But then, for a starter like Wynn Telecom, the approach had to be and is different from that of Micromax. Explaining Wynn’s reasons for signing not one but two celebrities, Bipasha Basu and Saif Ali Khan, Naved Chaudhary said to 4Ps B&M, “Anybody can have celebrities, but the key lies in how you are utilising the same. We wanted someone who can cut across masses and classes simultaneously and still have a mass appeal. I also need to look at my marketing communication, and ensure that the celebrity should not over shadow the brand.” As per him, the choice was made bearing in mind not just the current product portfolio, but also the future line up.
Shashir Devsane, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, agrees with Naved that the key lies in utlisation of the celebrity and there is nothing to be gained by just being a part of the herd mentality. “At Karbonn, the idea is always to be a market leader and we have demonstrated the same in the past. This may come with periods of silence and we are ok with the same. But when we do something it should be something that we believe whole heartedly and be the trend setter,” he avers.
However, the question that needs to be answered here is that will getting big celebrities alone help these companies lift their brands to the big league of the business or there are other ingredients also?
For most of these players, getting a celebrity is a way to announce their arrival to the notable names at the market place. But then they must understand that once they have entered with a bang, they need to carry on in the same manner. This means they have to continue to build themselves for sometime with help of big events, campaigns and so on to stay alive in consumers’ minds till they establish themselves with a strong foothold. Moreover, as these players are looking forward to the lower segment (Rs.1,500 to Rs.2,000), which represents almost 50% of Indian hadset buyers (Media Tek India survey), to create volumes, association of a celebrity can be a great help in catching eye balls and increase recall value for the brand post the initial phase too.
And as the guide book on marketing for dummies goes, in India, it’s not just promotion that is enough; another equally critically element is to ensure that the product is available till the last mile. In the lower priced end of the market, most of the times, the choice of the consumer can be influenced simply by availability. But all said and done, we come back to the initial question. Would you buy a mobile simply because Bipasha says you should? Umm, for Bipasha, we’d do much more :-)
Shashir Devsane, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, agrees with Naved that the key lies in utlisation of the celebrity and there is nothing to be gained by just being a part of the herd mentality. “At Karbonn, the idea is always to be a market leader and we have demonstrated the same in the past. This may come with periods of silence and we are ok with the same. But when we do something it should be something that we believe whole heartedly and be the trend setter,” he avers.
However, the question that needs to be answered here is that will getting big celebrities alone help these companies lift their brands to the big league of the business or there are other ingredients also?
For most of these players, getting a celebrity is a way to announce their arrival to the notable names at the market place. But then they must understand that once they have entered with a bang, they need to carry on in the same manner. This means they have to continue to build themselves for sometime with help of big events, campaigns and so on to stay alive in consumers’ minds till they establish themselves with a strong foothold. Moreover, as these players are looking forward to the lower segment (Rs.1,500 to Rs.2,000), which represents almost 50% of Indian hadset buyers (Media Tek India survey), to create volumes, association of a celebrity can be a great help in catching eye balls and increase recall value for the brand post the initial phase too.
And as the guide book on marketing for dummies goes, in India, it’s not just promotion that is enough; another equally critically element is to ensure that the product is available till the last mile. In the lower priced end of the market, most of the times, the choice of the consumer can be influenced simply by availability. But all said and done, we come back to the initial question. Would you buy a mobile simply because Bipasha says you should? Umm, for Bipasha, we’d do much more :-)
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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