Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsements on Brand and Brand Building - ITC Summer Internship Project Report Submitted towards Partial Fulfillment Of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Approved by AICTE, Govt. of India) Academic Session 2011 – 2013 Submitted By: Sanith S. Nair BM-011187 Under the Guidance of: Industry Guide: Faculty Guide: Mr. A.K. Narendranath Prof. Anagha Shukre Sr. Controller, Area Chairperson - Marketing Project & Production (G.M.) IMS, Ghaziabad Ogilvy One Acknowledgment I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and organization. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them. I am highly indebted to Mr. A.K. Narendranath for his guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project and also for his support in completing the project. I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents and members of OgilvyOne Worldwide, Gurgaon for their kind co-operation and encouragement, which helped me in completion of this project. I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to Prof. Anagha Shukre for giving me her attention and time. My thanks and an appreciation also goes to my colleagues in developing the project and people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities. Sanith S. Nair BM-011187 Table of Content Sl. Chapter Topic Page No. No. 1 1 Executive Synopsis 1 2 2 Company Profile 3 3 3 Objective of the Project 19 4 4 Research Methodology 21 5 5 Analysis & Findings 23 6 6 Conclusions & Recommendations 42 7 7 Limitations 45 8 8 Bibliography 46 9 9 Annexures 47 List of figures Figure Page No. Figure 1 24 Figure 2 25 Figure 3 26 Figure 4 28 Figure 5 29 Figure 6 30 Figure 7 31 Figure 8 32 Figure 9 33 Figure 10 34 Figure 11 35 Figure 12 36 Figure 13 37 Figure 14 38 Figure 15 39 Figure 16 40 Figure 17 41 List of tables Table Page No. Table 1 16 Table 2 16 Table 3 24 Table 4 25 Table 5 26 Table 6 27 Table 7 27 Table 8 28 Table 9 28 Table 10 29 Table 11 30 Table 12 31 Table 13 33 Table 14 34 Table 15 35 Table 16 36 Table 17 37 Table 18 38 Table 19 39 Table 20 40 Table 21 41 DECLARATION I hereby certify that content presented in the project entitled “Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsements on Brand - ITC Ltd.” in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Post Graduate Diploma In Management from IMS - Ghaziabad is an authentic record of my own work, carried out under the kind guidance of my industrial mentor Mr. A.K.Narendranath and my Faculty Mentor Prof. Anagha Shukre. I have not copied the matter embodied in the project from any resources. Sanith S. Nair BM-011187 TO WHOSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN This is to certify that Sanith S.Nair, BM 011187, student of PGDM (G)- (Full Time) 2011-13 batch, IMS Ghaziabad, has executed his project in Marketing under my supervision and guidance. During the project execution he was found to be very sincere and attentive to small details, which were discussed with him. I wish him good luck and success in his future studies and endeavor. Prof. Anagha Shukre I.M.S. Ghaziabad PREFACE It was an honour to do summer internship in such a prestigious organization under the auspicious leadership of Mr. A. K. Narendranath (Sr. Controller, Project & Production (G.M.)). I am thankful to many known and unknown persons, who were associated with me and helped me to complete this project Throughout my project I got an opportunity to interact with numerous numbers of people and to about the advertising field. It also helped me to apply theoretical knowledge in practical as well as we apply sales promotion technique, below the line advertisement etc. The main project was started with questionnaire that I have prepared priorly. The whole research work was based on the primary data that I have collected through questionnaire. On the basis of prior information, I found the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement on products of Brand ITC, preference check among male and female. Also found the preferential factor for brand choice among chief decision maker of the family. EXECUTIVE SYNOPSIS India is a country where people love to live in dreams. They worship celebrities. celebrities which might be cricket stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahinder Singh Dhoni or Film Stars like Shah Rukh Khan or John Ebrahim. They treat them as God. Marketers use this very preposition so as to influence their target customers may be existing or potential ones. For this they rope in these celebrities and give them whopping amount of money. They believe that by doing this they can associate their products with their target customers. This is called celebrity endorsement. Aristotle said, “Beautyisagreaterrecommendationthananyletterofintroduction.” This could aptly summarize why innumerable products are endorsed by celebrities, with or without a significant need or benefit from the same. Similarly every product has an image. The consumer tries to consume a brand which has the maximum fit with his/her own personality/image. The celebrity endorser fits in between these two interactions, where he tries to bring the image of the product closer to the expectation of the consumer, by transferring some of the cultural meanings residing in his image to the product. Now, despite the potential benefits derived from celebrity endorsements, they increase a marketer‟s risk manifolds and should be treated with full attention and aptitude. A brand should be cautious when employing celebrities to ensure promise believability and delivery of the intended effect. The growing importance of mythical characters as celebrities and their sway over the target segments are ample proof of public demand for icons to look up to. As the celebrities traverse from a mere commercial presence to public welfare message endorsements, a whole new dimension is added to this process and helps us in achieving a holistic view of the impact which celebrities generate in every sphere and segment through their well-versed endorsements. Industry Profile Indian Advertising Industry The Indian advertising industry is talking business today. It has evolved from being a small-scale business to a full-fledged industry. It has emerged as one of the major industries and tertiary sectors and has broadened its horizons be it the creative aspect, the capital employed or the number of personnel involved. Indian advertising industry in very little time has carved a niche for itself and placed itself on the global platform. Indian advertising industry with an estimated value of Rs.13, 200-crore has made jaws drop and set eyeballs gazing with some astonishing pieces of work that it has given in the recent past. The creative minds that the Indian advertising industry incorporates have come up with some mind-boggling concepts and work that can be termed as masterpieces in the field of advertising. Advertising agencies in the country too have taken a leap. They have come a long way from being small and medium sized industries to becoming well known brands in the business. Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), Mudra, McCann Ericsonn, Rediffussion, Leo Burnett are some of the top agencies of the country. Indian economy is on a boom and the market is on a continuous trail of expansion. With the market gaining grounds Indian advertising has every reason to celebrate. Businesses are looking up to advertising as a tool to cash in on lucrative business opportunities. Growth in business has lead to a consecutive boom in the advertising industry as well. The Indian advertising today handles both national and international projects. This is primarily because of the reason that the industry offers a host of functions to its clients that include everything from start to finish that include client servicing, media planning, media buying, creative conceptualization, pre and post campaign analysis, market research, marketing, branding, and public relation services Advertising & Marketing Industry Profile In an industry that seems to be feast or famine, this will be the era when ad companies asked, "Where's the Beef?" In the previous decade, a robust economy and a hot technology sector helped increase levels of ad spending to fuel the growth of the industry. Holding companies benefited enormously in this environment and set the tone for the rest of the industry. The trends these companies follow or set are the same trends that will influence the rest of the industry for years to come. Although the idea of the global Ad holding company is not new, it was in the 90's that they flourished. The rise of global brands and multinational companies encouraged the growth of the holding company-- a single company that could service brands and companies globally. The holding company structure would also hedge against the eventual ad downturn by diversifying services to include public relations and other marketing services. These publicly traded companies enjoyed sky-high valuations (and the ability to fund deals with their stock) and hit the acquisition trail in the late 1990s, resulting in some spectacular deals. WPP Group briefly became the world's largest advertising conglomerate after its $4.7 billion acquisition of Young & Rubicam late in 2000. In 2001 Interpublic acquired Chicago-based True North Communications for $2.1 billion and in 2002 Paris- based Publicis Group's acquisition of Bcom3 set the merged company squarely at the table with the big boys. Not to be left out, US conglomerate Omnicom also completed a few hundred acquisitions during this period.