Brand SRK
Authorspeak: I have always been caught in the midst of Aamir vs. Shah Rukh debate. With ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ not garnering expected critical acclaim, one of my friends again raised this question to me: Who do you think is better: Aamir or Shah Rukh? I gave the traditional reply: Aamir is the better actor but as of now Shah Rukh is the bigger brand. People may or may not agree with me and I also know that I will have to discount my liking for SRK to pass any impartial judgement but the answer I gave will still be valid to much extent. While studying the phenomenon of ‘Celebrity Endorsement’ I tried to study the growth of brand SRK. Based on my knowledge I am trying to reproduce a part of my work. People are free to disagree. However before you read I want to say that I have tried my level best to pass an impartial judgement. The post is a bit long. Sorry for that.
He has been hailed by many as the biggest ‘brand’ existing in India at present. He endorses more than 30 brands/ products and yet manages to attract marketers to come to him with new endorsements offers. It is not that this ‘overexposure’ does not have critics. Many people have pointed out the ineffectiveness which so many brand endorsements brings about with itself; at the same time many research have also proved that the sheer number of brand endorsements that he is doing is resulting in the ‘bad brand recall’ from customers. However some also say that his consistency over the years has proved as the ‘antitheses’ to the acceptable practices in the traditional marketing strategy.
Brand ‘SRK’ (Shah Rukh Khan) has almost grown with the phenomenon of celebrity endorsements in India. Over the last 14-15 odd years this brand has come into existence, emerged, grown, matured and repositioned. This growth is also a reflection to various exogenous factors like liberalization, burgeoning of the now celebrated middle class, acceptance of India as a major global market by top companies, increased penetration of the mass media and perhaps the emergence of youth too. A study of brand SRK in all possibility is capable of bringing out all the issues associated with the concept of ‘Celebrity Endorsements’ in a lucid way. It will also give an insight into how a celebrity himself emerges as a brand; how this brand grows; how it repositions with the changing time. We will also try to explore the relevant question on the celebrity brand growth and its negative effects on the endorsed brand(s).
Shah Rukh Khan emerged in the Indian media landscape with his portrayal of Abhimanyu Rai in a TV Series ‘Fauji’ which captured the imagination of the nation. He became the ‘boy next door’. A few serials more and he moved into the big world of Bollywood with the release of ‘Deewana’ in 1992. However his tryst with advertising started in 1993 when he went on to act in 3 advertisements of Brahmaputra Tea. As we all would realize the brand could not be seen for the past many years. However as his career graph rose with hits like ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Darr’, he endorsed 3 more products in 1994: Hero Puch, Cinthol and Mayur Suitings. Hero Puch two-in-one advertisement was able to utilize both the persona he had enacted on silver screen: the responsible and caring middle class ‘protagonist’ as well as the young, dynamic and energetic ‘anti-hero’. Both the other endorsements worked decently too. Shah Rukh has arrived as a brand endorser of some stature.
However a major fillip to brand SRK came in 1996 when cola giant Pepsi roped in the star to endorse its product. Shah Rukh was riding high on the success of two blockbusters in the form of ‘Karan Arjun’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. Though both the films were commercial success, the latter achieved classic status. It augmented the ‘Boy-Next Door Image’ of the ‘Fauji’ times which had received a setback after his negative portrayals in a slew of movies. DDLJ as the movie is also called had other effects too: The character of Shah Rukh became ideal for many young people especially girls; The Indian values shown had an instant connect with the people especially the old and the middle aged; The character ‘Raj’ who was in ease with both the western and the Indian culture also led to an instant recognition with the youth in the country who were suddenly exposed to the globalization and were not sure of their next move. As the movie went on to create box office history, Shah Rukh started to emerge as the aspiration of the young and mobile. Also his connect with the middle class as well as the upper class and the NRIs/ first generation of global citizen improved. Pepsi tried to utilize the youthful energy and ‘coolness’ associated with the actor. With the endorsement deal from Pepsi, the brand SRK had started to emerge.
His later releases helped him to strengthen his position in the market. With ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, he became a fashion rage whereas with ‘Yes Boss’ he strengthen his persona as an affable, middle class guy. The release of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ added another dimension to his growing brand persona. He brought the International clothing brands like GAP to the purview of Indians. At the same time India’s tryst with the organized retail was starting and major global brands were eyeing the Indian market. As the world was coming to Indian markets he was acting as a catalyst to the Indians to explore the world. Keeping in view with this image he went on endorsing Hyundai Santro and the perfume major Jeanne Arthes of France. His association with both these brands still continues and the association has proved to be mutually rewarding to considerable extent. Hyundai Santro wanted to gain visibility in Indian market at its entry and wanted a known face to do that. An association with the brand SRK gave it instant brand recall and helped it to make inroads into the territory which was virtually a monopoly of Maruti Suzuki. Carefully crafted teasers, well thought out media campaigns and a compatible brand ambassador meant that Hyundai was able to capture a fair share of Indian automobile market. Jeanne Arthes however slowly made its impact in the Indian market especially in the upper segment. It also launched a perfume range after SRK later and also came into Indian market with deodorants. Both the initiatives were received with mixed response. However, around the same time i.e. in 1998 Shah Rukh endorsed the brand Bagpiper. The brand association did not help. Experts provide the reason. They are of the opinion that Bagpiper used Shah Rukh for its star value only and thus failed to emphasize on the synergy. The same people who were at ease with Shah Rukh endorsing Pepsi and Santro did not care about this association. He went on to endorse products like Top Ramen, Clinic All Clear and Home Trade. While the Clinic All Clear tried to use his popularity among the youth, Top Ramen tried to capture the imagination of the kids and family. Both these campaigns were able to generate good response. However, again the Home Trade campaign went without notice as though much money was put into to generate the hype. Though the campaign also used other stars like Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Tendulkar and Priyanka Chopra it failed to highlight the core benefit of the service. They completely overlooked the important aspects of branding and positioning exercise.
Adding to his image was the continuous media frenzy about his personal life. Shah Rukh has always been projected in the media as a dedicated family man: a loving husband, a doting father and a truthful friend. Further he had finally been accepted as a celebrity who has pan-Indian appeal cutting across age, gender, class, region and religion. This made the Government/ Social organizations to use his services for delivering social messages. He has been involved in Rotary International's Polio immunization drive, Pulse Polio campaigns as well as the campaign for Universal Immunization. Due to his wide appeal these initiatives have been fairly effective. Along with these the films of Shah Rukh were immensely successful in overseas market. He has developed a rapport with the NRI audience and was started being considered as a Global Indian. The association with the Videocon was based on this premise. Shah Rukh added value to Videocon by acknowledging it as one of India’s global brand. It lifted the brand from masses to more up-market, techie image. The officials of Videocon accept the strategy and have stressed that Shah Rukh is being used for the more up-market products to improve the image of the brand. Becoming the brand ambassador of Swatch’s Omega watches also made a statement of his rise as the global celebrity of Indian origin.
Along with the opening of his own production house Shah Rukh Khan gave an impetus to his already building image of a ‘Self Made Man’. This garnered him respect from the middle class of the Indian society. The common Indian man associated with him and aspired to become Shah Rukh Khan. He was also seen as the symbol of success and hence gelled well with the rich and successful as well. With the success also he came across as approachable and down to earth which was later proven with his stint in the game show Kaun Banege Croreati 3 (KBC 3). As India was changing brand SRK was repositioning itself. Slowly and steadily over the years brand SRK started to embody the spirits quite reflective of the Indian society today: Internationally competitive, comfort with global citizenship, the new-found confidence of reverse colonization and yet deeply respectful of own values and tradition. His endorsements in this decade speak a lot about this trend. Shah Rukh went on to become the brand ambassador of the Airtel and played a significant role in achieving company’s aim to connect with the people. After Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan became the brand ambassador of ICICI Bank. His association with success, his popularity among the NRIs and his appeal to general public has been seen as the reasons behind this endorsement. ICICI utilized this association effectively. The campaign for Global Private Clients, the target group for which was male, age 30+, SEC A++, having upwards of $1 million net investments with ICICI Bank is an example for that. Similarly the campaign for Global Money Remittance was targeted to cater the NRI market where no one is bigger than brand SRK.
His image of a doting father made ITC to rope him for its Sunfeast range of products. The brand gained from this association as there was an increase in brand recall. Further as children are more influenced by celebrity endorsements, it was reflected in the sales as well. Shah Rukh was also projected in media as a witty and tech savvy person which made Hewlett Packard to use brand SRK to popularize the Compaq Presario range which it did successfully. The endorsement helped in garnering brand recall. Further Hewlett Packard extended its association with him to other products like printers as well.
Though the experts say that brand SRK has been well managed over the years and one of the main reasons has been the consistency in delivering performance and value to the product there have been few snags as well. Brand SRK has been accused of overexposure and there have been also accusations of overshadowing of brands because of his association. At his peak Shah Rukh has endorsed about 39 products. This overexposure has led to the dilution of the credibility some associate with him. Further some of the endorsements were not made keeping the brand synergies in mind. Association with Navratan brand though has helped in increased sales did not go well with the consumers. Further association with Emami and particularly ‘Fair and Handsome’ had given rise to an unwarranted debate on racial prejudice. Also though the advertisement with Lux was projected as the one utilizing the metro-sexuality of Shah Rukh, it was not able to generate right noises. But as author Julien Cayla in her work ‘Following the Endorser's Shadow: Shah Rukh Khan and the Creation of the Cosmopolitan Indian Male’ has written ‘Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) is ubiquitous in the Indian public sphere. At last count, he was endorsing more than 25 brands, from computers and cars to vegetable oil, facial creams, noodles, and cream biscuits. However, this ubiquity, rather than hurting SRK's image, helps to make him the quintessential pan-Indian male. Because he is everywhere, for everyone, endorsing every role and every brand, SRK progressively comes to stand for the desires and aspirations of the whole Indian nation. He becomes one of the few symbols that can represent the idea of India in the minds of audiences.’ Thus brand SRK has still survived despite of the overexposure.
Off late his films have become socially more relevant though he pulls out entertainer every now and then. Swades, Paheli and Chak de India are examples of his socially relevant efforts. These works have earned him praise, appreciation, respect and credibility in the mind space of general Indian public. The well built persona as brand SRK over the years is reason of his connect, reach and appeal. It is the reason why despite overexposure his association has helped Dish TV lifts its sagging fortune; Diageo’s Masterstroke whiskey making its presence felt in India; Nokia reconnecting with the youth once again; and Jet Airways in alluring the premium class passengers to its flight.
P.S: Since I am returning after a long break I have nothing to contribute, so I thought that with the release of RNBDJ this is the best time to publish this post.
He has been hailed by many as the biggest ‘brand’ existing in India at present. He endorses more than 30 brands/ products and yet manages to attract marketers to come to him with new endorsements offers. It is not that this ‘overexposure’ does not have critics. Many people have pointed out the ineffectiveness which so many brand endorsements brings about with itself; at the same time many research have also proved that the sheer number of brand endorsements that he is doing is resulting in the ‘bad brand recall’ from customers. However some also say that his consistency over the years has proved as the ‘antitheses’ to the acceptable practices in the traditional marketing strategy.
Brand ‘SRK’ (Shah Rukh Khan) has almost grown with the phenomenon of celebrity endorsements in India. Over the last 14-15 odd years this brand has come into existence, emerged, grown, matured and repositioned. This growth is also a reflection to various exogenous factors like liberalization, burgeoning of the now celebrated middle class, acceptance of India as a major global market by top companies, increased penetration of the mass media and perhaps the emergence of youth too. A study of brand SRK in all possibility is capable of bringing out all the issues associated with the concept of ‘Celebrity Endorsements’ in a lucid way. It will also give an insight into how a celebrity himself emerges as a brand; how this brand grows; how it repositions with the changing time. We will also try to explore the relevant question on the celebrity brand growth and its negative effects on the endorsed brand(s).
Shah Rukh Khan emerged in the Indian media landscape with his portrayal of Abhimanyu Rai in a TV Series ‘Fauji’ which captured the imagination of the nation. He became the ‘boy next door’. A few serials more and he moved into the big world of Bollywood with the release of ‘Deewana’ in 1992. However his tryst with advertising started in 1993 when he went on to act in 3 advertisements of Brahmaputra Tea. As we all would realize the brand could not be seen for the past many years. However as his career graph rose with hits like ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Darr’, he endorsed 3 more products in 1994: Hero Puch, Cinthol and Mayur Suitings. Hero Puch two-in-one advertisement was able to utilize both the persona he had enacted on silver screen: the responsible and caring middle class ‘protagonist’ as well as the young, dynamic and energetic ‘anti-hero’. Both the other endorsements worked decently too. Shah Rukh has arrived as a brand endorser of some stature.
However a major fillip to brand SRK came in 1996 when cola giant Pepsi roped in the star to endorse its product. Shah Rukh was riding high on the success of two blockbusters in the form of ‘Karan Arjun’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. Though both the films were commercial success, the latter achieved classic status. It augmented the ‘Boy-Next Door Image’ of the ‘Fauji’ times which had received a setback after his negative portrayals in a slew of movies. DDLJ as the movie is also called had other effects too: The character of Shah Rukh became ideal for many young people especially girls; The Indian values shown had an instant connect with the people especially the old and the middle aged; The character ‘Raj’ who was in ease with both the western and the Indian culture also led to an instant recognition with the youth in the country who were suddenly exposed to the globalization and were not sure of their next move. As the movie went on to create box office history, Shah Rukh started to emerge as the aspiration of the young and mobile. Also his connect with the middle class as well as the upper class and the NRIs/ first generation of global citizen improved. Pepsi tried to utilize the youthful energy and ‘coolness’ associated with the actor. With the endorsement deal from Pepsi, the brand SRK had started to emerge.
His later releases helped him to strengthen his position in the market. With ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, he became a fashion rage whereas with ‘Yes Boss’ he strengthen his persona as an affable, middle class guy. The release of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ added another dimension to his growing brand persona. He brought the International clothing brands like GAP to the purview of Indians. At the same time India’s tryst with the organized retail was starting and major global brands were eyeing the Indian market. As the world was coming to Indian markets he was acting as a catalyst to the Indians to explore the world. Keeping in view with this image he went on endorsing Hyundai Santro and the perfume major Jeanne Arthes of France. His association with both these brands still continues and the association has proved to be mutually rewarding to considerable extent. Hyundai Santro wanted to gain visibility in Indian market at its entry and wanted a known face to do that. An association with the brand SRK gave it instant brand recall and helped it to make inroads into the territory which was virtually a monopoly of Maruti Suzuki. Carefully crafted teasers, well thought out media campaigns and a compatible brand ambassador meant that Hyundai was able to capture a fair share of Indian automobile market. Jeanne Arthes however slowly made its impact in the Indian market especially in the upper segment. It also launched a perfume range after SRK later and also came into Indian market with deodorants. Both the initiatives were received with mixed response. However, around the same time i.e. in 1998 Shah Rukh endorsed the brand Bagpiper. The brand association did not help. Experts provide the reason. They are of the opinion that Bagpiper used Shah Rukh for its star value only and thus failed to emphasize on the synergy. The same people who were at ease with Shah Rukh endorsing Pepsi and Santro did not care about this association. He went on to endorse products like Top Ramen, Clinic All Clear and Home Trade. While the Clinic All Clear tried to use his popularity among the youth, Top Ramen tried to capture the imagination of the kids and family. Both these campaigns were able to generate good response. However, again the Home Trade campaign went without notice as though much money was put into to generate the hype. Though the campaign also used other stars like Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Tendulkar and Priyanka Chopra it failed to highlight the core benefit of the service. They completely overlooked the important aspects of branding and positioning exercise.
Adding to his image was the continuous media frenzy about his personal life. Shah Rukh has always been projected in the media as a dedicated family man: a loving husband, a doting father and a truthful friend. Further he had finally been accepted as a celebrity who has pan-Indian appeal cutting across age, gender, class, region and religion. This made the Government/ Social organizations to use his services for delivering social messages. He has been involved in Rotary International's Polio immunization drive, Pulse Polio campaigns as well as the campaign for Universal Immunization. Due to his wide appeal these initiatives have been fairly effective. Along with these the films of Shah Rukh were immensely successful in overseas market. He has developed a rapport with the NRI audience and was started being considered as a Global Indian. The association with the Videocon was based on this premise. Shah Rukh added value to Videocon by acknowledging it as one of India’s global brand. It lifted the brand from masses to more up-market, techie image. The officials of Videocon accept the strategy and have stressed that Shah Rukh is being used for the more up-market products to improve the image of the brand. Becoming the brand ambassador of Swatch’s Omega watches also made a statement of his rise as the global celebrity of Indian origin.
Along with the opening of his own production house Shah Rukh Khan gave an impetus to his already building image of a ‘Self Made Man’. This garnered him respect from the middle class of the Indian society. The common Indian man associated with him and aspired to become Shah Rukh Khan. He was also seen as the symbol of success and hence gelled well with the rich and successful as well. With the success also he came across as approachable and down to earth which was later proven with his stint in the game show Kaun Banege Croreati 3 (KBC 3). As India was changing brand SRK was repositioning itself. Slowly and steadily over the years brand SRK started to embody the spirits quite reflective of the Indian society today: Internationally competitive, comfort with global citizenship, the new-found confidence of reverse colonization and yet deeply respectful of own values and tradition. His endorsements in this decade speak a lot about this trend. Shah Rukh went on to become the brand ambassador of the Airtel and played a significant role in achieving company’s aim to connect with the people. After Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan became the brand ambassador of ICICI Bank. His association with success, his popularity among the NRIs and his appeal to general public has been seen as the reasons behind this endorsement. ICICI utilized this association effectively. The campaign for Global Private Clients, the target group for which was male, age 30+, SEC A++, having upwards of $1 million net investments with ICICI Bank is an example for that. Similarly the campaign for Global Money Remittance was targeted to cater the NRI market where no one is bigger than brand SRK.
His image of a doting father made ITC to rope him for its Sunfeast range of products. The brand gained from this association as there was an increase in brand recall. Further as children are more influenced by celebrity endorsements, it was reflected in the sales as well. Shah Rukh was also projected in media as a witty and tech savvy person which made Hewlett Packard to use brand SRK to popularize the Compaq Presario range which it did successfully. The endorsement helped in garnering brand recall. Further Hewlett Packard extended its association with him to other products like printers as well.
Though the experts say that brand SRK has been well managed over the years and one of the main reasons has been the consistency in delivering performance and value to the product there have been few snags as well. Brand SRK has been accused of overexposure and there have been also accusations of overshadowing of brands because of his association. At his peak Shah Rukh has endorsed about 39 products. This overexposure has led to the dilution of the credibility some associate with him. Further some of the endorsements were not made keeping the brand synergies in mind. Association with Navratan brand though has helped in increased sales did not go well with the consumers. Further association with Emami and particularly ‘Fair and Handsome’ had given rise to an unwarranted debate on racial prejudice. Also though the advertisement with Lux was projected as the one utilizing the metro-sexuality of Shah Rukh, it was not able to generate right noises. But as author Julien Cayla in her work ‘Following the Endorser's Shadow: Shah Rukh Khan and the Creation of the Cosmopolitan Indian Male’ has written ‘Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) is ubiquitous in the Indian public sphere. At last count, he was endorsing more than 25 brands, from computers and cars to vegetable oil, facial creams, noodles, and cream biscuits. However, this ubiquity, rather than hurting SRK's image, helps to make him the quintessential pan-Indian male. Because he is everywhere, for everyone, endorsing every role and every brand, SRK progressively comes to stand for the desires and aspirations of the whole Indian nation. He becomes one of the few symbols that can represent the idea of India in the minds of audiences.’ Thus brand SRK has still survived despite of the overexposure.
Off late his films have become socially more relevant though he pulls out entertainer every now and then. Swades, Paheli and Chak de India are examples of his socially relevant efforts. These works have earned him praise, appreciation, respect and credibility in the mind space of general Indian public. The well built persona as brand SRK over the years is reason of his connect, reach and appeal. It is the reason why despite overexposure his association has helped Dish TV lifts its sagging fortune; Diageo’s Masterstroke whiskey making its presence felt in India; Nokia reconnecting with the youth once again; and Jet Airways in alluring the premium class passengers to its flight.
P.S: Since I am returning after a long break I have nothing to contribute, so I thought that with the release of RNBDJ this is the best time to publish this post.
Comments
Written like a true Brand Manager in his late fifties, [:P]
Do u plan to make it ur area of expertise...
Brand Manager... Interesting option... Par pata nahi yaar jitna padhta jaa raha hoon utna hi pata nahi chal raha ki kya karna hai... :)
My mom was / is a great fan of SRK , she says there's something about him that makes u like him. & as a dutiful teen rebel i hated / didn't like him , didn't like those quivering lips & eyes thing . But what u wrote is correct brand, Shah Rukh is projected for what he is a middle class guy who made it big , despite being a no-one , a guy with an appeal.
Of late I too have sortof realised that a SRK movie almost never bites dust ( with the exception of Maya Memsahib). Brand SRK will be liked coz he sort of represents the *dream come true* of a common man.a not so handsome guy who made it big in the land of roshans & the other khans all of whom had a fillum Daddy.
going 2 watch RNBDJ 2day , no high expectations.
unlike u won't say sorry for the long comment :)
Its a debatable topic... and I never want to fall in midst of it... My mom says that I liked him from the days of Fauji... and my friends know that I am big fan but this post is not written by a fan.... :) and who said that his movies don't bite dust? There are a lot of his movies which actually bombed..... :)
RNBDJ is an average fare... I liked Suri and if u suspend your reasoning you may actually like the film..... :)... But again movie is a very personal experience.... who can predict its impact on a person?
Yeah he is the biggest brand around for the time being and RNBDJ is as you said watchable if one keeps his reasoning back home...... :)
Gal.... Rab Ji ke mention par aankh kyun band karne ki jaroorat thi.... bas kaan band kar liye hote...... :)... Aur lagta hai tu Jab We Met se bahut jyada prabhavit hai... :)
cool post me a fan of srk..all tym fav :P
inna vadda poshtt solidd research ki hogi...
wikipedia ki jai :??:P
u r b'rolled...I guess I can use ur real name "Rahul"
but still i enjoyed it more than RNBDJ seriously :)
Me a fan too gal.... :) Post vadda hai ye maine pehle hi warn kar diya tha..... :)........ Aur wiki to harek ko jaroorat hoti hai... par is post me wiki ka use bahut hi kam hua hai......
And haan thnx for b'rolling me and use ne name in the universe... naam se koi farak nahi padta cyber world mein........ :)
I warned u abt the lengthiness in the beginning.... u can't blame me after that...... :)
Aur haan by look of it Gal.... Tu bhi ek aspiring film critic lagti hai.... Film is a very personal experience but mujhe RNBDJ average lagi... kharab nahi... :)