Ad campaigns also have a shorter life span – from five-six months earlier to a couple of weeks now. Of course, the glamour quotient of film stars helps in media reach, but there is indeed life beyond celebrity advertising.
On Monday, PepsiCo India announced Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh as the brand ambassador for its flagship cola Pepsi, and released an ad film with a new tagline “Rise Up Baby!” The campaign, set to Ranveer Singh’s foot tapping rap, encourages the young to rise above external validation and follow their heart, the company said in its release.
While there’s no quibble with the campaign, Twitterati panned film stars playing musical chairs between rival soft drinks brands. Before endorsing Pepsi, Ranveer Singh was brand ambassador for Thums Up. In 2019, Pepsi’s move to onboard Salman Khan to promote its “swag” slogan was received with shock and disbelief as he was the face of the more macho and mature brand Thums Up in Coca-Cola’s portfolio. (AFP)
While there’s no quibble with the campaign, Twitterati panned film stars playing musical chairs between rival soft drinks brands. Before endorsing Pepsi, Ranveer Singh was brand ambassador for Thums Up. In 2019, Pepsi’s move to onboard Salman Khan to promote its “swag” slogan was received with shock and disbelief as he was the face of the more macho and mature brand Thums Up in Coca-Cola’s portfolio.
However, neither Salman Khan nor Ranveer Singh are the only ones to have switched sides. Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, among others, have been variously associated with brands belonging to the two cola firms at different points in time.
Brand expert Ashish Mishra, CEO, Interbrand India & South Asia, says stars will continue to endorse soft drinks. In cola brands, the drivers of relevance and distinctiveness are often emotional or attitudinal. Being a relatively low involvement purchase, the need to be top of mind is also high, says Mishra. “Celebrity endorsements thus are an expedient way to accelerate both the salience and the attitude,” he adds.
Appointing film stars as ambassadors also makes eminent sense especially if brands are targeting smaller towns. “City folks tend to be a little blasé about film celebrities, but they still have a lot of star appeal in small towns,” says Lloyd Mathias, marketing and branding expert, formerly with PepsiCo. Back in the 80s and 90s, cola brands focused on the big-city, college going youth. Much has changed in India’s demographic profile since and health concerns are top of the mind in big cities. Most schools don’t permit carbonated soft drink sales either, pushing soft drinks firms to go deeper into the country, Mathias says.
However, with sportsmen not keen to endorse sugary drinks, the celebrity pool for soft beverage brands has also shrunk. Virat Kohli stopped endorsing Pepsi as the product didn’t sit well with his fitness regime. “Sportsmen who were staple for the cola companies, today flatly refuse to endorse brands that they see as discordant,” he adds.
But actors who are willing and don’t get reappointed by the same brand, rush to rival firms as soon as their cooling off period is over. Experts don’t blame the ambassadors for switching sides. The brand must be watchful of such moves, they say.
Playing musical chairs creates confusion in the mind of the consumer and impacts brand recall. To pick stars who have been the face of a rival brand for a long period, smacks of laziness and lack of inspiration, Mathias says. “However, using a star in an original manner – like Coke did with Aamir Khan playing different roles in the ‘Thanda Matlab Coca Cola’ campaign can break clutter and pass off into urban lingo,” he adds. Khan endorsed Pepsi in ‘89-90 and Coke got him in 2003.
Unimaginative use of stars is also a concern. Mishra says unless the brand is very sharply defined, the celebrity’s persona can easily dominate it leading to merely short-term salience. “Given the high costs involved it is surprising to see an interchangeability of brand ambassadors between the rival cola brands. It signals poor brand authenticity,” he adds.
Increasingly, experts are of the view that one doesn’t need to be overly dependent on big stars. Consumers, especially youngsters, are switching to social media and spend several hours a day on their mobile phones watching YouTube videos and using short video apps. Critical dependence on star celebs is passe‘ as millions of online content creators offer enormous opportunity. “In this age of social media, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the cola category, where imagery and attitude – and not taste and product attributes -- matter the most,” Mathias says.
Not just that. Ad campaigns also have a shorter life span – from five-six months earlier to a couple of weeks now. Of course, the glamour quotient of film stars helps in media reach, but there is indeed life beyond celebrity advertising.
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