Comments on: Celebrity Endorsements “Indian” way of building Brands? http://rajanand.biz/2010/01/04/celebrity-endorsements-indian-way-of-building-brands/ Digital Business Innovators Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: @shefaly http://rajanand.biz/2010/01/04/celebrity-endorsements-indian-way-of-building-brands/comment-page-1/#comment-598 @shefaly Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:21:17 +0000 http://rajanand.biz/?p=577#comment-598 Commented on that post. Commented on that post.

]]> By: rajanand http://rajanand.biz/2010/01/04/celebrity-endorsements-indian-way-of-building-brands/comment-page-1/#comment-597 rajanand Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:28:15 +0000 http://rajanand.biz/?p=577#comment-597 Thanks for the comment Shefaly. I'm not against celebrities endorsing products, I think that is brilliant and makes a good story to tell. My key point here is lack of freshness. <br><br>Allow me to explain myself, as you might know Indian television notoriously displays ads not only during the breaks but also ticker tapes through the programme. Generally what you see is an actor or crickets alongside the brand. That is not one but just about every brand. It makes me think, what about innovation? Also why is Mahendra Singh Dhoni signed as a brand ambassador for Lafarge Cement? Is that really making cement sexy? Why not invest funds in an engaging campaign with the user, perhaps sponsoring builder discussion forums. After all successful brands connect many to many. <br><br>In the case of 3i I agree someone like JayZ, Ashton Kutcher etc would be approrpriate. Coming on to Tiger Woods signing to Accenture, I think it's highly innovative as most management consultancy firms wouldn't think of it. The point is, Accenture now stands out of the crowd. Although if Mckinsey tomorrow signs up Cristiano Ronaldo, I wouldn't think of it as innovation. Thanks for the comment Shefaly. I'm not against celebrities endorsing products, I think that is brilliant and makes a good story to tell. My key point here is lack of freshness.

Allow me to explain myself, as you might know Indian television notoriously displays ads not only during the breaks but also ticker tapes through the programme. Generally what you see is an actor or crickets alongside the brand. That is not one but just about every brand. It makes me think, what about innovation? Also why is Mahendra Singh Dhoni signed as a brand ambassador for Lafarge Cement? Is that really making cement sexy? Why not invest funds in an engaging campaign with the user, perhaps sponsoring builder discussion forums. After all successful brands connect many to many.

In the case of 3i I agree someone like JayZ, Ashton Kutcher etc would be approrpriate. Coming on to Tiger Woods signing to Accenture, I think it's highly innovative as most management consultancy firms wouldn't think of it. The point is, Accenture now stands out of the crowd. Although if Mckinsey tomorrow signs up Cristiano Ronaldo, I wouldn't think of it as innovation.

]]> By: Shefaly http://rajanand.biz/2010/01/04/celebrity-endorsements-indian-way-of-building-brands/comment-page-1/#comment-596 Shefaly Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:03:22 +0000 http://rajanand.biz/?p=577#comment-596 You raise a good question but I am afraid you have got completely the wrong end of the stick. <br><br>Celebrity endorsements could broadly be two kinds: one, where the celebrity is just named the brand ambassador e.g. Aishwarya Rai for Longines, based on the celebrity's recognition alone; two, where the celebrity endorsement is a local decision, based on the _local context_ and the particular person's _known qualities_ deeply embedded in that person's _professional achievements_ known to the _target audience_. I emphasise these for your consideration. <br><br>On neither of the two bases mentioned above would Wayne Rooney be the brand ambassador for 3i (a product category which has no precedence of using brand ambassadors but if they did, then perhaps a sportsperson or artist who has shown immense business skill as well as sporting talent would be relevantl; I'd say Jay-Z would be a great brand ambassador for 3i should the VC firm ever go down that route; look up Jay-Z's business portfolio to see what I mean). <br><br>There are several examples of the second kind in your list and I am afraid I do not think you appreciate the reason, for instance, why Amitabh Bachchan endorses Binani Cement (and why not Shahrukh Khan). <br><br>Why single out India on this anyway? L'Oreal's celebrity endorsers in various product categories are famous; Unilever used to use film stars to sell Lux yonks ago and have you missed Accenture and the link of their global branding to Tiger Woods? :-) You raise a good question but I am afraid you have got completely the wrong end of the stick.

Celebrity endorsements could broadly be two kinds: one, where the celebrity is just named the brand ambassador e.g. Aishwarya Rai for Longines, based on the celebrity's recognition alone; two, where the celebrity endorsement is a local decision, based on the _local context_ and the particular person's _known qualities_ deeply embedded in that person's _professional achievements_ known to the _target audience_. I emphasise these for your consideration.

On neither of the two bases mentioned above would Wayne Rooney be the brand ambassador for 3i (a product category which has no precedence of using brand ambassadors but if they did, then perhaps a sportsperson or artist who has shown immense business skill as well as sporting talent would be relevantl; I'd say Jay-Z would be a great brand ambassador for 3i should the VC firm ever go down that route; look up Jay-Z's business portfolio to see what I mean).

There are several examples of the second kind in your list and I am afraid I do not think you appreciate the reason, for instance, why Amitabh Bachchan endorses Binani Cement (and why not Shahrukh Khan).

Why single out India on this anyway? L'Oreal's celebrity endorsers in various product categories are famous; Unilever used to use film stars to sell Lux yonks ago and have you missed Accenture and the link of their global branding to Tiger Woods? :-)

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