Throw your brand ambassador out

In a country that breathes in Bollywood and breathes out cricket, the quickest way to script a successful brand campaign is believed to be an actor's or a cricketer's signature. However, a new survey suggests that celebrity-endorsed campaigns do not influence purchase decisions.

The survey, done by market research firm IMRB International in association with IPAN, has thrown up two other eye-opening inferences. One, that celebrity advertising has proliferated so much that consumers have begun to associate celebrities with brands they do not endorse. The second is that good advertising can create celebrities out of non-entities.

More than half the respondents in the survey do not think celebrities use the products they endorse. Many believe that celebrities would endorse many things just for money, but themselves use only the high-end or imported products.

About 78 per cent of the people surveyed think quality is the most important factor in buying a product, 9 per cent are led by the price and a meagre 3 per cent consider celebrity as the most important factor.

The survey covered 2,109 people across age groups, social class and gender in the metros, mid-sized cities and small ones. That is not good news for many.

A research report by Adex India, brought out by TAM, says there has been 49 per cent growth in celebrity advertising volume in 2007. Since 2003, celebrity endorsement volume on television has increased by more than six times.

Expectedly, the advertising money spent on celebrities has gone up, too. In 2001, only 25 per cent of advertising money went into well-known pockets. This has grown to almost 60 per cent, according to Percept Talent Management, which handles many celebrity accounts.

On an average, companies are spending 0.7 per cent of their annual brand sales volume on celebrity endorsements and a whopping 35 per cent on media buying.

As a case in point, Cadbury India, when it was reeling under the worms controversy, roped in Amitabh Bachchan to endorse its claim of quality. That is believed to have helped.

However, Bachchan's endorsing Dabur's Chyawanprash, for instance, seems to have an impact that does not match up to his impact on Cadbury's fortunes.

In fact, Bachchan is endorsing so many products that consumers have begun to make incorrect brand associations.

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