PROJECT REPORT

ON

EFFECTIVENESS OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT IN BUILDING BRANDS WITH

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO FMCG SECTOR

BYAKSHAY ARORA

IMBA

AMITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESSAmity University, Uttar Pradesh

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge my utmost gratitude to Ms.geetanjali gulati faculty guide, for her special

interest and generous guidance throughout the project work.

I am indebted to all my respondents who despite their limitations and pressure on time gave

me good response in filling up of questionnaire.

I am thankful to my friends, family members and relatives for providing the support that I

needed during my project.

I sincerely hope that the labor I have put in making this project will be appreciated.

AKSHAY ARORA

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

S.No. Chapter Name

Executive Summary

1 Introduction

2 Literature Review

3 Objective of Study

4 Research Methodology

5 Suggestion & Conclusion

References

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project talks about the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement in building brands with

special reference to FMCG sector.

The first few pages talk about the introduction and objectives of the study.

This is followed by details about FMCG Sector. This part consist of FMCG Introduction,

Industry characteristics, Key Players, Salient Features and SWOT Analysis of the FMCG

industry.

Next comes the detail about celebrity endorsements in FMCG sector. This part consists of

Introduction to Celebrity endorsements, why customers accept the celebrities, Uses of

celebrity endorsements, Reasons why celebrity endorsement may not work, Benefits of

celebrity advertisements and Theories of celebrity endorsement.

Next comes the survey, the purpose of which is to find out uses of celebrity endorsement

those translate into higher brand recall of FMCG Products and to understand the reason

behind the attitudes of consumer towards all those FMCG Products which are endorsed by

the celebrities.

The last part consists of findings, conclusion and bibliography. The questionnaire has been

annexed to the report.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The society that we live in can not only be called secular or democratic, it should be more

appropriately termed as over-communicated these days. There are around 130 television

channels in India broadcasting over 3 million television commercials each year in India.

The media-explosion can thus be easily demonstrated. Moreover, people forget 80% of the

information in just 24 hours! 'Celebrity Endorsement' for the brand is solution to it.

Celebrities are involved in endorsing activities since late nineteenth century. The advent of

celebrity endorsements in advertising in India began when Hindi film and TV stars as well

as sportspersons began encroaching on a territory that was, until then, the exclusive domain

of models.

Celebrity endorsement is an important tool which is able to influence Indian consumer

buying behavior. In India, celebrities are being increasingly used in marketing

communication by marketers to lend personality to their products. With the visual media

becoming more popular the use of celebrities in the TV media has increased. Celebrities

create headlines. Their activities and movements are being closely watched and imitated.

What they endorse sell like hot cakes. It is not surprising therefore that using celebrities in

advertisements has become common practice.

In India especially, it is not difficult to look for the reasons as to why companies are

increasingly using celebrities. Indians always love their heroes and heroines.

Consumers like advertisements more if they are admirers of the celebrities in the

advertisements. When a consumer likes the celebrity in the advertisement, he or she is more

likely to accept what the celebrity says about the advertised product and therefore will

develop more positive feelings toward the advertisement and the brand itself. Famous

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celebrities are able to attract attention and retain attention by their mere presence in the

advertisements.

In the midst of the advertisement clutter, the advertisements that celebrities endorse also

achieve high recall rates. When people see their favored reference group members or

celebrities in the advertisements, they pay more attention to them.

Celebrities may also help reposition products. Products with sagging sales needs some

boosting and in this, Indian celebrities can help by way of they endorsing the product

concerned.

Celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamour and the hope that a famous face

will provide added appeal and name recognition in a crowded market. In the battle for the

mind, you get the customer excited by showing him a known face, and an effective demand

is created. In short it helps increase the recall value of the brand.

Celebrity endorsements are today seen as a powerful mechanism for brand awareness and

sales. A host of celebrities including film stars, cricket and lately tennis icons have been

endorsing a range of products from FMCG’s, automobiles to jewellery to apparel and

watches. Several brands have also appointed celebrities as their brand ambassadors to

continuously promote their brands and associate the brands with the excellence and

attributes that the celebrities are associated with.

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INTRODUCTION TO FMCG INDUSTRY

India is one of the largest emerging markets, with a population of over one billion. India is

one of the largest economies in the world in terms of purchasing power and has a strong

middle class base of 300 million.

The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is the fourth largest sector in the

economy with a total market size in excess of Rs 60,000 crore. This industry essentially

comprises Consumer Non Durable (CND) products and caters to the everyday need of the

population.

Product Characteristics

Products belonging to the FMCG segment generally have the following characteristics:

• They are used at least once a month

• They are used directly by the end-consumer

• They are non-durable

• They are sold in packaged form

• They are branded

India - a large consumer goods spender

An average Indian spends around 40 per cent of his income on grocery and 8 per cent on

personal care products. The large share of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in total

individual spending along with the large population base is another factor that makes

India one of the largest FMCG markets.

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Change in Indian consumer profile

Consumer profile

Source: Statistical outline of India

Rapid urbanisation, increased literacy and rising per capita income, have all caused rapid

growth and change in demand patterns, leading to an explosion of new opportunities.

Around 45 percent of the population in India is below 20 years of age and the young

population is set to rise further. Aspiration levels in this age group have been fuelled by

greater media exposure, unleashing a latent demand with more money and a new mindset.

1999 2001 2006

Population (millions) 846 1,012 1,087

Population <25 yrs of age 480 546 565

Urbanization (%) 26 28 31

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Industry Segments

The main segments of the FMCG sector are:

• Personal Care: oral care; hair care; skin care; personal wash (soaps); cosmetics and

toiletries; deodorants; perfumes; paper products (tissues, diapers, sanitary); shoe

care.

Major companies active in this segment include Hindustan Lever; Godrej Soaps,

Colgate-Palmolive, Marico, Dabur and Procter & Gamble.

• Household Care: fabric wash (laundry soaps and synthetic detergents); household

cleaners (dish/utensil cleaners, floor cleaners, toilet cleaners, air fresheners,

insecticides and mosquito repellants, metal polish and furniture polish).

Major companies active in this segment include Hindustan Lever, Nirma and

Reckitt & Colman.

• Branded and Packaged Food and Beverages: health beverages; soft drinks;

staples/cereals; bakery products (biscuits, bread, cakes); snack food; chocolates; ice

cream; tea; coffee; processed fruits, vegetables and meat; dairy products; bottled

water; branded flour; branded rice; branded sugar; juices etc.

Major companies active in this segment include Hindustan Lever, Nestle, Cadbury

and Dabur.

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• Spirits and Tobacco: Major companies active in this segment include ITC,

Godfrey Philips, UB and Shaw Wallace

FMCG Industry Characteristics

Branding: Creating strong brands is important for FMCG companies and they devote

considerable money and effort in developing bands. With differentiation on functional

attributes being difficult to achieve in this competitive market, branding results in consumer

loyalty and sales growth.

Distribution Network: Given the fragmented nature of the Indian retailing industry and

the problems of infrastructure, FMCG companies need to develop extensive distribution

networks to achieve a high level of penetration in both the urban and rural markets. Once

they are able to create a strong distribution network, it gives them significant advantages

over their competitors.

Contract manufacturing: As FMCG companies concentrate on brand building, product

development and creating distribution networks, they are at the same time outsourcing their

production requirements to third party manufacturers. Moreover, with several items

reserved for the small-scale industry and with these SSI units enjoying tax incentives, the

contract-manufacturing route has grown in importance and popularity.

Large unorganized sector : The unorganised sector has a presence in most product

categories of the FMCG sector. Small companies from this sector have used their locational

advantages and regional presence to reach out to remote areas where large consumer

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products have only limited presence. Their low cost structure also gives them an

advantage.

FMCG Key Players

There is a strong MNC presence in the Indian FMCG market and out of the top 10 FMCG

companies; four are multinationals while two others have significant MNC shareholdings.

MAJOR PLAYERS

• Hindustan Lever Ltd.

• I T C Ltd.

• Nirma Ltd.

• Nestle India Ltd.

• Britannia Industries Ltd.

• Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd

• Godfrey Phillips India Ltd.

• Dabur India Ltd.

• Smithkline Beecham Consumer Healthcare Ltd

• Godrej Soaps Ltd.

• Marico Industries Ltd

• Cadbury India Ltd

• Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Ltd.

• Reckitt & Colman Of India Ltd

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• I S P L Industries Ltd.

Among the major companies, Hindustan Lever has a strong presence in the food, personal

care and household care (detergents) sectors; ITC is the market leader in cigarettes; Nirma

has a strong presence in the detergent market; Nestle and Britannia are active in the food

sector and Colgate has a strong presence in the oral care segment.

FMCG Salient Features

The FMCG sector is a key component of India’s GDP and is a significant direct and

indirect employer. It is the fourth largest sector in the economy and is responsible for five

per cent of total factory employment in the country. The sector also creates employment for

three million people in downstream activities, much of which is disbursed in small towns

and rural India.

Unlike the perception that the FMCG sector is a producer of luxury items targeted at the

elite, in reality the sector meets the every day needs of the masses, across the country. Low-

priced products contribute the majority of the sales volume and lower income and lower

middle-income groups account for over 60 per cent of the sector’s sales. Moreover, rural

markets account for 56 per cent of total domestic FMCG demand and FMCG outlets reach

more villages than any other basic facility such as primary schools or bus facilities.

The FMCG sector has several other salient features. It has strong links with agriculture and

71 per cent of sales come from agro-based products; it is a significant value creator with a

market capitalisation second only to the IT sector and it is a key contributor to the

exchequer.

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CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS IN FMCG SECTOR

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Celebrity Endorsement: Introduction

In the world of advertising and marketing communication, celebrity endorsement has

grown in gigantic leaps to reach a level where it has spawned a separate industry in itself.

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Celebrity Endorsement is a rapidly growing industry that is, by conservative estimates,

worth more than Rs. 150 Crore today.

Today, there is a regrettable shift in the emphasis of the advertisement moving from

highlighting the core promise of the brand to exhibiting the charisma of the brand

ambassador. Celebrity endorsement gives a brand an instant value and personality package

which otherwise would have taken years and millions of dollars - to establish, with far less

guarantee of results. A celebrity does help in increasing brand sales, but only if he/she is

selected carefully and used effectively to add value to a brand. There must be a relevant and

recognizable match of values of the celebrity and the brand as perceived by consumers.

The four primary endorser’s types are:

• Celebrities

• Experts

• Typical satisfied customers

• Announcers.

Celebrity endorsements of brands

Brand- a brand is a name, a sign, or a symbol such as a trademark or logo that identifies a

product or service and differentiate it from similar products or services. It is different from

a product, in that the product performs a task for the user while the brand adds value and

covers the source of the product protecting the customer, producer from competitors who

would attempt to provide products that seem to be identical.

Marketers use a whole lot of tactics to draw the consumer’s attention to their brand - one of

these is getting celebrities to endorse the products.

Who are celebrities?

Popular personalities who enjoy public recognition amongst a huge slice of a particular

segment of the population or the entire population are celebrities. Invariably, their very

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presence conveys the message “I’m rich, famous, talented, beautiful, intelligent and you

aspire to be like me. I actually think this product is great. Why don’t you buy it and become

like me?” The product is made attractive by the association with the person whom

customers want to be like and admire and it is this association that caused the compulsive

desire to purchase and use it.

A celebrity may be the embodiment of the company’s image. When celebrities endorse a

brand, customers become aware of the product/service such that they totally believe and

trust that the purchases will meet their requirements and expectations but all this provided

there is a proper fit between the chosen celebrity and the brand.

Celebrities give the perception of quality products and services. Once quality branding is in

place, brand extensions are possible i.e. customers might easily be persuaded to try their

other products and services. Another factor that requires a thought is the media to be used

to advertise the product/service.

Celebrities have the advantage of publicity and the attention getting power required for any

successful advertising campaign. Most celebrities also enjoy enormous goodwill. The

associations made with them also help the product they are endorsing. The mind as a

defence against the volume of today’s communications screens and rejects much of the

information offered to it. In general the mind accepts only that which matches prior

knowledge or experience.

In the midst of today’s cluttering, it becomes all the more important for the advertiser to

capture the attention of the consumer. Instinctive changing of channels is prevented if the

first few seconds of the advertisement manage to grip the audience’s attention.

Celebrity endorsers is that s/he can provide testimony for a product or service, particularly

when the product has contributed to their celebrity. The relationship can increase a

consumer's belief and trust in the product and its benefits. The more familiar an endorser,

the more likely consumers are to buy the endorsed product.

Forms of celebrity endorsement:

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A celebrity can endorse brands in different ways based on the purpose, the advertisement

media and the appeal to be generated. The product could be commercial ones or non-

commercial ones (social advertising). Following types of endorsement forms have been

identified to be heavily in use at present:

• As spokespersons, e.g., Amitabh Bachchan in KBC.

• In print and electronic advertisements, e.g., Shah Rukh Khan in Omega and

Pepsi.

• In outdoor media like hoardings, e.g., Aishwarya Rai in Lux in some parts of

North India.

• As brand ambassadors, e.g., Fardeen Khan in Provogue, and finally

• The use of brands by celebrities in movies, e.g., Hero Cycles, Paas Paas and

Coke in Yaadein.

Why customers accept the celebrities…

Messages delivered by well-known celebrities achieve a high degree of attention and

recall for consumers.

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Celebrity Expertise perceived relevant – Expertise is the knowledge that the

communicator seems to possess to support the claims made in the advertisements. A well-

known face would obviously speak for more expertise than an ordinary one.

Celebrities are perceived Trustworthy – Trustworthiness refers to the customer’s

confidence in the source for providing information in an objective and honest manner.

People are more likely to trust the quality of a trustworthy celeb endorsed brand over a

non-endorsed one.

Ambitious psyche: People ape the celebrities in their day-to-day activities and many

even dream to become like a celebrity some day. Some know they wouldn’t become as

good as the celebrities but sharing common belongings makes them feel better.

Physical Attraction: Consumers tend to perform positive stereotypes about such people.

Physically attractive people are more successful in changing beliefs than non-attractive

people.

Uses of Celebrity Endorsements

• Establishes Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for

that brand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products.

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• Attracts Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the

clutter of advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.

• Associative Benefit: A celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive

message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also

benefit.

• Psychographics Connect: Stars are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers

use stars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.

• Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic

segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.).

• Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good

bet to generate interest among the masses.

Reasons why celebrity endorsements may not work

• Improper positioning:

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Associating with a star, however big he or she may be, in itself does not guarantee sales.

The most it can do is generate interest in the product or create a buzz around it.

Brand-celebrity disconnect:

If the celebrity used represents values that conflict with the brand values and positioning,

the advertising will create a conflict in the minds of the target audience who may reject the

proposition.

• Clutter Flutter:

In recent times, there has been such a deluge of celebrity endorsements that it has led to the

very clutter that it aimed to break. This over-exposure can be bad for the brand. “We seem

to have just 2 ½ celebrities in a country of 1 billion people which is a terrible tragedy.

Consequently, each celebrity is called upon to push maybe a dozen brands or so. Which is

great for the celebrity but I think it is pretty daft for the brand because the impact of the

celebrity reduces as the number of brands he endorses increases.” Unfortunately in India,

we have too many brands chasing too few celebrities.

Dissatisfaction with product quality/performance

You cannot sell an ordinary product just by making a celebrity endorse it. In fact, if

anything, the product will fail faster because the presence of the celebrity will create a buzz

and more people will know about the “ordinariness” of the product.

Unfortunately using a celebrity seems to be the easy way out of a parity product situation.

Confusion/ Scepticism

The use of celebrities can be confusing. Some viewers forget brand that a celebrity is

approving. Others are so spellbound by the personality of the celebrity that they completely

fail to notice the product/brand being advertised. The brand is overshadowed in the

overwhelming presence of the star. In some cases, a celebrity can give rise to scepticism

because it might be a bit too much for the masses to believe that the celebrities who are rich

and can afford the best in the world are actually using a mass product being advertised on

television

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Benefits of celebrity advertising -- the four Qs:

• Quick saliency:

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It gets cut through because of the star and his attention getting value. Dabur has ensured

high saliency for its brand with the inclusion of Amitabh Bachchan in its advertising.

• Quick connect:

There needs to be no insight but the communication connects because the star connects.

Sachin, Shah Rukh and their ilk's ensure an easy connect for Pepsi with the youth.

• Quick shorthand for brand values:

The right star can actually telegraph a brand message fast without elaborate story

telling. Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar seem to have done that successfully for Boost

in the early '90s. And helped to differentiate it in the malted beverages market.

• Quick means of brand differentiation:

In a category where no brand is using a celebrity, the first that picks one up could use it

to differentiate itself in the market. Boost did it in the malted beverage category.

Theories of Celebrity Endorsement

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Celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamour and the hope that a famous face

will provide added appeal and name recognition in a crowded market. In the battle for the

mind, you get the customer excited by showing him a known face, and an effective demand

is created. In short it helps increase the recall value of the brand..

Source Credibility Theory:

According to this theory acceptance of the message depends on 'Expertness' and

Trustworthiness' of the source. Expertness is defined as the perceived ability of the source

to make valid assertions. Trustworthiness is defined as the perceived willingness of the

source to make valid assertions. Audience acceptance increases with the expertness of the

source and the ability of the audience to evaluate the product.

Source Attractiveness Theory:

According to this theory which is based on social psychological research, the acceptance of

the message depends on familiarity, likeability and similarity. Familiarity is the audience's

knowledge of the source through exposure; likeability is the affection for the source's

physical appearance and behavior while similarity is the resemblance between source and

receiver. This theory explains the message acceptance in two ways: Identification and

Conditioning. Identification is when the receiver or the target audience of the

communication begins to identify with the source's attractiveness, and hence tends to accept

his opinions, beliefs, habits, attitudes etc.

Meaning Transfer Theory:

The theory explains that a celebrity encodes a unique set of meanings which if well used

can be transferred to the endorsed product. Such a transfer takes place in three stages –

encoding meanings, meaning transfer, meaning capture.

I. Encoding Meanings: Each celebrity has a unique set of meanings, which can be listed by

age, gender, race, wealth, personality or lifestyle. In this way, the celebrities encode a set of

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meanings in their image. For example Preity Zinta can be seen as a lively, charming,

bubbly, witty and enthusiastic.

II. Meaning Transfer: This stage transfers those meanings to the product. When skillfully

portrayed, celebrities can communicate this image more powerfully than lay endorsers.

III. Meaning Capture: This assumes that consumers purchase products not merely for their

functional value but also for their cultural and symbolic value. The theory says that

consumers buy the endorsed product with the intention of capturing some of the desirable

meanings with which celebrities have passed on to the product. This is more eminent in

lifestyle products like clothes, perfumes, cell phones etc.

CHAPTER 2

Literature Review:

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1. Article: “Selecting Celebrity Endorsers: The Practitioner's Perspective”

Author: B. Zafer Erdogan, Michael J. Baker, Stephen Tagg

Summary: There are several reasons for such extensive use of celebrities. Because of their

high profile, celebrities may help advertisements stand out from surrounding clutter, thus

improving their communicative ability (Atkin and Block, 1983; Sherman, 1985).

Celebrities may also generate extensive PR leverage for brands. For example, when Revlon

launched the "Won't kiss off test" for its Colorstay lipsticks in 1994 with Cindy Crawford

kissing reporters, the campaign featured on almost every major news channel 1. Article:

“Selecting Celebrity Endorsers: The Practitioner's Perspective.”

and equally widely in the press.

Although research findings are equivocal about the ability of celebrities to generate actual

purchase behavior, positive impact on economic returns of sponsoring companies.

2. Article: “Celebrities Impact on Branding”

Author: Centre on Global Brand Leadership Columbia Business School

(Christina Schlecht)

Summary: Article addresses a popular method of marketing communication, the use of

celebrity spokesperson in advertising to endorse brand a brief assessment of the current

market situation indicates, the celebrity endorsement advertising strategies can under the

right circumstances indeed justify the high cost associated with this form of advertising.

However as several failure show, it is essential for the advertiser to be aware of the

complex process underlying celebrity endorsement by gaining an understanding of the

described concept of source credibility & attractiveness, match up hypothesis, meaning

transfer model, multiple products & celebrity endorsement while these concepts can help to

answer the questions if & when celebrity advertisement investment pay-off, it has to be

global of further research efforts to develop an extensive, consistent & user friendly tool to

avoid arbitrary decision & enhance the strategic character of celebrity sponsorship decision

3. Article: “Celebrity Branding: not as glamorous as it looks”

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Author: Chris Grannell and Ruwan Jayawardena.

Summary: Celebrities are brands. They are defined by what people think about them, they

have a competitive positioning relative to other celebrities. Unlike the people behind them,

celebrities exist in the minds of their audience in precisely the same way that corporate or

FMCG brands do. Fans of celebrities get excited when they see them; they want their

endorsement; they often feel some kind of affinity to what a particular celebrity “stands

for.” When a celebrity becomes the face of a charity, or lends his name to another product

or service, customers of that celebrity show rising levels of interest in the associated

organization, product or offer. Some of the image of the celebrity is “transferred” to the

third party. Conversely, a rising celebrity can align himself with other celebrities by use of

PR, association or photographic imagery; and of course he can directly communicate values

through use of language or behavior. We know that – just like corporate brand-owners,

celebrity brand-owners employ image consultants and PR agencies. Sometimes they

indulge in brand extension and they can even have brand architectures. In almost all

respects, celebrities function just like the brands of businesses and products that usually

grace the pages of this website.

4. Article: “The naked truth of celebrity endorsement”

Author: Angela Byrne, Maureen Whitehead, Steven Breen.

Summary: This case study examines the use of celebrity endorsement in the formation of

the retail image of leading European grocery distribution group J. Sainsbury, in particular,

the process of transference of celebrity images to the product’s image. The incorporation of

Jamie Oliver (well known as television celebrity The Naked Chef) into the promotions of

one of Britain’s leading grocery chains involves a high profile campaign that has been

adopted in order to imbue the company’s products with an image of quality. The success of

the campaign has been replicated in New Zealand by another grocery retail “giant”,

Foodstuffs, who have also adopted The Naked Chef to endorse their products. The case

draws on field research with consumers and key informant interviews with advertising

agency personnel who identified the criterion for the choice of Jamie Oliver. The extent to

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which the market place recognises and consumers associate themselves with the image

Jamie projects as a celebrity endorser for J. Sainsbury is explored

5. Article: “The wealth effects associated with a celebrity endorser: The Michael

Jordan phenomenon”

Author: Lynette Knowles Mathur, Ike Mathur, Nanda Rangan.

Summary: On March 9, 1995, rumors began to circulate on Wall Street that a minor

league baseball player was going to try his luck at shooting hoops for the

Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Normally,

rumors of this nature are of dubious significance for the sports teams

involved. They are even of less significance for firms that seek to establish

and maintain their presence in the marketplace through the use of celebrity

endorsements for their products. In this particular instance, however, the

enthusiasm expressed by the Bulls' players at the prospects of having this

minor league baseball player on the court with them was outdone by the

investors in a select group of firms. This minor league baseball player was

none other than Michael Jordan, whom many would consider to be among the

most talented basketball players of all time.

FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS SECTOR

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CHAPTER 3

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OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

To find out the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement in building brands with special

reference to FMCG sector in the South/west Delhi within the age group of 25-35 (young

adults)

Sub- Objectives:

To find out uses of celebrity endorsement those translate into higher brand recall of

FMCG Products.

To understand the reason behind the attitudes of consumer towards all those FMCG

Products which are endorsed by the celebrities

CHAPTER 4

SUGGESTION & CONCLUSION

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• Celebrities should be used for FMCG’S because they ensure attention of the target

group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the advertisement and

the brand more noticeable.

• Celebrity endorsement will be more effective when used consistently over time to

increase the strength of the link between the celebrity and endorsed brand.

• When selecting a celebrity endorser for FMCG, choose a celebrity who is not

already strongly associated with another product.

• Celebrity endorser can be used to effectively reinforce and/or create an image for a

FMCG product.

• Celebrity endorsement can be more effective for less familiar brands and when

consumers have limited knowledge about the product.

• The issue of matching the values of the celebrity with the brand values is also very

important, i.e. getting the right celebrity to endorse the right brand. Consumers

perceive the brand as having superior quality because it has been endorsed by a

credible source. This makes endorsement as one of the indictors of quality for any

brand

• The over popularity of the celebrity sometimes overshadows the brand. If the

celebrity is involved in multiple endorsements, it tends to create confusion among

consumers and hence negatively affects the perception of the advertisement and the

brand so this should be avoided.

Celebrity endorsement really work because the qualities associated with the endorser are

associated with the brand and the brand therefore remains at the top of the consumer's

mind. However one needs to realize that the impact of an endorser cannot be sustainable in

all product categories and in all the stages of brand life cycles. It really depends upon the

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type of product. If it is a 'functional brand', then the product itself is the hero. Here any

celebrity association with the brand without corresponding performance of the product will

not be sustainable. While incase of 'image brands', like the categories of soaps, soft drinks,

cigarettes etc., where it is difficult to distinguish between the products, celebrity

endorsements help to distinguish between the brands at an emotional level.

People would be more likely to buy a brand that was endorsed by their favorite celebrity.

Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of advertisements

and making the advertisement and the brand more noticeable. A celebrity's preference for a

brand gives out a persuasive message and hence, because the celebrity is benefiting from

the brand, the consumer will also benefit. There is a demographic and psychographic

connection between the stars and their fans. Demographic connection establishes that

different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments i.e. age, gender, class,

geography etc., while psychographic connection establishes that stars are loved and adored

by their fans.

Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest

among the masses. Another invaluable benefit from celebrity endorsements is the public

relation opportunities.

Whether Celebrity endorsement has a positive or a negative impact on the brand is a debate

that is open to interpretation. But till the time the corporate world continues to foot fancy

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bills of celebrity endorsers and till consumers continue to be in awe of the stars, the party is

not likely to break up.

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REFERENCES

Books:

• Beri G.C: “Marketing Research” Tata Mc Graw-Hill Publishing company Ltd.

Third Edition, 2003.

• Schiffman & Kanuk (1997) “Consumer Behaviour”, 6th Eddition, PHI, pp.215-223.

• Marketing Management Philip Kotler 12e

Web Sites:

• www.thedayaftertomorrow.com

• www.synovate.com

• www.magindia.com

• www.blonnet.com

• www.rediff.com – article by Country head, O&M India

• indiainfoline.com – article 'Celebrity Endorsements in brands

• Consumers' Attitude and Intentions", Journal of Advertisement Research, Vol 20,

535-547

• Article: “The naked truth of celebrity endorsement”

Author: Angela Byrne, Maureen Whitehead, Steven Breen.

• Article: “Celebrity Branding: not as glamorous as it looks”

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Author: Chris Grannell and Ruwan Jayawardena.

• Article: “Celebrities Impact on Branding”

Author: Centre on Global Brand Leadership Columbia Business School

(Christina Schlecht)

• Article: “Selecting Celebrity Endorsers: The Practitioner's Perspective”

Author: B. Zafer Erdogan, Michael J. Baker, Stephen Tagg

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