When Page 3 Scores for IT

From Bollywood's Kareena's size-zero fad, Anushka Sharma's long legs, Deepika's sensuous charm to cricketing icons like the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, ‘captain cool' MS Dhoni, and the young and vivacious Virat Kohli, obsession with celebrities is not new. Celebrities presence in promotional campaigns of brands is growing exponentially. They are selling not just FMCGs but the glamor is fast inundating the tech products promotional campaigns as well. Celebrities are much in demand
for endorsing tech products like laptops, tablets, smartphones, digital cameras, and even security products. Is it a win-win situation for all-the vendors, the celebrities whose endorsement deals are getting fatter, and even the channel partners? Certainly, this is not just a fad as more and more tech companies are roping in the celebrities to endorse their products. An Anushka endorsing a digital camera is ‘cool' rousing the interest of the consumer and even Sachin being the brand ambassador of Kaspersky security products, is giving an edge to the security solutions major.

With growing competition and consumer awareness, comes the burden of being in everybody's
eyes, and for all the right reasons. And if a popular face is associated with your product, half the job is done. No wonder then, be it laptops, mobiles, or cameras, all of these are today endorsed by celebrities. Instant brand awareness and recall and defining and refreshing the brand image are some of the reasons why even the IT companies are going glam when it comes to marketing and promotion of the product.

CELEBRITY MAGIC WORKS!
Of late, more and more celebs, from Bollywood to cricketing icons, are endorsing plethora of
products. Does it really help to have a celebrity endorsing the products since they are no geeks?
The ice is broken now. Celebrities have entered the tech promotional campaigns like never before. But is there a ‘connect' or this is just an ‘obsession'? Shahrukh Khan, who features in many promotional campaigns now, was again the trend-setter here when he started promoting Campaq Presario range of notebooks and desktops with its ‘Yeh Hui Na Baat' campaign. This campaign was directed by Prasoon Joshi, the renowned ad film-maker and lyricist, who completely endorses this trend, "I roped in Shahrukh and the campaign was a big hit. It all depends on how the celebrity is ‘used' in the promotion. Like any other brand, celebs are being hired for tech products and why not?"

The trend has now turned into a phenomenon. Talking of the digital cameras, the latest fad in photography and a must-have gizmo for youth, almost all the big players in the market have a brand ambassador to endorse their cameras, as generally, the target group in this segment is the youth who has a fetish for stylish celebrities. While Nikon is being endorsed by the sassy Priyanka Chopra, Sony's cybershot range is being represented by the leggy lass, Deepika Padukone. Recently, Fujifilm, too, joined the league by hiring the pretty Minissha Lamba to promote their new range of ‘Point and Shoot' cameras. Not staying behind, Canon has also roped in newbie Anushka Sharma
as the youth icon of its digital cameras. So, all these biggies have invested heavily in the promotional marketing activities with their ambassadors.

Sachin endorsing Kaspersky security solutions is another milestone as Kaspersky, which offers a
range of solutions for home users, small and medium enterprises, and corporations offering protection from IT security threats, including viruses, spyware, crimeware, hacker attacks, phishing and spam, may not be a run-of-the-mill brand but is getting sure-shot mileage due to brand endorsement by the iconic Sachin Tendulkar. "Kaspersky is known for reliability, detection, and technical expertise. Tendulkar personifies our core brand truths of relentless expertise, being always
ahead, different, optimized, and reassuring. We recognized the great synergy between our brand
and Tendulkar, both being leaders and specialists in their own fields, " says Jagganath Patnaik, director, channel sales, Kaspersky Labs. Take the case of Sony Vaio (laptops), endorsed by Bollywood's current reigning queen, Kareena Kapoor. According to Tadato Kimura, GM Marketing, Sony India, the deal has proved to be extremely fruitful and has given a fillip to the sales of the product. "Being one of the most widely-followed youth-icon, Kareena matches the level of energy, vibrance, passion, and fun associated with Sony VAIO, and thereby elevates the aspirational value of the brand. Sony has a very favorable record of Kareena led VAIO campaigns," says Kimura.

Many industry experts say that having somebody whom the masses can identify with helps in driving sales and thus help in increasing the value of the brand. No wonder, brands in today's parlance are increasingly pumping in money to get big names to endorse their products. Mobile phones is another segment which is totally ‘glammed' by celeb power. Keshav Arora, CEO, CHAZE Mobile who has recently appointed Sunny Leone as their brand ambassador, says, "In today's world where ‘seeing is believing' is the mantra to achieve corporate success, I think appointing a brand ambassador is one of the sure shot ways to increase sales. A brand ambassador provides the brand with an identity through which con-sumers can connect with the brand and thus
have a long-lasting relationship with it." Taking cue from brands such as Maxx Mobile appointing Indian cricketer MS Dhoni; CHAZE Mobile roping in Sunny Leone; Celkon Mobiles appointing cricketer Virat Kohli; etc, it can be guessed that in most of the cases, a popular face with huge mass appeal, is signed for a brand to attract majority of the crowd. Companies, however, have their own reasons for appointing their chosen ones. Murali Retineni, executive director, Celkon Mobiles, which has recently roped in cricket sensation Virat Kohli says, "Since our mobiles are targeted for the youth, Kohli was definitely an ideal choice for our ‘brand ambassador' as our brand has come out with the most youthful features."

Arora of CHAZE Mobile says, "CHAZE is one of the most promising players in the country and we are very pleased to have associated with Sunny Leone, another rising star of Indian cinema, for endorsing our handsets. Leone brings a lot of charm, poise and verve into the brand, that will help us in connecting with the youngsters of today." The much talked about Leone garnered many eyeballs on the social media platform for CHAZE Mobile, which has helped in creating a buzz around the brand, furthering greater awareness about the brand. MS Dhoni was appointed the brand endorser for Micromax. Ajjay Agarwal, CMD, Maxx Group says, "Maxx believes in Dhoni's potential, and the performance that he has delivered over the years is a testimony to his talent."

SALES AND CELEBS
An important fact that has come forth while interacting with the brand's marketing managers
is that celebrities are hired to personify and compliment a given product range. Says Tadato
Kimura, GM, marketing, Sony India, "Using celebrities to endorse a brand does get measurable
results, and a lot depends on the product communication and how the celebrity compliments a
brand's personality. Sony's association with Deepika Padukone has been a perfect fit. Deepika has
added to the style and cool quotient of the brand," adding that the association has helped in tremendous brand awareness and recall. The brand has been associated with Deepika Padukone since 2010, and has just invested a whopping budget of Rs 50 crore towards its multi-media campaign ‘incredible zoom, incredible details' shot with Padukone to promote their new line-up of cyber-shot cameras.

However, Kimura also revealed that Sony enjoys a dominant position even in nonprompted
brand awareness. The aforementioned statement is a supplement to the fact that in their case, the celebrity just adds glamor and the ‘look-good' factor. But for Fujifilm, who is gaining a foothold in
the digital camera market, it means glamor plus business. It, too, supports the idea of celebrity endorsement. Sriwant Wariz, national marketing manager, Fujifilm, says, "Fujifilm is a brand committed to quality with focus on creating products that delight the consumers. We found similar values being conveyed by Minissha Lamba. Her choice of movies has been thoughtful and she has shown commitment to create her own space. Besides, she is an avid photographer and a very popular face. Considering these factors, we decided to choose her as our brand ambassador for Point and Shoot range. The association has given us instant brand recall." The company has kept a budget of Rs 10 crore for their Q1 promotion campaign with Minissha, which will be spent across ATL, BTL, and retail activities. Another Rs 60 crore will be utilized as this year's marketing investment.

Sriwant affirms, "In current times when the consumer is always bombarded with advertising messages which are not believable most of the times, a brand ambassador provides lot of relief as people trust his or her choice, judgment, and words. Research also shows that brands with brand ambassador are more noticeable and likely to be successful than one without it." Kimura also revealed that their celebrity-led campaigns have been a hit always and appreciated by the Indian audience. Not just glamor, mostly companies rope in celebrities for high brand recall and reaching to more consumers. "There has been a positive impact on the sales as well as brand recall after associating with Sachin Tendulkar. The youth of this nation looks up to Tendulkar as a huge
inspiration. Signing him as brand ambassador is in synergy with our plan to be #1 globally by 2014. The association has helped us to establish better connect with the end-users not only in metro but also in tier-3 and tier-4 cities," adds Patnaik.

Recently, the company conducted an innovative program, ‘Meet the Master'-offering a platform to customers/end-users with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the super centurion Tendulkar. The users had to buy and activate a Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 or Kaspersky Antivirus 2012 or Kaspersky PURE pack between April 1 to May 31, 2012, and register on the microsite to get a chance to meet with the Master Blaster on winning the lucky draw. There was a huge response to this scheme. ‘Meet the Master' offer was also customized for the channel segment. On completion of certain set of targets, channel partners were given gold coins and an opportunity to meet Sachin Tendulkar. ‘Meet the Master' offer was aggressively promoted in the channel segment. About 275-300 channel partners participated in the offer pan-India, out of which nearly 200 have qualified
to meet Sachin Tendulkar.

Every company that spends a fortune in appointing a star always hopes for a positive return; and in most of the cases the results turn out to be as desired. Arora says, "Appointing Sunny Leone as our brand ambassador has helped us garner plethora of eyeballs which is a pre-requisite in the highly competitive environment which we operate in. Since signing Leone, our brand recall has significantly improved and our sales have gone up by 30%. I am sure CHAZE will be a well-established brand in the near future." Arora added, "Our channel partners are a happy lot, as Sunny Leone being a part of the brand imagery, they are also seeing an upsurge in awareness and inquiries of our product range. A choicest few were privy to our deliberations on getting Leone as our brand ambassador and right now they are very happy to be a part of the mobile revolution that intends to bring top of the line mobile technology in an affordable price bracket to the masses."

Companies also feel that celebrities these days are also well-informed about the product they endorse and spread goodwill about the same through word-of-mouth. Towards VAIO marketing, Sony will invest a huge sum of Rs 90 crore in FY12, starting with ‘Spark a Trend' campaign with Bebo. "I am very proud of VAIO's exceptional growth in Indian market and we hope to continue the momentum by further strengthening our business pillars of strong product line-up, robust distribution network, and innovative marketing. He added saying, "The contribution of VAIO is also
expected to rise from 20% to 25% in the overall sales of Sony India by FY12," says Masaru Tamagawa, MD, Sony India.

More or less, sales are always enhanced when a known face is associated with a brand. Since it is believed that only a reliable brand would invest in a hefty amount to sign a celeb. Says Wariz, "The association with Lamba has been wonderful for two reasons. Firstly, it has given us instant brand recall and has brought us in the consideration set of consumers; secondly, it has given immense faith to our dealers about our commitment and seriousness to establish Fujifilm as a strong brand in India. As far as sales impact is concerned there has been a 25% jump in the sales for the period of April- May as compared to the same period last year. We expect this Q1 (April-May-June) to be 30% more than last year's Q1."

ARE CHANNEL PARTNERS ATTRACTED BY THE GLAM QUOTIENT?
The success formula of appointing ambassadors has also gone down well with the channels, in a sense that they are seeing an influx of consumers wanting to buy that particular brand. Sunil Malik of Omkar Service, Delhi, who deals in Maxx Mobiles says, "Sales have definitely improved. Of course people look after the quality of the product, but appointing a celebrity makes the product popular." hannel partners have their own opinion on celebrities being hired to endorse brands.
Arun Managave, CEO, Aditya Preipherals, says, "Sales have been higher since the time Kareena
started endorsing Vaio. It not only increased the recall value, but also made the product popular among women as they went for colored versions like yellow and pink." Praveen of Computer Gallery also opines, "There has been a 50% increase in the sales of Vaio since Kareena represented it. The main reason for it is that she is a well-known figure and so attracts lot of customers."

A retailer of Sony Cyber-shots and Fujifilm from Mumbai says, "There has been a 10-15% rise in the sales of some of the Fujifilm models after Minissha started endorsing them. But as regard to Sony, it has always been a trusted brand, and the most sought-after. So Deepika's association in individual did not boost the sales further. Like, there has been no exceptional rise in sales after the
recent Brazilian ad campaign featuring her. The sales have been smooth as always even before she got associated with the brand." Ram Agarwal of Pooja Tech, Cochin, a prominent channel partner of Kaspersky, partly agrees to it, "Since Sachin has been roped in as the brand ambassador, the sales
have gone up. Now a Kasperky pack comes up with Sachin's signature and this is a huge draw. However, I personally believe that getting a product endorsed by a celebrity raises the promotional cost which translates into escalated cost for the consumer. But since this is a trend now, it is certainly beneficial."

DOES CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT OVERSHADOWS THE BRAND?
Sometimes celebrities tend to overshadow the product they endorse. The main idea of making the product more visible gets defeated simply because the media attention, including the interviews and story angles, focuses on the celebrity rather than the product. Secondly, people sometimes find it difficult to find any connection between the tech product and the celebrities, especially when they come from the glamor world. So sometimes the deal only makes the product costly rather than boosting its sales. Acer is an apt example of it. The company, which roped in Bollywood hunk Hritik Roshan for its laptops in 2009, now sells the product without any popular face. And the
partners say that the move has not affected the sales at all. Prashant Vinod Lohia, CEO, Impulse Technologies says, "After Hrithik Roshan was dropped by Acer for its laptops, it did not affect the sales of the product. I do not think celebrities help in that case." Also, the strategy sometimes might not prove fruitful for the sales but it certainly affects the budget of the company, as more popular the face is, the heavier is the ‘price-tag' that comes along with them.

NON-ENDORSERS TAKE
Where on one hand, most of the companies are vouching for celebrities, there are some companies
out there in the market that believe in their own product and do not depend on any known face to promote their brand. BlackBerry is one such iconic brand that has not roped in any celebrity for its products. Krishnadeep Barauh, director, marketing, Research in Motion, India, says, "BlackBerry is
used by global corporations, industry leaders, celebrities, and youth. Our users are strong advocates of our products which makes Black- Berry a popular brand across different user profiles. Celebrity endorsement indeed helps in increasing brand awareness. However, Research in Motion (RIM) has not yet formally appointed any celebrity to promote BlackBerry." "Celebrities worldwide rely on BlackBerry products to stay connected with their loved ones while they are on the move and this also enhances the aspirational value among their fans, friends, and colleagues further," adds Barauh.

CONCLUSION
No doubt, youth today is inspired by celebrities. Perceived as style icons, celebs are closely watched and even followed. Does the magic works when they endorse tech products as well, in terms of brand value or sale? Well, to some extent, it surely does. Celebrity endorsement has proved to increase awareness of a product and works wonders when it comes to establishing trust among the consumers. Most importantly, it fetches instant attention towards the brand endorsed, which automatically means more business. Celebrities endorsing commercial products is not a new norm in the industry. Be it film stars or cricketers, advertising industry is full of renowned names backing
the products. The trend has gradually creeped in the field of IT as well. And there seems to be no stopping now. It seems like a ‘win-win' with sales booming and even channel partners rejoicing in this glam boom.