THE RED CARPET 'FEVER'

Bollywood stars have traditionally ruled the ‘red carpet’ at events and award shows, and a range of brands have promoted themselves via celebrity endorsements. And, with the growing popularity of TV stars along with the ‘explosion’ of social media, marketing professionals are attempting to recreate the winning ‘formula’ with popular actors from the ‘small screen’.

It’s no surprise that Aamna Sharif from the popular serial Kahiin Toh Hoga had worn ornaments from Anmol Jewellers at her recent wedding, while Yami Gautam of Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam was wearing a Peppermint Diva red and blue lehenga at a friend’s marriage.

Similarly, Channel V’s VJ Andy wore a jacket by designer Ken Ferns for the Bigg Boss Season 7 finale.

Advertising professionals highlight the publicity received from such endorsements in page 3 of daily newspapers as well as a topic of “conversation” on social media, helps to aggressively promote a brand with its target audience at a very low cost.

Harish Bijoor of Harish Bijoor Consults, pointed out that leading brands give celebrities these products, either for the event or free, as the “credibility” it creates amongst the target audience, just can’t be ignored by senior marketing professionals. 

Similarly, Deepak Aggarwal, MD, Kazo, a leading fashion and accessories brand, who has also endorsed several actresses, highlighted that this strategy helps to boost customer trials, but a direct link with sales growth is rather “thin”.

Strategy for celebrities

Advertising and marketing professionals were unanimous that an actor and the product endorsed should quickly ‘strike a chord’ with the target audience, along with an appropriate pricing strategy.     

Ishu Datwani, proprietor, Anmol Jewellers,said, “Actresses and celebrities ‘invest’ in their appearance by hiring personal stylists and allied professionals. And, endorsements from such ‘stars’ help create a positive image for our brand.”

Datwani also pointed out that their earlier endorsement of Shilpy Shetty’s wedding jewellery, resulted in strong demand for the waistband worn by this TV and Bollywood actress.

Clearly, consumer brands are attempting to accelerate the ‘me-too’ purchase decision via a celebrity endorsement strategy.