PAPER M 207

PAGE 1

A INTEGRATED TERM PAPER

ON

IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON BRAND Session: 2013-2015

R.A. Podar Institute of Management,

University of Rajasthan, Jaipur Submitted By: - Submitted To:-

Rahul Bargujar

Mrs. Garima Ghiya

MBA SM IV Sem.

AcknowledgementThe beatitude, bliss & euphoria that accompany successful completion any task would not be completed without the expression of appreciation of simple virtues to the people who made it possible.

So, I take my immense pleasure in expressing a whole hearted thanks to all the faculty members who guided me all the way making this project successful.

It is my privilege to express a deep sense of gratitude and thanks to Mrs.Garima Ghiya for providing us various information directly related to project.

Date:23-06-2015

Submitted By:

Place:Jaipur Rahul BargujarPreface

The underlying aim of the seminar on contemporary issue as an integral part of MBA program is to provide the students with practical aspects of the organization working environment. Such type of presentation helps a student to visualize and realize about the congruencies between the theoretical learning in the premises of college and actual followed by the organization. It gives the knowledge of application aspect of the theories learnt in the classroom.

The seminar project in IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON BRAND is a complete experience in itself, which provide me with the understanding. This has become as inspirable of my knowledge of management being learned in MBA program.

CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Defining the Meaning & Scope of the Topic 3. Important Celebrity Attributes 4. The Need for Celebrity Endorsement 5. Why Companies Use Celebrities 6. Scope of Celebrity Endorsement 7. Impact of Celebrity Endorsement 8. Risks Associated With Celeb. Endorsement 9. Celebrity Selection 10. Celebrity Endorsement: The Issues Involved 11. Why Celebrity Endorsement Fails? 12. Conclusion IntroductionThe modern world of marketing communication has become colorful and inundated with advertisements, and it is hard to get noticed. It is an uphill task for the designer of an advertising campaign to differentiate itself from others and attract viewers attention.Everyday consumers are exposed to thousands of voices and images in magazines, newspapers, and on billboards, websites, radio and television. Every brand attempts to steal at least a fraction of an unsuspecting persons time to inform him or her of the amazing and different attributes of the product at hand. The challenge of the marketer is to find a hook that will hold the subjects attention.In helping to achieve this, use of celebrity endorsers is a widely used marcom strategy.

In this jet age, people tend to ignore all commercials and advertisements while flipping through the magazines and newspapers or viewing TV. But even then, the glamour of a celebrity seldom goes unnoticed. Thus, celebrity endorsement in advertisement and its impact on the overall brand is of great significance. In this process, the companies hire celebrities from a particular field to feature in its advertisement campaigns. The promotional features and images of the product are matched with the celebrity image, which tends to persuade a consumer to fix up his choice from a plethora of brands. Although this sounds pretty simple, but the design of such campaigns and the subsequent success in achieving the desired result calls for an in-depth understanding of the product, the brand objective, choice of a celebrity, associating the celebrity with the brand, and a framework for measuring the effectiveness.

Companies invest large sums of money to align their brands and themselves with endorsers. Such endorsers are seen as dynamic with both attractive and likeable qualities and companies plan that these qualities are transferred to products via marcom activities. Furthermore, because of their fame, celebrities serve not only to create and maintain attention but also to achieve high recall rates for marcom messages in todays highly cluttered environments.

Aristotle said, Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction. This could aptly summarize why innumerable products are endorsed by celebrities, with or without a significant need or benefit from the same.Similarly every product has an image. The consumer tries to consume a brand which has the maximum fit with his/her own personality/image. The celebrity endorser fits in between these two interactions, where he tries to bring the image of the product closer to the expectation of the consumer, by transferring some of the cultural meanings residing in his image to the product.

The model of Celebrity Endorsement, is essentially based on the theoretical framework of Classical Conditioning given by Pavlov.Upfront, this seems like a very effective weapon in mature and saturated markets, which differentiates products from those of the competitors by clearing the clutter and reaching the consumer. But is the impact so significant, or are the celebrities themselves adding to the clutter?

Through this paper we primarily try to evaluate the impact of any celebrity endorsement campaign on the brand by analyzing it through our Impact-Analysis Framework consisting of - brand, consumer and the celebrity as well as the interactions between the Consumer - Endorser and Brand - Endorser.Defining the Meaning & Scope of the Topic

Branding & Celebrity Endorsement

Today, use of celebrities as part of marketing communication strategy is fairly common practice for major firms in supporting corporate or brand imagery.

What is a Brand?Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, once said, Our most valuable assets are our intangible assets. The intangible asset he was referring to is a brand. The Dictionary of Business & Management defines a brand as: a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitor.

Definition of CelebritiesCelebrities are people who enjoy specific public recognition by a large number of certain groups of people. They have some characteristic attributes like attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle or special skills that are not commonly observed. Thus, it can be said that within a society, celebrities generally differ from the common people and enjoy a high degree of public awareness.

According to Friedman and Friedman, a celebrity endorser is an individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed. Compared to other endorser types, famous people always attach a greater degree of attention, recall and loyalty.

According to Melissa St. James, a doctoral fellow and marketing instructor at The George Washington University, Studies show that using celebrities can increase consumers awareness of the ad, capture [their] attention and make ads more memorable.In this age of intense competition, where capturing a position in the consumers mind space is extremely tough, celebrity endorsements give an extra edge to the companies for holding the viewers attention. Celebrities can catalyze brand acceptance and provide the enormous momentum that brands require by endorsing the intrinsic value to the brand.

The term Celebrity refers to an individual who is known to the public (actor, sports figure, entertainer, etc.) for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed (Friedman and Friedman, 1979). This is true for classic forms of celebrities.

Like actors (e.g., Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai,, Preity Zinta, Aamir Khan and Pierce Brosnan). Models (e.g., Mallaika Arora, Milind Soman, Naomi Campbell, , etc),Television Personalities (Husain, Smriti Irani), Sports figures (e.g., Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, Anna Kournikova, Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods, etc), Entertainers (e.g., Cyrus Broacha, Oprah Winfrey,),And pop-stars (e.g., Madonna, Shakira).

But also for less obvious groups like businessmen (e.g., Vijay Mallya, Bill Gates) or politicians.Clebrities appear in public in different ways. First, they appear in public when fulfilling their profession, e.g., Vishwanathan Anand, who plays chess in front of an audience. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending special celebrity events, e.g., award ceremonies, inaugurations or world premieres of movies. In addition, they are present in news, fashion magazines, and tabloids, which provide second source information on events and the private life of celebrities through mass-media channels (e.g., Smriti Irani being regularly featured in various publications). Last but not least, celebrities act as spokes-people in advertising to promote products and services, which is referred to celebrity endorsement.Important Celebrity AttributesWhile selecting a celebrity as endorser, the company has to decide the promotional objective of the brand and how far the celebrity image matches with it. The selection is in fact a collaboration, from which both the company and the celebrity gains.

The most important attribute for a celebrity endorser is the trustworthiness. The target audience must trust that a celebrity carries a particular image and it must match with the product.

The second attribute in order of importance is likeability. The celebrity also must be accepted as a popular icon by a large cross section of the audience.

Similarity between the target audience and the celebrity is the third important attribute. A person well-known in a society can have greater impact than a celebrity of a different world. If the endorser and receiver have similar needs, goals, interests and lifestyles, the position advocated by the brand communication is better understood and received. Similarity is also used to create a situation where the consumer feels empathy for the person shown in the commercial. The bond of similarity between the endorser and the receiver increases the level of persuasiveness.

Apart from that, expertise is also believed to be another important attribute.

Definition of Celebrity EndorsementAccording to Friedman & Friedman, a celebrity endorser is an individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed. So, in the Coco-Cola advertisement; actor Amir Khan is the celebrity endorser for the product or brand called Coke, and this process is referred to as Celebrity Endorsement. Celebrities might endorse as a brand ambassador or a brand face.

Difference Between Brand Ambassador & Brand FaceA Brand Ambassador would be one who is not only a spokesperson for the brand or is just appearing as a testimonial for the brands benefits. He/she is an integral part of the brand persona and helps to build an emotionale, which goes beyond just appearing on TV commercials.

He takes up the cause of a Brand Champion and is associated with every aspect related with the brand. What is more, there is a significant difference between making just an endorsement for say, a shampoo or an automobile, and being that brands alter ego. Both parties take the latter far more seriously to the deal. So a brand ambassador would be involved in press releases, he/she would be actively participating in any sales promotion, sporting the Brand all the while. For example, Fardeen Khan is the brand ambassador for Provogue while he remains a brand face for Lux Body Wash.

On the other hand, a Brand Face would be the current celebrity who is just used as a tool to increase brand recall and is only appearing in the advertisement. It is usually seen that a brand face is a temporary contract and is very short term at times. An example would be Sona Chandi Chawanpryash using Sourav Ganguly for a while in its commercials. Brand faces are easily forgotten and fades away with the campaigns endThe Need for Celebrity EndorsementThe charisma of the celebrities almost always entices people and their words are worshipped by a lot of people. Their influence also goes on the political front, where they are invited for political endorsement. eg. Hema Malini for B.J.P. , Govinda for Congress , Amitabh Bachchan for S.P..When actor Shah Rukh Khan endorses Santro-Zip drive; the consumers are made to think that he is giving his opinion to go for this car. Similarly, actress Rani Mukherjee has turned the tables for Batas ladies footwear brand called Sundrop as sales increased by a whooping 500%.Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following motives: -

Instant Brand Awareness and Recall

Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image

Celebrity adds new dimensions to the brand image

Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage

Lack of ideas

Convincing clients

Why Companies Use Celebrities - The Celebrity Edge Psychological Factors: Celebrities generally satisfy the 'esteem needs' of an individual. For example a movie actress is expected to possess a flawless skin and a blemish free face. Her fans want to know the secret of her beauty, so she becomes a natural endorser for beauty related products (cosmetics, soaps, powder).

propping Up Awareness and Trust Levels: Rahul dravid - bob

To Communicate a Certain Message about the Company:Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador gave it the desired facelift and image for the launch of 'Victor'

Value for Money:

To Position their Brand Distinctively: Lux worldwide has positioned itself as the 'soap the filmstars use'. From Leela Chitnis to Aishwarya Rai, all top actresses have modeled for Lux.

Celebrity Standing for a Single Brand:Think Zakir Hussain and you are reminded of 'Wah Taj' Taj Mahal tea. Ditto with A. R. Rahman for Airtel.

Scope of Celebrity EndorsementThe use of testimonials by advertisers dates back to the 19th century when medicines were patented. Firms have been juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers (e.g., athletes, actors) in the hope that celebrities may boost effectiveness of their marketing and/or corporate communication attempts for at least a century. One of the early example is Queen Victorias endorsement of Cadburys Cocoa (Sherman, 1985). It was not until the 1920s, however, that advertisers used famous people for product endorsements. Actresses Joan Crawford, Clara Bow and Janet Gaynor were among the first celebrities to promote products (Fox, 1984). At that time, the rationale given by advertising agencies for using celebrities was the spirit of emulation (Fox, 1984, p.90). About a decade ago, one in three television commercials used celebrities endorsements (Business Week, 1978), and today this advertising approach appeared to be on the increase across all media types (Sherman, 1985 and Levin, 1988). Friedman (1977) found that celebrities are featured in 15 percent of the prime-time television commercials. In the United States, it was reported that about 20% of all television commercials feature a famous person, and about 10% of the dollars spent on television advertising are used in celebrity endorsement advertisements (Advertising Age, 1987; Sherman, 1985). Thus, celebrity endorsement has become a prevalent form of advertising in United States and elsewhere.Today, the use of celebrity advertising for companies has become a trend and a perceived winning formula of corporate image building and product marketing (Media, July-August 1997). This phenomenon is reflected by the recent market research findings that 8 out of 10 TV commercials scoring the highest recall are those with celebrities appearances .Impact of Celebrity EndorsementThe increasing number of endorsements throws a valid question to the consumers. Is there a science behind the choice of these endorsers or is it just by the popularity measurement? What are the reasons which lead to impact of celebrity endorsement on brands?

Through research and analysis, this paper develops a 14 point model, which can be used as a blueprint criterion which can be used by brand managers for selecting celebrities, and capitalizes the celebrity resource through 360 degree brand communication, since our research proposes it as the foundation brick of the impact of celebrity endorsement. Our study reveals that the impact of celebrity endorsement is proportional to the 14 factors discussed in the model.

The success of a brand through celebrity endorsement is a cumulative of the following 14 attributes. Greater the score of the below parameters, greater are the chances of getting close to the desired impact.Fit with the Advertising IdeaOne of the most successful celebrity endorsement campaigns which reflect the fit between the brand and the 360 degree advertising fit is Fardeen Khan and Provogue. Provogues positioning in the apparel market is of a young, active, party-going, attention-grabbing brand and so is Fardeen Khan. The conjunction between the two has been immensely impactful and brand managers have utilised this endorsement through 360 degree reinforcement.

Celebrity-Target Audience MatchSmriti Irani endorsing the WHO recommended ORS Campaign in India. Indian mothers can associate with Smriti Irani through the facets she projects on screen or in regular life which helps develop a connect with the target audience since mothers medicate their children with ORS.

Celebrity ValuesTabu endorsing Tetra Packed Milk, Shabana Azmi campaigning for AIDS Awareness, Amitabh Bachchan & Shahrukh Khan campaigning for Pulse Polio or Aishwarya Rai appearing in the Donate Eyes campaign are few examples, which reflect the transfer of celebrity values to the brand, creating an impact that generates recall.

Costs of Acquiring the CelebrityRecently, a newspaper report showed how cola firms had gone beyond their advertising budgets to get the best celebrities. Small firms that use celebrities services run greater risks if they invest large amounts. Although nobody is willing to say exactly how much celebrities get paid, industry sources say Sachin Tendulkars price is believed to be between Rs. 2.0-2.5 crores per endorsement, and musician A. R. Rehman, who had signed up with AirTel, is believed to have picked up Rs. 1.75 crores. Film-star Hrithik Roshan was rumored to have picked up Rs. 2 crores for the Fly With Hrithik campaign to push Close-Up, and Shahrukh Khans rate seems to be between Rs. 2.5-3.0 crores. Aishwarya Rai apparently picks up Rs. 1.25 crores for an endorsement and the Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly is believed to get between Rs. 90 lakh to Rs. 1.5 crores, while film-star Aamir Khan apparently makes Rs. 1.5 crores per endorsement.

Celebrity Regional Appeal FactorsR. Madhavan endorsing Pepsi in southern India or Sachin Tendulkar endorsing in India are few examples of how celebrities are chosen to reach out to target audiences for brands in regional markets.

Celebrity-Product MatchCyrus Broacha is the brand ambassador for MTV since both the celebrity and the brand are considered as friendly, young, mood-boosting, humorous and outspoken. MTVs brand personality overlaps Cyrus Broachas image as a brand.

Some more examples of compatible celebrity product match in which celebrity brand attributes get transferred to the brand and increases the brand equity is of Govinda & Navratan Tel, Aishwarya Rai & Nakshatra, etc.

Celebrity Controversy RiskThe perfect example here is of Salman Khan and the controversy in which he crushed a man to death with his Pajero when he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Also, any act on the part of the endorser that gives him a negative image among the audience and goes on to affect the brands endorsed. The brand, in most instances, takes a bashing.

Celebrity PopularityCelebrity Brand association like Garnier endorsed Tara Sharma & Simone Singh, Agni Diamonds & Riama Sen dont get much brand recall, and even if they do, its difficult to attribute it to the celebrities endorsing the brand.On the other hand, HPCL has had increased popularity and share of voice due to the endorsement of the brand through Sania Mirza.

Celebrity AvailabilityIn case of various brands, there are situations in which they prefer to go without a brand face, since there is no brand-fit between the celebrities available and the brand. Also, due to multiple endorsements by certain celebrities, brands refuse to adopt celebrity endorsement since they fear dilution of the brand image.

Celebrity Physical AttractivenessJohn Abraham endorsing Wrangler and Timex Sunglasses are some examples which portray the celebrities physical attractiveness that helps create an impact. Celebrity CredibilityThe most important aspect and reason for celebrity endorsement is credibility. In a research carried out among 43 ad agencies and companies, most experts believed that the most important dimensions of credibility are trustworthiness and prowess or expertise with regard to the recommended product or service. One of the most obvious reasons of Amitabh Bachchan endorsing plethora of brands is the credibility of the celebrity and his recognition across consumers.

To site one of the most successful campaigns in which the celebritys credibility has had an indelible impact on the brand and has saved the brand is of Cadburys. After the worm controversy, Amitabh Bachchans credibility infused into the brand through the campaign, helping it to get back on track. The campaign has won an award for the same.

Multiple EndorsementsNot many people can remember all the brands that a celebrity endorses and the chances of losing brand recall increases if the celebrity endorses multiple brands. For example, in case of Sachin Tendulkar people recall Pepsi, TVS Victor and MRF, but might not remember brands like Britannia and Fiat. Similarly, for Amitabh Bachchan, consumers remember ICICI, Pepsi, Parker Pens, Pulse Polio and BPL. They might get confused in the endorsement of Nerolac or Asian Paints. Thus, for multiple endorsements where the same celebrity endorses several brands, it boils down to the strength of the brand and the advertising content.Whether Celebrity is a Brand UserVarious celebrities endorse NGOs and social causes since they believe in the social message that they need to convey to the audience. One of the most successful campaigns has been executed by PETA in which celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Amisha Patel, Yana Gupta, Sheetal Malhar, Mahima Choudhary claimed to believe in PETAs philosophy, and thereby endorse the brand.

Risks Associated With Celebrity EndorsementThe concept of Total Branding is slowly emerging and many companies are focusing on that. They are emphasizing on their best practices, customer relationship management, and employee training and knowledge management. Internal brand management, under which the company ensures that employees and channel partners are convinced about the brand, is becoming particularly important, for they are the ones who have to deliver. Thus, the celebrity endorsement can be considered only as a carrier of whats inside.

Besides, while designing an ad campaign, one should also keep in mind that the overuse of some extremely popular celebrities often tends to confuse consumers and reduce the utility of celebrity endorsement. Another argument against celebrity endorsement involves the behavior of the celebrity. The marketing function of a company should also understand that brands should assume a much greater space than the celebrities, because their association may be temporary but the brands are permanent.

The various risks associated with celebrity endorsements are as follows: -

Negative publicity - If the celebrity is strongly associated with the brand then the occurrence of the negative publicity can spill over the brand.. E.g., Salman Khan lost his endorsement deal with Thumbs-Up after his infamous incidents like buck-killing and rash-driving.

Overshadowing - When celebrity endorser is used, the risk of consumers focusing on the celebrity and not on the brand exists.

Overexposure - This risk arises when the celebrity chooses to endorse several different products simultaneously which might leave the consumers confused. E.g., Sachin Tendulkar endorses several brands such as MRF, TVS Victor, Pepsi, Fiat, Boost, etc.

Overuse - Sometimes the company can use many different celebrities to appeal to different market segment. But multiplicity of endorser might blur the image.

Extinction - The favorable response obtained by a particular brand may weaken over time if the brand gets significant exposure without the association of the celebrity. If the celebrity contract is for a considerable period of time, then it can lead to draining out capital without proper return.

Financial Risk - The decision for hiring an expensive endorser may not be always feasible if there is a poor brand fit.Therefore, for celebrity endorsements to work effectively there are some fundamental ground rules: -

Clear brand promise and brand personality. The communication objectives for the campaign should be frozen.

Focus must be on the synergy between the brand and the celebrity image

Establish explicitly what the celebrity is going to communicate Celebrity SelectionThere are various scientific ways in which the right celebrity is selected for the product endorsement, which are discussed here after

StereotypingTellis defines stereotypes as perceptions and depictions of individuals based on simplistic, biased image of the group to which they belong, rather than on their own individual characteristics. For example: its better to select celebrities who say are teens for chocolate advertisements and females for detergent ads, etc.

The TEARS ModelThe attributes highlighted by the acronym TEARS are gauged for celebrity selection. These are: -

Trustworthiness: For example - Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan who is an icon of trust; promoting ICICI Bank.

Expertise: For example - Golfer Tiger Woods for a sports brand.

Attractiveness: For example Actor John Abraham who has attractiveness endorsed Yahama motor

Respect: For example - Former Miss World Aishawarya Rai and the Eye donation campaign.

Similarity: For example - a child artist promoting a chocolate brand.

A celebrity scoring high on all the above attributes can turn out to be a good endorser for the brand under question.

The No TEARS ModelThe No TEARS approach is a tool for managers and their advertisers how to go about selecting celebrities so as to avoid the pitfalls from making an unwise decision. It gauges the following information: -

Celebrity & audience match up,

Celebrity & brand match up,

Celebrity credibility,

Celebrity attractiveness,

Cost consideration,

A working ease and difficulty factor,

An endorsement saturation factor,

A likelihood-of-getting-into-trouble factor

Selecting the right celebrity does more than increasing sales; it can create linkages with the celebrities appeal, thereby adding new dimension to the brand image. Research conducted by Katherine Eckel has revealed that celebrities can get people to make a better choice but cannot influence people to make a foolish choice.

The success of celebrity endorsement in India can be sought from a market research conducted earlier which found that 8 out of 10 TV commercials scored the highest recall were those with celebrity appearances. A few examples: Sachin Tendulkar - Adidas, Sourav Ganguly - Britannia, Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupati - J. Hampstead, Shah Rukh Khan - Pepsi, Sushmita Sen - Epson, and Aishwarya Rai - Coke.

Celebrity Endorsement: The Issues InvolvedThere are several factors to consider before resorting to celebrity endorsement. There is no single formula to win in the world of marketing. A company must analyze the prospect of endorsement from 360 degrees, prior to product promotion.

Price vs. ProfitThe most important issue is that of return on investment (ROI). Companies need to perform a cost-benefit analysis prior to endorsement. The process of gauging the effectiveness of endorsement on the overall brand is but difficult. The companies expect to bring, in the long run, future sales, revenues and profit from the present investments on celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsement is an expensive means of brand promotion and the price burden almost always shifts on to the consumers; if not, then it narrows the companies profit.Why Celebrity Endorsement Fails?There maybe cases where brands are not able to take-off even after the backing of celebrities. And this leads to speculations in the Ad World on the soundness of celebrity endorsement as an effective communication strategy.

Negative impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the brand

A popular drawback of celebrity endorsement is the 'Vampire Effect' or the celebrity overshadowing the brand16. Some viewers forget the brand that a celebrity is approving. Others are so spellbound by the personality of the celebrity that they completely fail to notice the brand being advertised. Two new drawbacks can be seen these days what marketers call Celebrity Trap and Celebrity Credibility17. Celebrity trap is when the celebrity becomes an addiction for the marketing team and the task to find substitutes becomes more and more difficult, leading to surfeit of celebrities. Celebrity credibility refers to skepticism by the consumers regarding the celebrities, especially when there is anything negative regarding the celebrity associated with the brand in the news, then brand is bound to be affected.The ReasonsAccording to leading management thinker, Dr. Seamus Phan, Many celebrity endorsements fail because they identify a celebrity they like in an emotive and un-researched manner and then try to create advertising to force-fit the celebrity into the creative concept. Therefore, the advertisers must associate the celebrity to the advertisement and not vice versa. Thinking on the similar lines, the advertisers shouldnt identify the brand to associate with the celebrity but do vice versa. The success of celebrity endorsement also depends upon the capacity, knowledge, experience, and qualification to talk about the product. Failure may be attributed to improper positioning (Example: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan & Maruti Versa), negative perception after use of product / service (inferior products), misapprehension of the meaning of the endorsement, etc.

The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men - the man he is and the man he wants to be. - William FeatherThe SolutionsAs discussed, celebrity management is very crucial to avoid the brand-celebrity disconnect, and subsequently, brand failures. If the consumers have questions in their minds regarding the quality or performance of the product then even God cannot save the brand. The obvious solution to the problem of overshadowing is to make sure that both the advertisement and the celebrity are focused on the brand or product. To avoid any bad publicity arising out of celebrity defames, companies may resort to multiple celebrity endorsement. For Example: Pepsi while capitalizing on the popularity of cricket and films in India used several cricketers and film stars in their ads. So when Azharuddin and Jadeja got embroiled in the match-fixing controversy, Pepsi severed its association only with these stars, but its relationship with cricket continued.

ConclusionThere is an increasing challenge to the marketing manager to develop and implement an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan to realize the true value of the celebrity endorsements. There is a gradual shift from the traditional approach of showing celebrities in advertisement to making them the spokes-person of the brand. Companies have taken celebrity endorsement to next level by projecting brands as a way of life. Smart companies are using their brand ambassadors in other mediums such as movies to promote their brands.

E.g., Amitabh Bachchan, who endorses the financial instruments of ICICI Bank, is shown as a branch-manager of ICICI Bank in the movie Baghban.

Wooing the key existing and potential target customers is the trait of a successful promotion strategy. However, the marketing manager should be able to offer significant value propositions in the services / products offered to the customers. Thus, one needs to integrate celebrity endorsement with other marketing programs and ensure that the celebrity attributes align with the overall brand or company. Companies that succeed in developing such an integrated IMC plans is the one to succeed in the long-term.