Celebrity Communication in Brand Promotions: A Risk and Reward Analysis

Abstract

In one hand, after the famous pug, Vodafone’s ‘ZooZoos’ have created a bizarre in the advertising world and have become celebrities and on the other, Tiger Woods (or the companies like Accenture) is running through the toughest time. Celebrity Endorsement has been a widely used maneuver in the marketing and seems to be ‘Ram Ban’ for all marketing woes. Today’s competitive marketing environment is full of threats so a woo of “something fresh and enthralling” is everywhere, the escalating frequency of innovative ideas can easily be seen in today’s brand building exercises.  Huge amount of money is being spent on star appeal hoping that they will bring their magic to the product and make it more successful. But is successful advertising creating celebrities, isn’t it? Do the marketers need to be smarter while strategizing advertising? However the Celebrity Endorsement needs to be used intelligently and must be communicated in such a level-headed way that it reaps the dream benefits to the brand. It not only serves as an aid to fetch the recall but also convert into purchase action. But several risks are also thereat if not accompanied by a clever idea, effective and impeccable positioning. It may threat a big disaster if not blended intelligently. Celebrity endorsement have been shaped up in a complex term , in the clutter of the TV channels and print advertisement, a celebrity is advertising for multiple products and brands ,also several brands have endorsed more than one celebrity. Attractiveness is important than effectiveness, presence is important than association.  It is resulting as confusion in the consumer’s mind to believe or take as advertainment. The present article is eyeing at the essential factors of celebrity endorsement and the pros and cons of the approach in an uncompleted way.