The Hindu Business Line : Star-struck!

Mainline advertising in almost all media uses celebrities in a big way today. A wide range of products and services seem to need their presence to generate attention and interest. There are also quite a few public interest concerns such as HIV/AIDS, ecology and health in which celebrities across the globe are involved.

Celebrities mostly seem to come from the fields of sports, cinema and TV entertainment, and, of course, from the modelling world. The industry has immense faith in the role of celebrities. But what is the rationale behind using celebrities?

Reach

Celebrities can reach out to vast numbers in many countries, cutting across cultures, languages and religions. The media scene today also facilitates instantaneous global reach.

Glamour

A celebrity brings in a unique glamour that acts as a catalyst to create awareness of the product or service advertised.

Clutter-Busters

They help beat the clutter in media through their well-recognised and known faces. This instant recognition is the draw. By definition, celebrities are very expensive. If so much money is to be spent, surely a lot of thought and evaluation of the potential effects on the brands must have gone in during the planning process.

Credibility

A celebrity is generally successful in his or her profession or field. So the first consideration is the expertise and ranking in that particular field - this creates trust in the reader or viewer.

Likeability

Once trust is established, likeability should follow. It is a function of the brand and the ad ambience. Credibility over a broad cross-section of people has to be translated to likeability by the target audience.

Target audience

This leads us to the target audience. It has to be defined clearly; only then can we match the response to the chosen celebrity. Defining the target audience is a very disciplined activity and has to be based on market research — demographic and psychographic variables are involved. We also need to know the media habits of the targeted groups. This entire exercise has become very complicated because of two new developments — fragmenting media and fragmented markets.

Fragmenting Media, Fragmented Markets

The advent of the Internet over the last few years has suddenly revolutionised two key aspects of marketing — advertising and distribution. It is the fastest growing media. In India, it grew by almost 80 per cent last year, although on a small base, compared to the overall industry growth of 14 per cent. The Internet has the unique advantage of reaching the target audience directly. The cost per contact is very low. The Web has suddenly produced innumerable opportunities for expert slicing and dicing of the audience. Like fragmenting media, markets are also getting fragmented. The so-called `mass market' we all know is slowly shrinking. Our consumers are a lot more diverse and firmly self-indulgent than they were, say, 10 years ago. The transition is taking place from mass marketing to more of micro marketing.

There are two distinct trends that we need to watch. One is the evolving theme of cause-related marketing. Today, in most democratic societies, there are consumers fighting for various issues such as ecology, non-exploitation of Third World labour and animal welfare — they have become more vocal and active. Companies have found an opportunity to support some of these causes as part of public relations. In turn, this has certainly influenced brand choice of consumers because they feel the things they buy are made by companies which support the cause they favour. Strangely, one of these causes has to do with globalisation and some MNCs are already facing the pinch in some countries.

The second trend has to do with rapidly rising incomes — an offshoot of brisk economic growth. Young people are scaling unprecedented income levels nowadays. A whole range of new activities is defining the lifestyle of this generation. There is greater interest in the arts, greater travel to lesser-known places, more dabbling with new-fangled ideas such as alternative medicine, and, of course, there are new ways to sweat it out in the gym. This cluster of self-actualisation needs has produced correspondingly fragmented markets.

Life cycle

The brand life cycle is a very serious issue while choosing a celebrity. Generally in the launch phase of a product or service, celebrities can be far more effective. They give the necessary leg-up at the awareness phase, which could eventually lead to interest, comprehension, trial and adoption of the brand or service. On the other hand, if the brand is mature or showing signs of some decline, the choice of the right celebrity to push the brand becomes lot more difficult.

The personal life of the celebrity

The next consideration has to do with the private life of the celebrity, which, for all practical purposes is open to the public. There are many instances of fallen idols. Michael Jackson is a supreme example who disappeared from the public eye for the wrong reason. Maradona of `hand of God' goal fame has been in and out of rehabilitation for drug-related illnesses. Advertisers can face embarrassing moments if the celebrities they use become flawed icons. Another key consideration is over-exposure of the celebrity. Amitabh Bachchan is a prime example. We see him in movies, we see him on the Kaun Banega Crorepati show and we see him in quite a few brand endorsements too.

Congruity of Message

Cultural anthropologists point out that celebrities generally bring in certain meanings because of their overwhelming personality and the values they represent. These then are bound to affect the messages they send through endorsements. Sania Mirza symbolises not just the liberation of women in a broad national context where female literacy and access to many things open to men are yet to come up to decent levels. As Time pointed out, she represents the moderate side of the Muslim brotherhood in India and could be a potential role model in India and abroad.

Durability

The celebrity has a life cycle distinct from the brand involved. As vast sums of money are involved, durability requires careful consideration. Take Sachin Tendulkar. He may hang up his cricketing gear in the next two or three years. But his appeal will not dim. He is a good example of a durable celebrity. I recall the induction of Zakir Hussain to kick off the famous Wah Taj! campaign for Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea bags in the early '90s. The association continues — a text book example of sustained good use of a celebrity.

(The writer is President, Telekonnectors Ltd.)

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