When stars get social ...

Salman Khan wants to know what’s your way of life, on his Facebook page. It’s no coincidence that it fits in well with Suzuki Motorcycle’s new campaign - Apna Suzuki, Apna Way of Life, which he endorses. Suzuki is not the only brand that has been making the most of Salman’s 9.2 million followers on Facebook and over 48 lakh followers on Twitter. Coca-Cola India too launched its new Thums Up campaign on his Twitter and Facebook pages even before it hit the telly.

Anu Anamika, National Head - Marketing, Suzuki Motorcycle India says, “Salman Khan is our brand ambassador and has a huge online following. It was a conscious strategy to pre-launch the campaign through Salman’s online channels. It’s a logical step if you have a brand ambassador that has such kind of a fan following.”

But Chulbul Pandey is not just giving up precious space on his FB wall for sneak previews of his brand campaigns – he’s also trying to keep his followers happy by hosting a live Webcast of DJs playing music or sharing some words of encouragement about the new Badminton League or tips on fitness.

At a time when India is the third largest Facebook nation and the sixth largest Twitter nation and is amongst one of the large consumers of YouTube videos in the world, despite low penetration for Internet access, brands in India are putting their strategies together to reach out to consumers on social media like never before. The ability to monitor online brand campaigns in real time and the opportunity to build sustainable communities is driving a portion of marketing budgets to the digital domain.

But is social media presence becoming part of endorsement contracts? Not yet, say celebrity managers, and it depends on an endorsement deal. Usually, celebrities’ social media pages are used as part of a broader deal covering all forms of media.

Indranil Das Blah, COO of talent management firm CAA Kwan, says, “Now in India, brands take a closer look at the digital following before making a decision on signing celebrities. They are asking how many followers celebrities have on social media platforms.” Blah believes the social media presence of stars is their personal space and is largely being used to give a certain digital push to the brands’ campaigns. He says it is largely non-commercial in nature and there is fine line to tread between over-commercialisation and genuine engagement with fans.

Most film stars bank on their Facebook and Twitter followers to spread news of their latest releases by sharing their trailers and stills of life behind the scenes. Some like Amitabh Bachchan use social media to engage with fans through regular updates and comments on life, events currents and past. Others like MS Dhoni use their relatively rare presence on Twitter to joke about Sir Jadeja, which were popular during IPL. Meanwhile, stars such as Madhuri Dixit, who has made a comeback to tinsel town, is sharing updates on her free online dance academy through her social media messages.

Digital rights managers

But as digital and social media management becomes serious business, companies such as Fluence believe they can make a difference. CA Media India’s venture, Fluence manages digital rights for stars.

“The crux of Fluence is connecting celebrities via their online presence on various digital platforms both to their fans as well as brands who would like to reach out to these fans. Fluence works closely with celebrities to build and grow their online presence across the digital landscape in an engaging and entertaining manner using data analysis and studying user habits. These insights combined with our international learnings allow us to leverage this online presence to launch successful brand integrations without sacrificing integrity or letting down loyal fans who visit these pages daily,” says Rajesh Kamat, CEO, CA Media India.

He adds, “Another key component of our business is the equity-linked deals we bring to our celebrities via Fluence’s parent company, CA Media.”

As of now Fluence manages Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Malayalam film actress Manju Warrier. The company is also in talks with several other celebrities across the fields of film, TV, music sports and regional entertainment space.

As far as brands are concerned the firm has worked with brands such as Thums Up, Binani, Kalyan Jewelers, Nestle and Suzuki for their digital campaigns. “Digital marketing is at a nascent stage and brands are still coming to terms with the medium. Having said that a lot of forward thinking companies are capitalising on the exponential growth of the medium,” he said.

But the essential part of the overall digital management of these stars includes the process of helping them.

Take, for instance, avid blogger Senior Bachchan. A dedicated manager works with him round the clock. The team helps him develop full-fledged posts that allow his fans to look forward to exclusive content. They have also built Facebook properties such as Tuesday Memoirs, Wednesday Words, Thursday Poll and Friday Fan-Picks which have built greater engagement and fan levels than before.

Genuine connection

For now though, not much money is changing hands for brand activities on celebrities’ social media pages. Asked if the stars use their social media pages largely to keep in touch with their stars or also for revenues, Kamat said, “You would be surprised at how much the celebrities enjoy engaging with their fans through social media. The primary driver behind their interaction is the wish to connect with their fans, but they are also cognisant of the fact that due to the developing digital space in India, there is also the opportunity to generate revenue by leveraging their online presence built with great effort.”

Fluence sees opportunities in new revenue streams such as online video and celebrity merchandise to scale up its business.

Indian stars can take heart from the global examples. Celebrities are getting into technology tie-ups. Wayne Rooney and Fivestar Training have launched a ‘football training and information’ app. Jessica Simpson has launched a social media-only clothing line while Kim Kardashian is endorsing Shoe-dazzle, an e-commerce portal focused on shoes propagated largely through her social media channels.

Specialists such as Fluence are expected to be more in demand as the social pages of stars get closely linked to their business deals and become a measure of their saleability. Business or not, it's a personal connection between the stars and their fans.

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