How often do you observe your favourite stars endorsing brands? How often do you hear stories about how a celebrity earns crores when they choose to advertise a product? How common it is to see celebrity faces printed on hoardings and billboards, not promoting their movies but instead, promoting a product?
Well, all these are features of celebrity endorsements. Yes, when a celebrity is approached and then seen as the face of a brand or a product, they become the endorsers of the same. Look at Alia Bhatt for Maybelline, Virat Kohli for Too Yumm and many more.
In some cases, a celebrity endorses because they themselves use and appreciate the product while in others, it has always been a race to fame.
However, what are the advantages leveraged by these brands in return for this hefty amount for celebrity endorsements?
1) Familiar Faces all around
Celebrities are celebrities because of people. Once a celebrity endorses a product, the viewer gets to see their favorite celebrity or just a familiar face on the television or on social media.
Infact, familiarity works best especially when there is a launch of a new product, which ensures people remember the advertisement if the celebrity has an impactful reputation. You watch, you see and you remember.
2) The desire to be a celeb
Every individual who is a fan or crazy about one particular celebrity is seen dousing some of his qualities, habits or interests. Following the same lifestyle or buying similar clothes are a common phenomenon among fans.
Hence, once they see a celebrity endorse a product, they connect more with the brand and desire to use it since they watch their heroes praise its qualities.
3) Targeting new markets
Each celebrity has a separate fan base. Amitabh Bacchan is more loved amongst the 30-50 years old these days which becomes a major factor when he is seen advertising tea.
Similarly, if the same brand wants to target the young crowd, they’ll ensure a new fresh celebrity face who is more appreciated and talked amongst the youth is given the chance to endorse the product. An increase in the targeted customer base is always a win-win for sales.
4) Credibility one-on-one
People assume and believe that if a renowned celebrity is endorsing a brand, it automatically becomes credible as it has some right credentials attached to it.
For instance, Puma’s new face is Sara Ali Khan. Thus, not only Sara’s fans see a familiar face but others would also appreciate how Puma is with a credible source as its endorser.
5) Memory game
Like mentioned, you see a familiar face, you see a new appreciated celebrity on-screen or if there is a launch of a new product and Shahrukh khan acts in a brilliant advertisement, the whole purpose of it all is that when you enter a store, you remember the advertisement, remember the product and then make a purchase.
Celebrity endorsers are important and vital. However, these days, the money paid as compared to the returns is being considered highly skewed. Companies are shifting to social media platforms and connecting with influencers for mass-market reach and having celebrity endorsers for specific targets, I mean talk about changing times?
