E-commerce’s awareness magnets

Brand ambassadors have become a fashion statement by e-commerce players. What do they contribute, if anything?

Warangal

Jaydev, brand ambassadors contribute a fair bit, a lot more than many of us imagine they do. Brand ambassadors bring with them a very important item: their awareness scores with potential consumers of such online brands. A brand ambassador, for a start, is therefore an awareness magnet. Fashion offerings from brands such as Myntra and Limeroad are at best generic in their identification and differentiation scores. It is these brand ambassadors that add the clear identity and differentiation scores.

Brand ambassadors, however, should be used with a specific positioning so that their use is truly beneficial. If this specificity is not achieved, brand ambassadors can give only a temporary advantage.

Online brands’ ambassadors need to be engineered to connect with consumers in a different manner than offline brand ambassadors, though. While offline, they can get away by being macro and generic in their sway, online, they need to be specific and focused. Salman Khan for Yatra.com in the days gone by is a specific example of such use.

Online is still a niche today in a sea of offline offerings. If one is to create a focus on online fashion, e-commerce portals need to get specific in the use of their brand ambassadors. Celebrities of any kind will do. Film actors, cricketers, authors, politicians, maybe even poets in the future.

Brands today are using social themes to promote themselves instead of the commercial themes. How does this work?

Mumbai

Sophie, we essentially live in a society where we are interlinked to one another. We are all umbilically connected, even though we may occupy disparate social, economic and religious high grounds. Brands operate, thrive and grow in this society. Brands that ignore society and its myriad needs live in a vacuum of their own creation. It is important for marketers to think “inclusive” and not “exclusive”.

Campaigns that are society-centric use this as an insight to advantage, and therefore the social theme.

I just got to know that Being Human is a brand that belongs to Salman Khan. How is it doing?

Jalandhar

Roop, Being Human is a humongous success. Few brands in this space of what is derogatorily and realistically called the ‘rag trade’ are able to notch up ₹170 crore in turnover in such a short time. The brand has seen quick success because it is Salman Khan driving it. To an extent, when you think the “King of Good Times”, you think Vijay Mallya, and when you think Being Human, you think Salman Khan. Khan’s star power is one which has seen its ups and downs. Salman is a brand that got branded and de-branded equally fast. Khan’s Salman's star-power is as good as the last three films that were grossers at the box office. You are only as good as your last three memories. Or for that matter, you are only as bad as your last three memories.

Khan’s strength is his forthrightness, and his ability to connect with his fans. To an extent, he lives the life his fans want him to, fans who are his consumers as well.

See my movie, buy my t-shirt. Wear my t-shirt, remember me. Wear my t-shirt, remind others about me. Make them see my movies. And once again, see my movie, buy my t-shirt. To an extent, Being Human is a great big standalone merchandising effort of the star Salman Khan. Compare its turnover with the turnover of many a licensed brand in India from overseas, and you will see it is a big, big hit. A quiet, but big hit, for sure!

Harish Bijoor is a brand strategy expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. Mail your queries to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in

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