Upload
bhumikagambhir5331
View
217
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/7/2019 Changing face of Indian advertising mascots
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/changing-face-of-indian-advertising-mascots 1/2
Changing face of Indian advertising mascots
Air India¶s Maharaja which came into existence in the year 1946 and the Amul girl in
1967 are the mascots which captured the hearts of one and all in India. These mascots
caught the attention of the consumers as they were charming and connected well withthe consumers. Indian corporate have also seen few other mascots like Fido the cool
swanky doodle of 7 Up, doughboy the sweet little butler of Godrej Pillsbury, Gattu whobuild brand Asian Paint, Chintamani who endorsed ICICI, Sunny who is creating magicwith Sunfeast. The success of these mascots can be qualified by, the increase in the
brand value of these brands consumer connect.
Decline of mascot power
The Indian market grew at a fast pace in nineties everything from pencils to cars, salt to
luxury goods required an advertising campaign this was the time when we sawemergence of celebrity advertising and mascots lost their appeal. We also lived in a time
when there was no argument regarding the fact that a celebrity can make or break abrand. The pampering and recognition given to the celebrity in the marketing of theproduct in some cases was even greater than the product itself. The advertising world,
during this time strongly believed that the celebrities transfer their success, personality,
status and power to the brand. They attributed reasons for the growth of celebrityendorsements to:
� Create great brand awareness for product� Sustaining the brand image
� Stimulating and reviving brands
� Product association
However, the advertising world also realized that many brand ambassadors does notpractice what they preach and sometimes controversies and unpleasant incidents
connected with the celebrity causes damage. It is also observed that over exposure and
multiple endorsements too can damage the image of product. The Indian market whichis saturated with celebrity endorsements has seen emergence of the mascots.
Emergence of the mascotsThe courage and optimism that common man of R. K. Laxman portrays and a middle-
class Indian, that Chintamani portrays is certainly unmatched but the new age mascotsare more attractive, and trendy. The advertisers have become more creative with theuse of animation. The new age mascots have a lasting appeal and create a whole newpersona for the product. They manage the product as efficiently as a celebrity. Moreover,in the current marketing scenario when the celebrity charisma diminishing away theworld of advertising is turning back to mascots.
Celebrities get associated with too many products and therefore it is difficult to relatethem with one particular brand, which is not the case with the mascots. For an example
Shahrukh Khan endorse brands such as Pepsi, Airtel, Santro, Emami , and many morebut Fido is just associated with 7Up. The strength of mascots lies in its uniqueness, andits power of effectively communicating the ethos of the brand like, Chintamani solves all
our worries related to tax savings and good returns paving a new way for no chinta,
Share Khan tell us how to smartly invest in stocks and reap rich dividends, Gattu withthe brush in his hand and the smile on his face passes the message that a bright coat of paint will brighten up the house. Moreover the mascots are not as expensive as
celebrities. The cost of creating these characters is as low as development of a normalcommercial. Lowe Advertising creative director Delna Sethna claims that the first
Chintamani ad cost around Rs 7 lakh. Moreover, the animated characters also give morescope for creative-flexibility.
Mascots are dynamic and they adapt with changing times. We should acknowledge howthe Amul girl in polka dots has changed overtime, and Fido has makeovers with the
8/7/2019 Changing face of Indian advertising mascots
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/changing-face-of-indian-advertising-mascots 2/2
changing time. The advertising world has also observed that the popularity o f anymascot is not only based on the response they get, but also depend on the fact thatthese faces have a higher recall value.
ConclusionThe Amul girl was born in 1967 is still a popular mascot. She may soon enter into the
Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest campaign to survive in the market. This
goes on to prove that the mascots are more appropriate brand ambassadors. The impactand success of the mascot, depends on how effectively it conveys the brand values and
the ideals that consumers would associate with.