Celebrity Endorsement Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“Celebrity” refers to an individual who is known to the public, such as actors, sport figures, entertainers‟ and others of the like for his or her achievement in areas other than that of the product class endorsed (Friedman and Friedman1979). Today celebrity endorsement becomes the multi-million industries in the world. Marketers endorsed celebrities with their products and brands in the advertisement to increase their sales and change the perception of the viewer’s regarding their brand, which positively impacts on their buying behavior. These factors and attributes have an influence on consumer purchase decision.

The general belief among advertisers is that advertising messages delivered by celebrities have a higher degree

By definition, a celebrity is a well-known persona such as entertainer, actor, or athlete who is being identified by public for his or her achievements in the areas additional to the product category endorsed (Friedman and Friedman, 1979). Therefore, McCracken’s definition gives a clear view about the celebrity endorsement. It is the activity of utilizing publicity of a celebrity to endorse a product in advertising. Thus, companies use celebrities to endorse their products; however, there are deeper attributes that are involved in celebrity endorsement. Celebrities might endorse as a brand ambassador or a brand face. Brand Ambassador would be one who is not only a spokesperson for the brand or is just appearing as a testimonial for the brand's benefits. He/she is an integral part of the brand persona and helps to build an emotion, which goes beyond just appearing on TV commercials. He takes up the cause of a Brand Champion and is associated with every aspect related with the brand. What is more, there is a significant difference between making just an endorsement for say, a shampoo or an automobile, and being that brand's alter ego. Both parties take the latter far more seriously to the deal. So a brand ambassador would be involved in press releases, he/she would be actively participating in any sales promotion,

To achieve this, the marketer needs to be really disciplined in choice of a celebrity. Hence the right use of celebrity can escalate the Unique Selling Proposition of a brand to new heights; but a cursory orientation of a celebrity with a brand may prove to be fruitful for a brand. A celebrity is a means to an end, and not an end.

Celebrity Endorsement is a way to get the brand noticed amidst the rush that is there in the market place. More and more companies prefer the celebrities of different fields in India like the cricketers, Bollywood celebrities and other sports personalities to endorse their