Did you know that getting HIGH will take you down the road in evaluation of the choices you made!
- High on Marketing
8th September, 2019, 6.30 AM – My wife jumps up excited like Ranveer Singh in the Colgate Maxfresh ad!
Me: What happened? Excited about brushing your teeth?
Wife: Park your sarcasm aside and look at this new product line by Katrina! It’s beautiful. She calls it Kay!
Me: That’s great! This might form a new premise for my discussion with M.R.K!
Wife: Meanwhile, it’ll form a new row of cosmetics in my make-up collection.
(I couldn’t do anything but sigh and head out to meet M.R.K.)
Me: Hey, M.R.K, have you heard of this new brand called Kay by Katrina?
M.R.K: So, we discuss Katrina today?
Me: I don’t want to discuss her. I want to discuss the future of Brand Ambassadors.
M.R.K: As I see it, you seem to have given this a lot of thought. Throw them in and let’s work out the best solution from them.
Me: As you know, it has been quite a while that potential Brand Ambassadors are starting their own lines of business. Like Hrithik Roshan, Virat Kohli, Kriti Sanon, and now Katrina Kaif.
M.R.K: Yes,they are trying to push-in their style to their audience and fans.
Me: At the same time there are brands like Trivago that have had their employee as the brand face! There are a few chains in the South too that have used the same concept with their Founders and CEOs. My question is – which of these is effective?
M.R.K: What is your take on a celebrity endorsing a brand?
Me: It is the best thing, but some day he/she starts a line of products, our customers may be gone.
M.R.K: That is a potential problem you have stated. Now, let us get back to your question. Who make the right brand ambassadors for a product?
Me: Rather, what should be the criteria to be a brand ambassador?
M.R.K: Firstly, let us define the word Brand Ambassadors. Give it a try.
Me: The face associated with a brand that people connect with the brand. He/ She helps increase brand awareness.
M.R.K: You’ve got it just like most of the companies have! According to me, brand ambassadors are the personality that can help you connect with the brand, using their already existing image that resonates with the brand persona.
Me: That doesn’t happen in real life, does it?
M.R.K: The major reason your marketing budgets are high is because people look at popularity over personality.
Me: Can you extend your definition a bit further?
M.R.K: Okay, Look at this photo. You must’ve seen the video, it was pretty viral.
Me: That’s the paragliding guy!
M.R.K: Now tell me what emotional state do you think he is in?
Me: Scared. He is panicking with fear.
M.R.K: Could you just collect the same information from your network? I just want to see how many relate to fear. Get back to me tomorrow with the rough stats.
(The next day)
Me: Hey, M.R.K! So, we’ve received about 150+ responses.
M.R.K: And most of them say “Fear”. Some emotions are the first-cousins of fear from Shashi Tharoor’s side, but they mean “Fear”. A few have come up with regret which relates to a famous line in the video.
Me: (laughing) yes!
M.R.K: So, this guy is Vipin Sahu. He became famous overnight! In fact, he became so famous that we have news articles on not only his experience, but also his family background.
Me: I appreciate the news channels taking their time out from the chaos in the country to cover this!
M.R.K: A different agenda, a different article. For now, we focus on this! Coming to Vipin Sahu.
Imagine the brand Mountain Dew or PepsiCo approaching him.
Me: As a brand ambassador in an ad?
M.R.K: I would rather say, in an ad campaign! He is sponsored a Paragliding training (or Skydiving as he wishes for) and the counselling required to overcome his fear, by Mountain Dew. At the end of a week or 10 days, we have a new video with him enjoying his paragliding stint, and the course he had gone through!
Me: Okay. How would that help?
M.R.K: As I said, PERSONALITY does the trick here! You see Hrithik in the Mountain Dew ad, and you know him as Hrithik – the Bollywood Star! He is not the Rohit from the first half of Koi Mil Gaya who is scared or bullied.
And driving a jeep through fire? Do you think of Mountain Dew before you do that?
Me: Obviously, no! I think of having Mountain Dew when I want to have one, not when I need the courage to drive through rocky terrains.
M.R.K: Exactly! So, how is anyone connecting to the emotions here? All this exaggeration to show Hrithik has overcome his “fear” of driving through fire?
Me: Alright, I am now reminded that I have never thought of the ad while standing at the drinks section in a store.
M.R.K: Now, Vipin Sahu has been through the phase called “Darr” (fear) which all of us know and have already established a connect to, and after his time spent with the team (sponsored by Mountain Dew) he has achieved “Jeet” (A Win) over his fears! What more can justify “Darr ke aage Jeet hai” than this?
Me: You’re right! He has a purpose to do this too as he wants to turn his image around in the society. And for the brand it costs much lesser, maybe just a few lakhs, than hiring a celebrity to do this!
M.R.K: Now, you understand why marketing budgets are high, right? S.R.K doesn’t need a home loan. He is just paid to tell us where to take it from!
Me: Do we mean we do not need celebrities for ads?
M.R.K: Think like a marketer! Marketing is never a general approach. It needs to be very specific. We are not striking off celebrities as a brand ambassador choice. But, when the celebrity/ ad campaign does not connect to the customer’s journey, how do you expect the customer to relate to it? Is such an investment worth for the brand?
Me: So, what we are saying is – Celebrities may help with the awareness of the brand, but the person who can stay in the customer’s mind throughout his journey – leading to purchase – is the right endorsement for the brand!
M.R.K: I don’t think I could have articulated it better than that. It has been a long day now! Let us have dinner and hope for a better and thoughtful advertising approach by brands.
