CELEBRITY ENDORSER VERSUS MASCOT SAMPADA RAHALKAR 103 PGDM-B SIES COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES ? TABLE OF CONTENTS Sr. No. ParticularsPage No. 1. 1Introduction 2 1. 2Motivation2 1. 3Research Objectives 3 1. 4Research Problem3 1. 5Scope & Limitations3 1. 6Variables under Study 3 2. 1(A) Theoretical Literature Review4 2. 2(B) Research based Literature Review6 3. 1Research Design8 3. 2Sampling Design8 3. 3Data Collection Methodology 8 3. 4Data Analysis Tools8 4. 0Research & Findings9 5. 0Recommendations & Conclusions 6. 0Annexure 7. 0Bibliography ? CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
With increase in competition in every sector, advertising has become a vital survival need for companies. More and more companies have started including advertising in their budgeting and allocation planning of funds instead of simply managing with leftover funds, as used to be the case with most companies earlier. The goal of advertising is to cost-effectively reach a large audience and attract customers. If done correctly, advertising can enhance the success of a business. A lot of different methods, means, aids and media are used in order to advertise most effectively.
Effectiveness of advertising is often measured in terms of recognition, recall, association and sales difference to name a few. Celebrity endorsers and mascots happen to be two ways of reaching the customers. An analysis on both the methods and its appeal is done and presented in this research paper. A comparison of both the methods is done and suitability of both of them is found out. Further, both are compared based on the return on investment of each one of them. The opinion of the general public is also found out by means of a primary survey.
MOTIVATION / REASON FOR SELECTING THIS TOPIC Advertising is an integral part of marketing and is one of the most visible elements in providing information about products, services, and ideas. Advertising, PR, Promotion are the key elements in the proportional mix of marketing. Celebrity endorsement has been in fashion for long. However, in the recent past, a lot of advertising campaigns using celebrity endorsers met with a bump in the way. Furthermore, there has been a rise and fall in the popularity of brand mascots. This makes the topic very intriguing.
In the present scenario, where cost-cutting has become the need of the day it has become very imperative to check the effectiveness of the advertising campaign and the return on investment of the same. Hence this study also deals with comparing the benefits and the drawbacks of using either a celebrity endorser or a brand mascot to promote the brand. ? RESEARCH OBJECTIVES •The objective of the research is to study the trends and gauge the effectiveness and impact of celebrity endorsers and mascots on consumer’s mind through advertising. •Comparative study between the two.
RESEARCH PROBLEM Marketeers world over appoint famous celebrities and influential personalities as their brand ambassadors as they have the ability to influence the psyche of the consumers. But what if the plan blows in their face and the celebrity endorser earns a bad reputation among the masses and affects the brand in turn? On the other hand, a mascot is not as expensive and also the risk of any negative publicity or miscommunication happening because of a mascot. However, a mascot might not always have the same kind of impact as a famous A-list celebrity.
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study focuses on ambassadors and mascots for brands of both products and services, Indian and International. It is limited to the information available on various articles, research papers, books, and the opinion of the sample size in the primary research. Another limitation is the sample size viz. 37. VARIABLES UNDER STUDY •Independent Variable: Impact/effectiveness of mascots and that of celebrity endorsers. •Dependent Variables: Advertising costs incurred, sales improvement, recall value, influence on buying behaviour.
CHAPTER 2 (A)THEORITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW The Indian market grew at a fast pace in the nineties, everything from pencils to cars, salt to luxury goods required an advertising campaign. This was the time when we saw emergence of celebrity advertising and mascots lost their appeal. We also lived in a time when there was no argument regarding the fact that a celebrity can make or break a brand. The pampering and recognition given to the celebrity in the marketing of the product in some cases was even greater than the product itself.
Reasons like great brand awareness for the product, sustainable brand image, stimulus and revival of brands and product association led to the growth of celebrity endorsements. The advertising world, during this time strongly believed that the celebrities transfer their success, personality, status and power to the brand. 1 Simply stating, a brand is a differentiated product and helps in identifying your product and making it stand out due to its name, design, style, symbol, color combination, or usually a mix of all these.
Before one can scrutinize the effects of celebrity endorsement on the overall brand, one needs to ferret over the implicit nuances of advertising. Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following motives: •Instant Brand Awareness and Recall as it helps in identifying the product and making it stand out due to its ambassador. •Celebrity values define, refresh the brand image and reinforce familiarity and proven reliability. •Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image. Brands acquire images from the type of people who are seen using them.
Images of prestige or success are imbibed when brands are associated with glamorous personalities. •Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage. Besides these, there are also some rather interesting comments made by critics, such as: •Lack of ideas. •Convincing clients Examples of celebrity endorsements are numerous in Super Bowl ads. Past and present endorsements include Coke’s Mean Joe Green (1980), McDonald’s Larry Bird and Michael Jordan (1993), and MasterCard’s Homer Simpson (2004). Celebrity endorsements are a way to draw initial attention to a product or company, which creates an opportunity to deliver the marketing message.
If the celebrity is highly regarded by your target audience, endorsements can also give credibility to a brand. If you do not have a large enough budget to hire a national celebrity, try redefining “celebrity” by thinking in niche terms. Your “celebrity” could be someone well known in the industry – one of your customers or suppliers, for example. Another way to redefine “celebrity” is to think local. Brainstorm a list of people who are well known locally in certain circles. Your list could include well-regarded business people, minor league sports personalities, and other high-profile citizens.
Then, approach your favorites with a proposal. The key is hiring someone known and respected by your target customers. 2 This surely marked the decline of the mascots. However the big question is “what is the benefit of brand ambassadors? ” It’s a pertinent one, because a celebrity endorser does not come cheap. According to industry sources, the average going rate ranges from Rs 1. 5 to Rs 3 crores. They cannot be easy to schedule. They must have stiff conditions for their contracts. It might be worthwhile to consider how they fit in the older advertising markets of the world.
Firstly, in most developed markets, brand ambassadors are used primarily to endorse lifestyle products. Nike uses Michael Jordan; Omega uses Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford etc. But in case of the world’s 10 most powerful brands, not one of them uses brand ambassadors: Coke, Microsoft, GE, Intel, Nokia, Toyota, IBM, and Mercedes. Even in India, our most pervasive and valuable brand names do not use an ambassador. 3 In this age of expensive brand ambassadors, mascots provide a creative, sustainable, low-cost model for communicating a brand’s values and personifying the company’s desired image.
The other advantage is that as mascots are created and owned by the companies, switching loyalties, which is a frequent incidence with celebrity endorsers, can be ruled out. For example, Aamir Khan starred in the first Pepsi commercial aired in India, but today he is a brand ambassador for Coke. But you can hardly think of Gattu and Goody, the Nerolac tiger, swapping brands. Whether advertising at a global or local level, finding the right public face is critical for a company to add value to its business.
Most mascots provide a fun, light-hearted way to get an organization or company noticed in festivals, parades, sporting events, schools, store openings, civic events and even the media. Kids love mascots, and consumers easily remember them. Willard Scott, Bob Brandon, King Moody, Geoffrey Guiliano and Joe Maggard; what do these people have in common? Well, they are just five in a list of many more who have essayed the role of Ronald McDonald on television. A nanosecond is all it takes for the image of the red-haired clown in his bright-yellow jumpsuit to make people think of the McDonald’s brand.
Over the years Ron, as he is popularly called, has acquired an iconic status and has become the public face of the burger giant whose golden arches is the most widely recognized symbol in the fast food industry. Two important issues need to be considered while using a mascot. One – the use of the mascot should help accentuate the brand personality and help in sharper consumer association with brand values. In short, it should ensure recall and differentiation. Two – the mascot must be infused with the right spirit so that it can be used innovatively in various communication, promotions and consumer engagement efforts. (B) RESEARCH BASED LITERATURE REVIEW Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Overall Brand By Sanyukta A. Kulkarni and Sahir U. Gaulkar Abstract: Today ‘Celebrity Endorsement’ has attracted immense debate on whether it really contributes to the brand building process or whether it is just another lazy tool to make the brand more visible in the minds of the consumers. Although it has been observed that the presence of a well-known personality helps in solving the problem of over-communication that is becoming more prominent these days, there are few undesirable impacts of this practice on the brand.
The theories like ‘Source Credibility Theory, Source Attractiveness Theory and Meaning Transfer Theory’ provide a basis on which the methodology of celebrity endorsement works and also explains how the process of the celebrity endorsement influences the minds of the consumers. Firms invest huge amounts as advertising expenditure for hiring the right celebrity. However there lies uncertainty with respect to the returns that the company might be able to garner for the brand. The issue of matching the values of the celebrity with the brand values is also very important, i. e. getting the right celebrity to endorse the right brand.
Consumers perceive the brand as having superior quality because it has been endorsed by a credible source. This makes endorsement as one of the indictors of quality for any brand. Corporate credibility along with endorser credibility plays a significant role in the attitude of the consumer towards the brand and the advertisement respectively. On the other hand, the over popularity of the celebrity sometimes overshadows the brand. If the celebrity is involved in multiple endorsements, it tends to create confusion among consumers and hence negatively affects the perception of the advertisement and the brand.
Hence, to say clearly whether the practice of celebrity endorsement impacts positively or negatively to the brand still remains a debate. Impact of Celebrity endorsement on a brand By Saurabh Katyal Abstract: “A sign of a celebrity is that his name is often worth more than his services. ” – Daniel J Boorstin The motif behind total branding may be decocted as an attempt to amalgamate diverse activities to win customer preference. Apropos to this context, the topic “Impact of celebrity endorsement on overall brand”, is a significant one. The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past years.
Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrities in influencing consumer-purchasing decisions. It is a ubiquitously accepted fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow special attributes upon a product that it may have lacked otherwise. But everything is not hunky-dory; celebrities are after all mere mortals made of flesh and blood like us. If a celebrity can aggrandize the merits of a brand, he or she can also exacerbate the image of a brand. If I may take the liberty of rephrasing Aristotle’s quote on anger, “Any brand can get a celebrity. That is easy.
But getting a celebrity consistent with the right brand, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way… that is not easy. ” CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN This research is of ‘Descriptive’ kind, as it only aims at observing and judging the habits of customers. This research doesn’t influence or affect the normal behaviour of the subjects i. e. consumers, in any way. Other studies pertaining to this topic are also taken into consideration and primary data is collected by means of a questionnaire. SAMPLING DESIGN Convenience Sampling or non-probability sampling is technique is used for the primary survey.
A questionnaire including both open ended and close ended questions is floated. The sample size is fifty, which would include people who are 18 years of age or above. DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY Newspaper and magazine articles, research papers and journals comprise the secondary data on which the study is based. This secondary data consists of views and inferences drawn by the respective authors. The source of secondary data material has been stated. The primary data collection is by means of a questionnaire which is filled by 37 respondents. DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS
The data collected by means of questionnaire will be represented graphically with the help of pie charts, bar diagram etc. The questionnaire is framed such that, various qualitative aspects under the study can be quantified and compared. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH FINDINGS The number of respondents is 37. 1. Association of mascots and celebrities with their respective brands (% of correct replies) There were eight options of celebrities and mascots each, out of which it was seen that people were able to match more celebrities with the right brands than identify the given mascots.
As the bar diagram shows there was a small 2% difference. 2. Five most favourite advertisements Of all the favourite ads, 25% were ones having a mascot, 23% were ones having celebrities, and a vast majority of 52% were ones that didn’t have either. Some of the most common ads mentioned by the respondents were: ? Vodafone – Zoo zoo ?Fevicol ?Cadbury ?Coca Cola- Amir Khan ?Thumbs up- Akshay Kumar ?Sprite- Spoofs ?Chloromint 3. Have you ever purchased a product only because your favourite mascot/celebrity endorses it? The respondents mostly replied negatively to this question.
Only seven of them said their favourite celebrity was only one of the reasons they bought a product, whereas none of them purchased any product only because of a celebrity/mascot. The seven respondents who fall in the “partly” bracket named 9 products in all, all of which were ones endorsed by celebrities. 4. Have you ever refrained from purchasing a product only because a mascot/celebrity you don’t like endorses it? All 37 respondents replied unanimously to this. This shows celebrities/ mascots don’t act as deterrents. 6. In an ad, how much importance do the following aspects hold, according to you?
As the pie shows, ‘information’ leads as the most important characteristic in an ad. Jingle, humour and mascot follow closely. Important observation over here is that mascots are perceived to be more important than celebrities. 7. Which ads according to you are more enjoyable, and you don’t mind watching again and again? 22 respondents said they find ads having mascots more enjoyable. It is a clear winner over here with 60% vote. 7. Which ads according to you are more appealing and get your attention? Here 15 respondents voted for mascot, whereas 14 were indecisive.
Hence mascot got voted as having more potential to attract attention. 8. Which ads can you remember better? In terms of recall factor, mascots again got the majority vote i. e. 21 respondents voted for it. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS Consumers are largely influenced by top-of-the-mind recall value of a brand. As observed from the research findings, viewers were able to associate the celebrities and mascots with their respective brands which are advertised currently. Hence, the objective of advertisers can also be simply reminding the consumer of the brand and making its presence felt.
The age and other demographics also show different patterns in the way people perceive an ad. For instance, people belonging to a particular age group were not able to identify certain mascots that were launched years ago. The effectiveness of advertisements largely depends on the target segment besides the factors seen and studied through this research. The popularity and influence of brand ambassadors changes from consumer to consumer. Hence advertisers need to keep in mind their consumers while formulating an advertising strategy. Something that works well with one brand may not be best suited for some other brand.
Also the choice of media depends on the target segment, the kind (category) of product and competition. ANNEXURE QUESTIONAIRRE: SIES COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES Questionnaire Topic: Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsers vis-a-vis mascots (A mascot is any person, animal, or object used to represent a brand/company. Mascots are used as fictional spokespeople for consumer products. ) Name: Gender: Age: Occupation: Please answer the following questions without any external help. 1. Match the following celebrities with the brands they endorse. Write the respective letter against the celebrities in the blank column provided) CELEBRITYPRODUCT (mention the letter)PRODUCT Sharukh KhanOmega(A) Amir KhanMonaco (B) Abhishek BachchanIdea (C) Bipasha BasuAccenture (D) Tiger WoodsSunfeast (E) Irfan KhanAdidas (F) Pierce BrosanVodafone (G) Sania MirzaReebok(H) 2. Name the Brand/Product that each of the following mascots represent. MASCOT NAME OF THE MASCOT/ BRAND/ PRODUCT 3. Which are your 5 most favourite advertisements? (in descending order of your liking). BRAND NAMEMEDIA (Print, TV,Radio, Internet etc. )ONE LINE DESCRIPTION
Eg: ChloromintTVOne with Salman Khan & Sohail Khan 4. (a) Have you ever purchased a product only because your favourite mascot/celebrity endorses it? oYes, definitely oPartly due to that oNo, Never (b) If your answer is among the first two, then mention the mascot/celebrity and the brand. You can mention more than one brand 5. (a)Have you ever refrained from purchasing a product only because a mascot/celebrity you don’t like endorses it? oYes, definitely oPartly due to that oNo, Never (b) If your answer is among the first two, then mention the mascot/celebrity and the brand. You can mention more than one brand . In an ad, how much importance do the following aspects hold, according to you? (Rate them on a scale of 10. 1 being least important and 10 being most important) Humour Celebrity Mascot Jingle Information Special Effects 7. Which ads according to you are more enjoyable, and you don’t mind watching again and again? Those having… o Mascots oCelebrities oCan’t say 8. Which ads according to you are more appealing and get your attention? Those having… o Mascots oCelebrities oCan’t say 9. Which ads can you remember better? Those having… o Mascots oCelebrities oCan’t say Bibliography 1.
Articles at mbapursuit, (2008), Changing face of Indian Advertising, httpwww. mbapursuit. comchanging-face-of-indian-advertising-mascots 2. Bobette Kyle, Implementing Super Bowl Marketing and Advertising Techniques, http://www. websitemarketingplan. com/superbowl/ads. htm 3. Thomas J. Ramesh (October 6, 2005), http://www. dnaindia. com/opinion/report_who-is-the-coolest-of-them-all_4724 4. Editorial team, IIMIndore Management Canvas (22 January 2005) http://www. managementcanvas. iimindore. in/icanvas/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=49:branding-through-mascots&catid=34:marketing-and-branding&Itemid=56
