question hour

Endorsers, inform yourselves!

Pan Bahar has stirred a controversy with Pierce Brosnan. Who does this help and who does it hurt?

Praveen Mathur

New Delhi

Praveeen, this controversy is good for the brand Pan Bahar and not so good for everyone else, I guess.

The brand has attained brand salience that is dominant.

The controversy raises some issues. The point is clear that brand endorsers need to be responsible for the brands they endorse after accepting a hefty fee. International stars need to be extra careful on this count. Global stars need to first understand the category as well as the brand they are endorsing, and then need to understand the legal, social, economic, political and religious context that they operate in. The onus of this due diligence is on the brand endorser.

In the current issue with Pan Bahar, all these issues come to the fore and fulfill one good task. They tell brand endorsers to be careful and cautious.

Brands have been using war and the India-Pakistan imagery to brand advantage. Is this good at all?

Rohini P

Chennai

Rohini, everything is fair in love and war, for sure. However, war is a dicey subject. It’s a hot potato.

Brands need to handle this subject sensitively and with panache. Brands in the past have used the war theme in a crass manner. Such efforts have backfired badly. When handled with care and sensitivity it can deliver.

The important point is not to handle war itself. It is better to handle the sentiment behind it. It is better to handle the purveyors of the war machinery, even. Therefore, when you use the soldier and make a bigger hero of him than the war has made him, it works. It is important for brands to appear that they are beyond commerce when it comes to themes of war. When you use it as a tool of crass commercial delivery, it bombs.

(In pic) The daily retreat at the India-Pakistan border post of Wagah

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