Brand -ambassador-quagmire!!!!!!


The brand ambassador Quagmire:

With niche marketing getting more focus than ever before, the puzzle of hiring, managing, changing and associating brand ambassadors is a major ponder point for companies.

Brand consultant Harish Bijoor is of the opinion that brand effectiveness differs with different stages of the product life cycle and is subjective to the segment and company goodwill. Further, Prof.C.K.Prahlad has given out his opinion that companies need to ensure n=1, and R=G. That’s mass customization and individual focus to ensure higher satisfaction amongst customers and promote loyalty. It’s further stated in a few cases that brand ambassadors involvement for product/service promotion is very much necessary. But then, I sincerely feel that this kind of phenomena is noticed in a mere 2-3% of products (FMCG, clothing etc) and high involvement goods, luxury goods are absolutely independent of celebrity endorsement (Jewellery, housing, furniture, automobile etc).

Further, increased product comparison in all forms of media, rating scale, opinion buying and significant market awareness has led to a choosy, careful and educated buyer.

In case of low value goods too, the trend seems to be rapidly changing. The star value of a cricketer/actor could change substantially over a small period of time and that could affect the brand perception. Though there are a few exceptions to this like SRK
(If at all one film of his is a flop the next one at least will surely be money grosser at the box office). This is because these kind of stars have a consistent fan following. And this fan bank has no chances of depletion. The only take is appreciation and increase in the fan bank which in turn could (not necessarily) lead to an appreciation in the brand value. But, brand endorsement can play a very big role in damage control. (Dairy milk and Big B effect for the record).

Celebrity endorsement/Brand ambassador involvement can have substitution and a smooth transition is always possible without any damage. Brand endorsement fund can be effectively transferred to better R&D, product promotion in discounts and freebies and events etc. This would definitely work over a period of time and companies could use this to ensure sustained growth.

STARS IN THE SKY ARE BEAUTIFUL BUT CAN’T BE USED. PEBBLES AREN’T THAT BEAUTIFUL BUT YOU CAN USE THEM TO DECORATE YOUR AQUARIUM.

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