Should there be a Cap on the Number of Brands a Celebrity Endorses?

Should there be a Cap on the Number of Brands a Celebrity Endorses?

How often do we see Amitabh Bachchan while watching TV each day? Definitely, more than twice, as he appears in several advertisements and social cause messages. Audiences love him as an actor and enjoy watching him outside movies also, be it as the face of India’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ or as a doting husband in the advertisement for Kalyan Jewelers. While there are several social causes that he endorses, the list of brands he endorses is quite long. Similarly long is the brand endorsements list of Virat Kohli, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, etc., whom we get to see quite often in advertisements on TV, print, billboards, etc., (Exhibit I). The ubiquitous presence of some celebrities in advertisements is difficult to miss, which raises certain pertinent questions: When a celebrity endorses several brands, does his/her brand equity reduces? What impact does it have on the consumers?.............

Companies hire celebrities to endorse their brands as it gives credibility to the product, adding immediate and palpable brand value. Brands endorsed by a celebrity have a better brand recall irrespective of whether the consumer is a fan of the celebrity or not. If the celebrity has a huge fan following, like in the case of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan or Virat Kohli, consumers value the products much higher. Consumers tend to develop an emotional bond and an affinity for the products that film stars and sports stars endorse while endeavoring to emulate the lifestyle of their heroes. This in turn helps companies achieve their business objectives.

Discussion Questions

I. Who is a celebrity? What is celebrity endorsement?
II. How do celebrity endorsements help a brand?
III. Several companies rope in celebrity endorsers for their brands. But some brands such as Amul (brand of milk and dairy products) does not use any celebrity in its campaigns and still manages to multiply its annual turnover. When does a brand need celebrity endorsement?
IV................

Exhibits

Exhibit I: Celebrities Endorsing Multiple Brands

Exhibit II: Film Stars and Sports Stars, the top Brand Endorsers

Should there be a Cap on the Number of Brands a Celebrity Endorses?

Preamble

The purpose of this Teaching Plan is neither to outline the answers to Case Debate’s discussion questions nor to suggest an ideal way of conducting an effective debate basis the given topic. It is more to share the authors’ perspectives, basis their classroom orchestration of this Case Debate, on possible ways of orchestrating this Case Debate.

Purpose of Case Debate

Purpose of this Case Debate, which is a prelude to the Case Method of Teaching, is to inculcate the following skills [Exhibit (TP)-I] that would amply benefit the participants during their careers............

As this Case Debate is based on a very generic topic, the purpose is not to dwell into only the research-based inputs but more to prepare the students/participants for the process of case discussion – except that while the case discussion would be based on the case facts, the Case Debate encourages the students/participants to present their ideas with no rigorous business dilemma.

Classroom Orchestration Format

While the faculty has liberty to orchestrate this Case Debate in his/her desired format – like individual presentations, group discussions, group presentations, group debate, written assignments, role plays, etc., – it is suggested that each individual participant must be encouraged and mandated to participate given the purpose of this product as outlined above. Depending on the time availability, the number of students in the given class, the positioning of this Case Debate, the faculty may choose to orchestrate this Case Debate with clear learning outcomes...........

Exhibits

Exhibit (TP)-I: CASE DEBATE – SKILL SCOPING

Exhibit (TP)-II: ASCI Guidelines for Celebrity Endorsements

Exhibit (TP)-III: Classroom Orchestration Plan – Should there be a Cap on the Number of Brands a Celebrity Endorses?