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Also, the use of multiple celebrities to endorse a brand may hinder the meaning transfer process, and thus, lead to confusion among the consumers.

Figure 4: Multiple Celebrity Endorsement (Adidas & Hyundai Santro)

9. Conclusion

Celebrity endorsement can be a goldmine or a minefield for a company's brand building process. There have been extensive studies relating to the process of celebrity endorsement and brand-building.
These studies indicate that celebrity endorsement has worked well in some consumer segments while failing in others. Few celebrities have been more successful than those with almost parallel fame. So the role of celebrity endorsement in the advertising space is equivocal and cannot be seen as a assured strategic tool to win profits, market share, revenues, etc.

Consumers can identify the clear difference between a good script and a good brand idea. For example, while Pepsi's Sachin and Bachchan (kite flying) ad was seen as one with a good script, Coca-Cola's Thanda Matlab... was seen as an insightful and strong brand idea. For all the flak it drew in its vainglorious attempts to run down competition, Thumbs-Up was seen as the only example of seamless linkage between brand positioning and brand celebrity.

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* Contributed by -
Sohag Sarkar,
IBM Global Services (India) Pvt. Ltd.,
Bhopal (MP).