Aristotle said, ‘Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction.’ The very essence of celebrity endorsement is built along those lines. Fancier terms would call it secondary brand association. The secret to success of celebrity endorsement is shifting the focus of the audience from the commercial values of the product, to the aesthetic values of the face in front.
This is an era where the consumers are more value conscious and are prepared to sacrifice cost effectiveness for that sake – a remarkable change in psychology that threatens to upset all those theories of economics we were taught in school. The pat on the back goes to the only weapon in marketing marketers use to play with the consumer’s psychology – branding. The evolution of branding has brought about a revolutionary new trend that changes the game by going against what has always been assumed to be the inherent natures of humankind.
Regardless of the visit of Philip Kotlar twice in Bangladesh we are nevertheless, slow in practice while the whole world is trying to leverage the values of the brands through celebrity endorsement. Despite the merits, why so? The question may arise. Many cite the impact of the satellite and the internet in making Bangladeshis more value conscious about foreign celebs, and less enthusiastic about the local ones. Some of the characteristic staples expected of celebrities include flamboyantly luxurious lifestyles, multiple-digit bank accounts, trend-setting personal fashion and local celebs miss the first two, with a near miss on the third – and economics does state that human beings tend to go for better alternatives! It’s always considered by the marketers that the use of celebrities in the marketing campaign seriously evaluates the celebrity’s awareness, appeal, and relevance to brand’s image and resultantly the celebrity’s influence on consumes buying behavior. According to Friedman and Friedman, a ‘celebrity endorser is an individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed.’
Our celebs also miss media exposure. Celebrities abroad capitalize on the internet in getting in touch with their fans, uploading updates and photos, not to mention the hundreds of references made by their paparazzi armies. Local celebs rarely use the internet if ever, and have meager online references made to their name.
Another important thing is that aggressive branding of foreign products with international celebrities is having an impact causing consumers to be less focused of our local products. We can bring the example of Tibet. This branded house had a very good local market and they had a successful example of celebrity endorsement. The Bangladeshi audience still remembers the name, Mousumi, a very successful film actress. But day by day this branded house is losing their position in the market because of aggressive branding by the foreign brands with international celebrities. Celebrities are never born, actually, they are self-prepared. They can be focused by others, like media, but they cannot be created by others. But it is matter of great regret that in our country models & actors/actresses are not yet spending adequate time on self-preparation. Success is a product of celebrating the self, and consistency breeds popularity. A person becomes celebrity when he/she is notified by themasses because of his/her very special activities and performances what masses or we cannot do. It may be in field of sports, cinema, theatre, social life, politics, and science or anything with special results.
