Celebs bowl out mascots

Brands prefer the more expensive celebrity route as a quick-fix solution  

There is an opinionated girl that adorns hoardings and newspapers and there is a veteran Bollywood actor whose brand bears the brunt every time he opens his mouth. The former is the Amul girl and the latter is Salman Khan.

The Amul girl brand mascot has captivated hoardings as well as newspapers with her clever wit and word play on various issues. But, it would be unfair to term Khan as the only one who has invariably harmed few of the brands he has chosen to endorse. For instance, Aamir Khan’s comments on ‘intolerance’ in India in the recent past led to a social media backlash for Snapdeal and the subsequent non-renewal of his contract.

There is an opinionated girl that adorns hoardings and newspapers and there is a veteran Bollywood actor whose brand bears the brunt every time he opens his mouth. The former is the Amul girl and the latter is Salman Khan.

The Amul girl brand mascot has captivated hoardings as well as newspapers with her clever wit and word play on various issues. But, it would be unfair to term Khan as the only one who has invariably harmed few of the brands he has chosen to endorse. For instance, Aamir Khan’s comments on ‘intolerance’ in India in the recent past led to a social media backlash for Snapdeal and the subsequent non-renewal of his contract.

With the advent of social media, celebrities are coming in the line of fire more often, for expressing their views on sensitive issues. It is the brands that end up bearing the brunt of public ire.

However, the Amul girl, with all her wit and cheeky commentary on social and political views, carries on unhinged. “I have been against celebrity endorsements as they do not add anything to a brand. Brands are over paying celebrities to endorse but what is the return on investment (ROI)? Especially when they (celebrities) also endorse several other brands,” says Rahul Dacunha, creative director, Dacunha Communications, that handles the Amul girl campaign.

That’s not all. The price of celebrity endorsements can get very high too like in the case of Salman Khan, Thums Up is estimated to have paid around Rs 18 crore. While Aamir Khan’s deal with Snapdeal was estimated to be a whopping Rs 30 crore, Ranbir Kapoor charges an estimated Rs 20-30 crore per endorsement.

The cost of brand mascots, on the other hand, is nearly negligent which is one of the big reasons why brands choose mascots. Some examples include Air India’s Maharaja, Vodafone’s Zoozoo, the Nirma girl, ICICI Prudential’s Chintamani, the Parle G girl, the Michelin Man, Kelloggs’ Cornelius Rooster, KFC’s Colonel Sanders, and McDonald’s Ronald McDonald.

“We believe very strongly in the concept of the CCC – the central continuing character, in this case, a mascot like the Amul girl,” says R S Sodhi, managing director, Amul.

However, all brands do not share the same vision and those using mascots are getting slimmer. Asian Paints’ brand mascot Gattu has disappeared and was replaced by a plain ‘AP’ logo. Even PepsiCo’s 7UP has abandoned Fido Dido for Bollywood actresses Mallika Sherawat and Anushka Sharma.

Despite benefits of brand mascots why are brands choosing celebrities? Harish Bijoor, brand expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consultants, said, “Brand mascots are the old way of doing things when celebrity endorsements were not the norm. Celebrity endorsement is a way to get the most contemporary faces to represent your brand.” Brands that don’t want to spend much, he added, go for a mascot as celebrity endorsements are very expensive.

Sridhar Ramanujam, founder and CEO, Integrated Brand-Comm, said, “Marketing managers today don’t think long term. They tie-up with a ‘star’ and look for instant fame. There is instant awareness with celebrity endorsements,” he said.

Brands today change their identity very fast, which is why they don’t have mascots. But for old and long running brands, mascots make sense as it keeps the continuity of the association.

Dacunha agrees, saying, “Maybe many ad agencies think celebs are a quicker way to get brand recall than a big idea or a mascot. Big ideas or mascots take longer to build upon the consumers' mind.”