Footwear options: Liberty or Versace for Hrithik Roshan?
Are celebrities that are spotted only with the likes of Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo & Versace good ambassadors for Liberty, Relaxo & Metro?
Daniel J Boorstin has rightly remarked that “A sign of a celebrity is that his name is often worth more than his services”. Marketers have acknowledged this fact and have roped in popular faces to create instant brand awareness, credibility and aspirational value. In a country like India that is celeb crazy, associating with a celebrity makes a substantial impact on the purchasing behaviour. But what if there is a mismatch between the celebrity and the brand, what happens if a celebrity endorses one brand but is spotted using the other?
In a chase to capture ‘India’s most saleable face’, brands sometimes do not endorse with the right celebrity in a right way and at the right time. Brands should wake-up and understand that the consumers have started understanding the tricks of these dream-weavers and cannot be fooled by showing Salman wearing Relaxo, Hrithik dancing to the tune of Liberty or Kareena flaunting her Metro shoes.
Lifestyle and even luxury magazines leave no stone unturned in capturing these celebrities in their day time and evening time avatars often wearing Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin.
Style debonair Hrithik is the face of Liberty and it makes sense for the brand to bring the actor on board with his immense sense of style and connection with the youth. Hrithik might say that the collection is superbly stylish and comfortable; however, the blue-eyed boy in reality creates a fashion statement with his pair of Versace or Salvatore Ferragamo.
When Virat Kohli says ‘Think on your feet’ for Red Chief shoes, depicting heroism and ruggedness yet comfort of Red Chief, it makes the shoe brand the best buy. But will Virat ever wear Red Chief shoes for running, is a question that haunts us.
This makes us ponder over innumerable questions such as are brands adopting the right path by investing in celebrities for footwear brands? Do these heartthrobs actually wear the brands endorsed? Have we approached the era of shortage of creative ideas? Can the sale of a product be affected by celebrities performing dare-devil stunts or doing a silly dance?
Harish Bijoor, brand expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults said, “I don’t believe any of these celebrities use any of the brands that they endorse. It goes not only for footwear but also soaps and soft drinks. There is a certain lack of creativity and integrity in the entire brand endorsement process but we have to be realistic because this is the way the world is.”
He further added, “Brands are doing this because they need establishment of quick awareness levels from celebrities. These brands would otherwise take 50 years to build that brand equity but they build it in just 50 days by using a celebrity.” He thinks it is a very intelligent use of money because the kind of salience that a brand brings is excellent and that salience is brought by a star.
He also said, “If a star has a lot of positive strokes then the same gets accrued to the footwear brand as well. In small towns, film stars are not only worshipped but people actually (aspire to) live like them. So people love the brands being endorsed by a star – be it a ‘chappal’ or a ‘dhoti’. If you take normal people, it will take a lot of time to build the brand but if you focus on a star, it builds the brand in very less time.”
However, he feels, celebrity endorsement is not enough and one needs to get the distribution, local advertising, the local point of purchase and the local events right.
Ramanujam Sridhar, Founder CEO, Brand Comm said, “Celebrity endorsements instantly build awareness and people notice that but there is always a question of moving from awareness to purchase. It works and everybody seems to be adopting this. It seems like a rat-race and if one brand is using it then the others feel that they might be left out, so they also use it.”
He stated that celebrities don’t wear the brands that they endorse. “If a celebrity in the West was to endorse a brand, then he has to use it. But here we don’t have such restrictions. Indians feel that a celebrity has come to entertain them in the context of a product that he/she is endorsing, so they don’t analyse it too much like a customer in the West.”
He added, “In a low-involvement and cheap product like a pair of ‘chappals’, if one sees the image of Katrina, he/she might go and buy it unlike a product which is expensive. Hence, celebrity endorsement for expensive products is a waste of time.”
On the shortage of creative ideas, he said, “Clients and agencies are doing very lazy work and their scripts are very ordinary for a brand that has celebrity endorsements unlike a normal commercial where a script has to be really good.” According to him, “Celebrity endorsement, very often, tends to be a lazy strategy and many clients are unfortunately moving to this strategy.”
It will be fair to conclude that in India, celebrity endorsements for a relatively less expensive brand certainly helps in creating brand awareness and increasing sales whether the celebrity uses it or not. From a marketer point of view however, roping in a celebrity entails spending anywhere between a crore of rupees to Rs 5 crore, depending on the celebrity and required commitment. The question that still remains is whether the marketer could have used this to better connect with his TG instead of making a celebrity dance or climb mountains on TV screens.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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ShareSwapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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