Celebrity Endorsement Index (2004)

If you don’t have a great idea, get a celebrity to endorse your product, says one line of thought. But I wonder if the solution is as simple as that. The whole subject of brand ambassador-celebrity endorsement is intriguing. And, several questions come to the fore as one digs deep into the subject.

Take, for instance, the US where 20 per cent of all TV commercials feature famous personalities. Celebrity endorsements there are, as a matter of fact, not directed to push sales alone but to grab the attention of remote-happy television viewers. Hence, close to 10 per cent of television advertising budget in the US goes for celeb endorsements.

In India, Bollywood and sport personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Fardeen Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Bhaichung Bhutia rule the mind-space and airwaves.

It is interesting to see Amitabh ‘touching’ our hearts with Nerolac; making a fervent pitch for peace in the public service message released after the Gujarat riots; playing the matrix for Reid & Taylor; doting grandfather in the new Cadbury’s commercial, and so on.

As an endorser, he fulfills all the FRED objectives, namely, Familiarity (target market is aware of him, finds him friendly, likeable and trustworthy); Relevance (which says that there should be a link between the endorser and the product as well between the endorser and the audience); Esteem (the polio endorsement, for example, is successful as the masses see him as a credible name-face-voice); Differentiation (in all his projections, he is seen to be one among the masses, and yet he towers above them. He is different). His appeal is universal, lesser mortals merely cater to specific niches…

So, which celebrity should one go with? Who should be the spokesperson for your product? Who caters to which niche? Does it always happen by trial and error? Should a corporate organisation pay for individual research to find logical fits for their needs/brands?

he US has a popular index, called the Q score, that summarises various perceptions and feelings that consumers have in the form of ‘likeability’ measurements. It measures familiarity and appeal of performers, characters, personalities, etc.

So, how about developing an index in India that would aid companies in reaching out to their respective audiences? The index could be classified on the basis of demographics, psychographics, and geographical demarcations. It would have to be relevant to advertisers and brand managers (who have used any of the known celebrities as endorsers; they could check out the measurable value addition), representatives from respective fraternities/domains, peers, media, etc.

The index could be based on a rating that takes into account agreed parameters/attributes, past-present media coverage/favourability and relevance, ground situation in terms of successful/unsuccessful seasons/tenures, future prospects, etc.Additionally, the index could look at whether endorsements attributed to a particular celebrity have caused a clutter.

The Business of Movie Merchandise

No longer is film merchandise merely a promotional tool used to boost the fortune of a film at the box-office. Worldwide, it has proved to be a successful hook for film studios, itself making healthy contributions to a film’s revenue streams and sometimes (albeit rarely) generating even more than the box-office collections themselves.

Consider this — tied along with the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the worldwide sale/licensing of Harry Potter merchandise has touched US $ 1 billion - figurines, food tie-ups, posters, accessories, comic strips, stationery to magic kits and home furnishings featuring Harry and friends from the Hogwarts school.

And, who can forget Ghost Busters, Jurassic Park, ET-The Extra-terrestrial - ‘stuff’ that legends are made of, literally, for they stood out for their innovative merchandise, as much for their box-office collections.

Synergy is now the key, as web technology is linking the studios and merchandising in ways never thought possible before. Web viewers are already able to link from devoted sites to buy their favourite toys.

Cut now to the Indian film industry and the situation is totally different.

Horsing around is serious business

Unedited as 'I' wrote it :) - prefer it like this.

M.F. Hussain loves to paint them; Dr. Vijay Mallya is passionate about them; our Finance Minister doesn’t find it too ‘taxing’ to take an afternoon stroll to watch a ‘chukka’ or two. Horse aficionados all!
For thousands of years man has been fascinated by this beautiful and captivating creature- the horse. Almost divine in their perfection, horses have been considered the ultimate symbol of elegance-power-pride.

Big Monies… high stake racing.

There is a lot riding here, with on-course attendance of 2 million each year; an estimated 1000 million rupees in betting turnover; prize money in excess of Rs. 200 million each year (the highest, compared to any other spectator sport in India-the Indian Derby and the Poonawalla Breeders Multi Million alone give out prize money of 6.8 million rupees and 6 million rupees, respectively).
Although horse racing is where the big money is, one sport that retains the quintessential romance of the horse and yet is certain to get your adrenalin pumping is Polo and it is this segment that we shall try to cover in this piece.

Right place… at the right time.

As we step into another polo season (Delhi season kicks off in the 1st week of November this year), I cannot help think how much has changed for the game in the last 4-5 years. Polo has seen a revival of support and it has been extraordinary, to say the least.

It began a few years ago, when concerted efforts of the army; corporate patrons; royal families, who had worked tirelessly on promoting the game, bore fruit.

But, another phenomenon taking place at the same time, was perhaps equally responsible for the turnaround – an array of high-end domestic and multinational brands - Omega, Hyundai, ABN Amro to just name a few - that had arrived in the late 90s and the new millennium, were trying to capture the mind-space of their target audience, but were increasingly faced with a ‘clutter’.