal soap. Dhoni endorsing a soap hardly made any sense. The issue heated up when the skipper of the Indian team could not keep up to his commitments. There were even rumours that he no longer wanted to endorse the product after being given the captaincy of the team as it did not go well with his image.

Anther very controversial issue attached to the celebrities is the way they i n f l u e n c e t h e p u b l i c t h ro u g h advertisements. Often the adventures they indulge in are copied by their fans which are not safe. Mr. Prasad contends that the new rules and regulations require the advertisers to provide very clearly the caution and warning statements. But, the question remains that how far are these regulations followed.

The warnings which caution the viewers about not imitating the actions of the celebrities as they are performed by trained individuals can be missed at the blink of an eye. The risk factor involved does not deter the advertisers from showing the celebrities performing daredevil adventures to save a damsel in trouble or sometimes to even save a puppy. Sometimes, these actions are not even performed by the celebrities themselves but by trained persons who act as a dummy for the celebrities.

Mr. Prasad explains that one of the most prominent reasons for the regulations often not being followed diligently is that the advertising industry is largely self regulated. He further adds, "Though there is an Advertising Agencies Association of India, where complaints can be filed, yet it is a body without tooth and cannot do much on the regulatory front. Also, censorship of advertising is rarely witnessed until an advertisement is overtly offensive."

Brand ambassadors can be an asset but they come at a cost. Using a celebrity can be a plus point for a brand but that certainly does not guarantee that the sponsors will be laughing all their way to the bank.

                                                                                                                                                                   Anumeha Verma
                                                                                                                                                          MS in Communication