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The inherent upside of attaching a celebrity to a brand is that the brand literally has a face, name and personality that immediately projects an image of a living, breathing, credible person as opposed to a faceless corporate entity. The downside is that individuals are not as stable or as easily controllable as corporate entities.
As fame comes and goes, so goes the brand.

But when the star is ascending, the idea is to capitalize on the glamour of celebrity by selling a piece of the dream. Legend has it that Tommy Hilfiger's clothing brand enjoyed a US$ 100 million sales climb over a one year period after rapper Snoop Dogg appeared clothed in a Hilfiger logo rugby shirt on television program "Saturday Night Live".

There is no doubt that celebrity advertising has its benefits - The Four Qs: -

Quick saliency

It gets cut through because of the star and his attention-getting value. Goodlass Nerolac has ensured high saliency for its brand with the inclusion of Amitabh Bachchan in its advertising.

Quick connect

There needs to be no insight but the communication connects because the star connects. Sachin, Shahrukh and their ilk's ensure an easy connect for Pepsi with the youth.

Quick shorthand for brand values

The right star can actually telegraph a brand message fast without elaborate story telling. Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar seem to have done that successfully for Boost in the early '90s and helped to differentiate it in the malted beverages market.

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* Contributed by -
Bhawna Sikka & Vaibhav Hari,
PGDBM 2006,
IMT, Ghaziabad.