If You Want Your Concept to Work, Hire a Celebrity The process of building brand through celebrity involves lots of money and risk.
By Nidhi Singh
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A brand image is much more than a logo or design which is formed automatically in consumer's mind. Not only it defines your business but differentiates you from other competitors. What do big brands like Pepsi, Loreal, Suzuki and Honda have in common? The celebrity endorsement that is giving these brands an instant recognition and growth. The process of building brand through celebrity involves lots of money and risk. The celebrities are held accountable for everything right from the quality of product to reliability factor of the brand. The formula of celebrity endorsements works because it the celebrity factor increases brand loyalty and glamour quotient to that particular product.
Recently, Bollywood Actor Amitabh Bachchan was appointed by the government to promote the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will soon be implemented from July 1. The 40-second video is featuring the actor who is explaining one nation, one tax and one market model to the audience. Bachchan has currently replaced Badminton player P.V Sindhu as a GST brand ambassador.
While the endorsement is already catching flak from the opposition, many leaders feel that the star is not apt to represent the GST campaign. The real question is whether hiring a celebrity helps will help in elevating the government initiative within the audience.
Let's take a look at five examples where celebrity endorsements have made the brand work:
Catalyzing Shift From Offline To Online Segment:
Online Travel Portal Make My Trip last year assigned popular stars like Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt as their first brand ambassadors to tap the younger audience and popularize the brand image. The duo got featured in number of advertisements as a part of their campaign to catalyze the shift from offline to online in the hotel booking segment.
According to Saujanya Shrivastava, CMO, MakeMyTrip, the new campaign is a part of our ongoing objective of converting the "offline' traveller to make his/her bookings online. Taking cue from all the travel portals, another travel portal Yatra.com has roped in Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador to connect with more and younger consumers.
Revamping Brand Identity:
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus got Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan onboard to promote their advertisement campaign claiming its flagship product, OnePlus 3T the highest-rated smartphone listed on online e-commerce website Amazon. Ever since the announcement of him being the brand ambassador has been made, the brand has managed to give some competition to the smartphone makers in the Indian market.
Other smartphone makers like Oppo, Gionee and Vivo have started several online campaigns with a range of celebrities endorsing the same on social media platforms. These celebrities definitely provide the much-needed exposure to the brand making its presence in within the Indian audience.
Relaunching and Renewing Brand:
Indian Footwear brand Relaxo decided to change its brand image in 40 years by roping actor Salman Khan as brand ambassador to endorse their products. The company also changed its old logo as per the changing needs of the young audience.
Similarly, condom brand Durex roped in young star Ranveer Singh to connect with young people across the country and create awareness around safe sex. With the actor being the face of the brand, the company hopes to reinvent its branding to appeal the urban youth population. Online food ordering startup Foodpanda recently signed Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador to run campaigns around the actor on online and offline mediums. The company hopes to get the back the lost appeal of the brand from this endorsement deal.
