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Associative Benefit: A celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.

Mitigating a Tarnished Image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the consumer's confidence in its chocolate brands following the high-pitch worms controversy; so the company appointed Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last year, when the even more controversial pesticide issue shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both soft drink majors put out high-profile damage control ad films featuring their best and most expensive celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fightback as an ingenious and fastidious Bengali who finally gets convinced of the product's `purity', PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a television commercial which drew references to the `safety' of the product indirectly.

Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.

Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments (age, gender, class, geography, etc.).

Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and, therefore, prove to be a good bet to generate interest among the masses.

Rejuvenating a Stagnant Brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant 'Chyawanprash' category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in Amitabh Bachchan for an estimated Rs. 8 crore.

Celebrity Endorsement can Compensate for Lack of Innovative Ideas Sometimes

Disadvantages of a Celebrity Endorsing a Brand

The celebrity approach has a few serious risks: -

Reputation of the Celebrity may Derogate after he/she has Endorsed the Product: Pepsi Cola's suffered with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Since the behaviour of the celebrities reflect on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at times become liabilities to the brands they endorse.

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* Contributed by -
Saurbh Katyal,
Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune.