Globally, ‘celebrity endorsement’ is a very powerful marketing tool, employed by firms to build their brand equity. In India, the Lux soap is known to have been endorsed way back in 1941 by the then famous film actress Leela Chitnis. The introduction of celebrity endorsement in Indian TV advertising is marked by the commercials of 80’s featuring Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Tabassum endorsing various consumer products. So, the potential of this concept has been well acknowledged, and tried and tested on the Indian soil for over 70 years now.

Why Endorse?
The compelling reasons for companies to yield a strategic position to celebrity endorsement in their marketing schemes vary. Very frequently celebrities are roped in during new brand introductions.

The basic idea remains to cash on the popularity, credibility and mass appeal of the celebrities which is expected to help raise awareness of the brand, generate positive associations for it, and build purchase intention among its prospective customers. Sometimes, it’s merely a reactionary step meant to nullify the impact of celebrity endorsement exercised by a competitor. The last decade also witnessed a novel application of celebrity endorsements for crisis management, manifested brilliantly in the Cadbury case to weather the ‘worm’ storm.