Twice as nice

ADVERTISING: Getting celeb couples to endorse a product is a good idea, but only if you have a script to support their compatibility.

Whirlpool's sales have grown by 25 per cent post 2005. Tata Indicom has seen a huge jump in the number of subscribers.

The common thread for them is that both these brands are endorsed by star couple Ajay Devgan and Kajol. No, they are not the only reason for the success of these brands but they definitely earn the credit for making the brands even stronger. So, is the idea of having couples as brand ambassadors catching up with Indian marketers?
 

PAIRING UP
Ajay Devgan-Kajol	Whirlpool, Tata Indicom
John-Bipasha	Clinic All Clear
Saif-Rosa	Royal Stag
Nawab Pataudi-Sharmila	Grasim, Asian Paints
Abhishek Bachchan*	American Express, LG, Motorola
Aishwarya Rai*	L'Oreal, Lux, FujiFilm
* Individual endorsements

There have been a few couple brand ambassadors, apart from Ajay Devgan-Kajol, like John Abraham-Bipasha Basu, Malaika Arora-Arbaaz Khan (they endorsed MR Coffee long back) and, more recently, Saif Ali Khan and Rosa.

"The concept of having couples as brand endorsers is not a new thing and can do wonders for the brand," says Josy Paul, national creative head, David. Paul probably used the first celebrity couple in Indian advertising, when he worked on a Grasim suiting campaign with Nawab Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore.

"It is the length of the association which matters in the case of celebrity couples as brand endorsers."

His point is endorsed by Anand Narasimha, previously creative head with Saatchi and Saatchi. Narasimha, who is currently the CEO, Madison Shopping Mart, feels that in case of any celebrity couple endorsers, the most important thing is the duration of the association.

"If brands want to capitalise on couples which are in the news for some or the other reason, then they wouldn't get much out of it." It is also about how cleverly you use the celebrity.

"If you just make an expensive looking ad with celebrity couples, it won't have the right impact. You have to see how the celebrities can help the brands and not how brands can help celebs." Just like Nike used Michael Jordan or for that matter Whirlpool is using Devgan and Kajol.

Says Shantanu Dasgupta, vice president marketing, Whirlpool, "When we signed Ajay-Kajol, the only thing we looked at was whether they will fit with the brand profile or not. Once that was clear, we didn't have to look any further." The results are there for all to see.

The endorsement deals for couples is not too different from their individual fees. For instance, if Saif commands a fee in the range of Rs 1.5 crore, then his endorsements with Rosa would vary in the same range. But in the case of couples, the fee is somewhere around the same as their individual rates. John-Bipasha charge in the range of Rs 2 crore.

Says Ravi Kiran, CEO, StarCom MediaVest, "There has been a rise in the endorsement fees in the last few years and couples do command a bit more than their individual prices." He, however, laments the dearth of celebrity couples in the country. "Apart from Abhishek-Aishwarya, the only other which comes to my mind and can work is Shahid-Kareena Kapoor."

But, at the end of the day, it is all about how to use celebrities. As Paul points out, "It is how you incorporate endorsers in the script and the idea. A bad idea with good looking celebs will simply not work."

As Narasimha says, "Also, it is all about the relevance. If an apparel brand uses Abhishek and Aishwarya and launches a wedding collection, it would be a great concept." But not if it is only about jumping the bandwagon!