Influencing their way into ad space
Celebrity endorsements are changing character. The young, trending celebs are not the only sought after ones. It’s the 40 plus celebs like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Neha Dhupia, Shilpa Shetty, Sonu Sood, Saurav Ganguly, etc., who are being seen in numerous ads now
Unless you’ve been living under the rock, you couldn’t have missed that Kareena Kapoor seems like the favourite choice of advertisers, endorsing an endless list of brands, including BBLUNT Salons, Lakmé, Malabar Gold, Prega News, Lux, Puma and Rasna, and some of them since 2016! She’s also been the ambassador of Sony BBC Earth’s Feel Alive.
Another face you couldn’t have missed on audio–visual ads is Neha Dhupia. The Roadies judge has also been the face of several brands, such as Panasonic, Femina and Godrej.
Other prominent faces in the endorsement space are of celebrities who haven’t been seen in the mainstream media lately, such as Shilpa Shetty, Saurav Ganguly and Sonu Sood, who proved to be not only a reel life hero but also a real life hero with his philanthropic work during the pandemic.
So what draws advertisers and brands to choose a known but surely older breed of celebs instead of cashing in on the fresh and more trending names?
PRACTICAL CHOICES
Piyush Pandey, the famed Executive Chairman India, Ogilvy, is matter-offact in his explanation of the factors responsible for brands choosing a celeb for their products. “The choice of casting a celebrity for a brand advertisement is purely mathematical. The price charged by non-main stream actors is far lesser as compared to that by Alisters. So when some brands get adamant on using celebrities, we’ve to find someone who is a celebrity but also doesn’t cost a lot,” he says simply.
Author, Journalist and Film maker Pritish Nandy also agrees that as budgets play an important factor.
BRANDS ENDORSED: Marvel Tea, Vanesa, Naturamore, IMARA, BBLUNT Salons, Lakmé, Malabar Gold, Prega News, Lux, Puma, Rasna, etc.
The expert’s take: Explaining Kareena’s popularity among so many brands even today, Piyush Pandey says, “Kareena Kapoor, even today, is a bigger name than the few new actors who’ve perhaps done films more recently,” he articulates. “Therefore, when brands can get someone as well-known as Kareena Kapoor at the same price as today’s top actors, they will still go with Kareena. Added to her celebrity status, Kareena is a new mother who has also maintained herself post-pregnancy. Therefore, she’s a good fit for a lot of products as consumers will certainly be interested in how she manages to look the way she does at her age post her pregnancies.”
BRANDS ENDORSED: Ponds, Panasonic, Prega News, Femina Miss 2020, Godrej, SBI Life Insurance, etc.
The expert’s take: Piyush Pandey explains why the actress has been a perfect cast for so many advertisements despite doing very little films of late. “Neha Dhupia is being cast for skin-care products because at her age she has enviable skin. Hence, she fits the role for such products because she has maintained her skin. The choice of the cast in an endorsement depends on one requirement — the actors must have the attributes that brand is trying to sell.”
During advertisement decision-making brands that cannot get A-listers, they choose the celebs that were once well known but have since fallen into some kind of obscurity. “Also, actresses above 30 years of age may be considered ‘too old’ for an ageist industry such as cinema. So while those actresses find a decreasing number of lead roles in films, they are still famous and relevant for brands to capitalise on,” he says. “Another reason is that while young fans most likely chase the A-listers, at least a couple of generations stay familiar with actors who have been around for a while. Therefore, older stars have a larger ‘catchment area’ because more people are familiar with them.”
The expert’s take: Pritish Nandy explains Ganguly’s sudden draw to advertisers. “Saurav Ganguly is now the BCCI President. He controls the IPL, which is one of the most important platforms for promotions. A lot of brands are interested in using the IPL for promotion, so they find Saurav as an access to the platform of IPL,” he explains.