Basava

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS
INFLUENCE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR IN RESPECT OF SOFT DRINKS.

AT
BANGALORE CITY
A dissertation submitted to Bangalore University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of MBA Degree
BY
DODDAHULUGAPPA GOUTAM Reg No: 07XQCM6024

Under the Guidance of
Dr. K.V. Prabhakar Senior Professor
MP BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE. 2007-2009

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation entitled Influence of Brand Ambassadors on Buying Behavior in respect of Soft Drinks at Bangalore city. Is the result of research work conducted by me during from March 10th to May 25th, 2009 under the guidance of Dr. K.V Prabhakar, Senior Professor, M.P. Birla Institute of Management, Bangalore. I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted, earlier to this university or any other University/ Institution for the award of any Degree/diploma or any other similar title.
Place: Bangalore Goutam Date:
Doddahulugappa
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PRINCIPALS CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this dissertation entitled INFLUENCE OF BRAND AMBASSEDORS ON BUYINIG BEHAVIOUR IN RESPECT OF SOFT DRINKS, AT BANGALORE CITY. is prepared by Mr. Doddahulugappa Goutam under my guidance and supervision of Dr K V Prabhakar, Senior Professor, MPBIM, Bangalore during the academic year 2007-09
PLACE: Bangalore DATE
(Dr. Nagesh Malavalli) Principal
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GUIDES CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation entitled INFLUENCE OF BRAND AMBASSEDORS ON BUYINIG BEHAVIOUR IN RESPECT OF SOFT DRINKS, AT BANGALORE CITY. is prepared by Mr. Doddahulugappa Goutam under my guidance and supervision during the academic year 2007-09.
PLACE: Bangalore DATE:
(Dr. K.V Prabhakar) Senior Professor
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The successful completion of this project report would be incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible, whose guidance and encouragement served as a path of success.
Firstly I express my gratitude to Dr. Nagesh S Malavalli, Principal, M.P. BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Bangalore for providing necessary support and facilities to carry out this internship report work.
I take immense pleasure to express my heart-felt gratitude to Dr. K.V Prabhakar, Senior Professor, M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Bangalore for his guidance and supervision without which my study would not have been successfully completed.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to many people whose timely help and guidance has helped me to conduct this research successfully.
I am thankful to Miss. Usha S, Chief Librarian of M.P. Birla Institute of Management, Bangalore for providing valuable information and her well-timed support.
I also wish to thank all those respondents who were patient enough in giving the answer to my questionnaire.
Doddahulugappa Goutam
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
PARTICULARS Introduction Literature survey Problem Statement, Research Objectives, Research Methodology and Research Limitations Concept of Branding Influence of Celebrity Endorsement on the overall Brand Soft Drinks Industry : An Overview Influence of Brand Ambassadors on Buying Behavior in Soft drinks Data Analysis And Inferences Major Research Findings and Recommendations ANNEXURE: Select Bibliography, Questionnaire and Directions for further research Annexure
PG. NO 21-29 30-32
33-41 42-49 50-56 57-62
8 9
63-100 101-108
10
109-110
11
111-116
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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Chart No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Title Gender Split Up Brand Recall Brand Ambassadors and advertisement reach among customers Brand and Celebrity Endorsement Favorite Brand Ambassador and Chances of Buying Celebrity Endorsement And chances of Viewing A Print Ad Brand Ambassadors & Soft Drink Brand Recommendation Among Their Friends/Colleagues Brand Ambassadors And detractors Change in Purchase Behavior After A Not-Sofavorite Brand Ambassadors Started Endorsing The Brand Preference Among Two Brand Having Same Attributes When Endorsed By Their Favorite Celebrity
Pg No. 57 58 59 60 61 62
7 8 9
63 64 65
10
66
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Chart No. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Title Purchase of A Soft Drink after It Become Popular Due To celebrity Endorsement Association of Respondents Between Brand Ambassador And Status Symbol Importance of Brand Ambassadors Major Reasons For Their Shift From The Previous Brand Effective Association of The Celebrity And The Brand They Endorse Coca-Cola Aamir khan Coca-Cola And Rajyavardhan Rathore Association And Effectiveness of Aishwarya Roy Endorsing Coca Cola Association And Effectiveness of Kareena & Priyanka Endorsing Pepsi Cafe chino Association And Effectiveness of John Abraham Endorsing Diet Pepsi Association And Effectiveness of Sharukh Khan Endorsing Pepsi Association And Effectiveness of Mallika Sharawat Endorsing 7up Association And Effectiveness of Trisha Endorsing Fanta Association And Effectiveness of Asin Endorsing Mirinda Association And Effectiveness of Akshay Kumar Endorsing Thumbs Up Association And Effectiveness of Saniya Mirza Endorsing Sprite
Pg. No. 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The MBA course offered by the Bangalore University has its own unique syllabus which requires its MBA students to undertake a dissertation project during the 4th semester. The purpose of this dissertation project is to enable the students to appreciate and understand the nuances of the practical world vis-vis the theoretical input administrated during regular academic sessions. This helps in creating Managers who are equipped with the experience of linking theoretical inputs with those of practical exposure and come with creative solutions / ideas in enhancing the business. In partial fulfillment of MBA degree of Bangalore University, I took up a dissertation project titled Influence of Brand Ambassadors on Buying Behavior of Soft Drinks, at Bangalore. The main research objectives are to identify whether celebrity endorsement has any
impact in the
purchase behavior of
Soft drinks, to find out the importance of recall and brand Awareness, to identify the
celebrity endorsement in the promotion of a product, to find out whether celebrity endorsement constitutes for brand fissures India is soon adapting to market products with a blend of celebrity endorsement.
Hence, I thought it would be a right time to take such a project and present the findings of what impact it has made. I have also specified in the end of this dissertation the road for further study, which other interested person, can take up a project and augment to the findings of this project.
Major findings are: 1. Brand endorsement by celebrities is mainly done To make an appeal among the consumers, that the consumers should notice the brand, The brand ambassadors would set a trend among the consumers, to influence the consumers, o bring a trust about the brand among the consumers to achieve high brand recall, to establish high brand awareness
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2. Almost all respondents, that is, nearly 64% of them replied that they will not detract their friend/colleague from buying a particular soft drink brand because it is endorsed by their hated icon. This shows a very good sign. Because in any brand detractors must be given due importance to curb them. They not only dont buy the brand but also detract others from buying. 16. Nearly 26% of respondents replied that they are unlikely that they will recommend a soft drink brand to their friends /colleague only because it is endorsed by their favorite icon. Actually a consumer will recommend a brand only if he thinks that he is satisfied from the brand and that the brand is worth recommending .
RECOMMENDATION
Celebrity endorsement is mainly undertaken because to create brand awareness and brand recall. The selling proposition is no longer the same. Earlier people were only concerned about quality. But now things have changed. There are umpteen numbers of products which floods the market. To stand out from the clutter brand ambassadors can be better tool. Hence Articulate with clarity on the brand promise (What am I?) and the brand personality. Create consensus among the brand team on what the communication objectives for The campaigns are. Focus single-mindedly on the characteristics the chosen celebrity should possess, in order to provide synergy with the brand to be advertised.
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Dedicated To My Family
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
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INTRODUCTION
The society that we live in can not only be called secular or democratic, it should be more appropriately termed as over-communicated these days. A typical super-market in USA displays more than 12000 brands, an American family has at least one television set and a consumer is exposed to around 1000 ads per day1. Likewise, there are around 130 television channels in India broadcasting over 3 million television commercials each year in India. The media-explosion can thus be easily demonstrated. Moreover, people forget 80% of the information in just 24 hours! Just imagine the plight of the marketer to make his brand shout over the deafening clutter of all the brands! Somewhere in the 80's, Indian marketers found the solution, 'Celebrity Endorsement' for the brand! The theories like 'Source Credibility Theory, Source Attractiveness Theory and Meaning Transfer Theory' provide a basis on which the methodology of celebrity endorsement works and also explains how the process of the celebrity endorsement influences the minds of the consumers. Firms invest huge amounts as advertising expenditure for hiring the right celebrity. However there lies uncertainty with respect to the returns that the company might be able to garner for the brand. The issue of matching the values of the celebrity with the brand values is also very important, i.e. getting the right celebrity to endorse the right brand. Consumers perceive the brand as having superior quality because it has been endorsed by a credible source. This makes endorsement as one of the indictors of quality for any brand. Corporate credibility along with endorser credibility plays a significant role in the attitude of the consumer towards the brand and the advertisement respectively. Firms endorse celebrity for a variety of reasons. It might be the life experience of the celebrity that fits the advertising message or the endorser's high appeal with the firm's consumer target group. Studies associated with the market effect of celebrity endorsement suggest that consumers positively value the use of celebrity endorsers in the advertisements. Firms invest significant money in putting together brands and organizations with endorser qualities such as attractiveness, likeability, and trustworthiness. But today's dynamic market conditions make these investments unviable. M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
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BRAND AMBASSADOR:
A brand ambassador is a well-connected person or a celebrity who is used to promote and advertise a product or service.
View of Brand ambassador

A diplomat; a representative of an organization, institution or corporation that best portrays the product or service. Brand Ambassadors are the face and fingers of the brand, everything they touch, the brand is touching. Brand Ambassadors from the public image of brands and are the humans, companies use to deliver their message to the public. Nontraditional marketing companies utilize Brand Ambassadors in campaigns to answer questions, engage the audience, and increase brand awareness. Using reputable firm to supply this type of staff allows companies to maintain a high quality of applicants that mirror the target demographic to reach consumers in the most effective manner. A company achieves some clear-cut goals by using a brand ambassador. It works out in building brand loyalty, as the consumer may have interest on that particular celebrity. So when he or she would see that celebrity on an advertisement, then that person could get motivated to use that product or service, as a respected person is involved.
With the advent of social media and Web 2.0 communications, the term has been repurposed by advertising agencies to include non-celebrity figures and influential online figures. The term may also refer to a salaried employee of a company who is influential in online communities and represents the "face of the brand". Social sites such as Blogger and Twitter have provided a setting for other brand ambassadors. Fans of certain brands (particularly brands with characters such as games, comic books, movies, or TV shows) have created accounts portraying the brands. This type of brand promotion is done completely free of charge and the brand ambassadors are often referred to as Character Bloggers or, in the case of Twitter, Character Twitters.
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Brand Ambassadors: Who or What Are They?

A Brand Ambassador, as the name suggests is an Endorser of a Brand. An ambassador is a representative of the Brand. That he/she endorses. In our childhood days, when there were less number of brands we had very few brand ambassadors. For example a Lalitaj for Surf, Poonam Hillon for Bajaj Almond Hair Oil, Neelam Kothari for Dabur Amla Hair Oil, Sridevi for Lux to name a few. There would have been more but they werent able to leave an imprint on our minds. Most probably, it did, on our parents and relatives mindset, no wonder we always got the same products in our house.
WHY BRAND AMBASSADORS

There is a management saying that, when the product is good, you no longer have to be a very good marketer. But the saying is soon becoming outdated. There are many product categories and many brands flooded in the market in each category. Hence attributes like quality, value for money alone doesnt count. There has to be an effective media to make the product reach towards the customer. The media here can be termed as the celebrity who endorses the product. When a product is being endorsed by a famous celebrity then it will result in better brand recall and better brand awareness. People also start associating their status symbol to that of the product that they consume and the celebrity associated with it. Hence in many ways the company can capitalize on celebrity endorsement. That is the reason why companies shell out millions to promote their product with the celebrities.
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ROLE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS

With the passage of time when the liberalization took place in the 1990s, we saw a spate of companies flowing into the country with a wide range of products for the consumer. These companies didnt want their products to fail in the market and so they had very attractive and enticing ad campaigns. But the need for more profits and market share made them spend more and more on their advertisements. There were virtual characters for some brands (Fido for 7Up), but for some they had to rope in household names to connect with the consumer and that made the companies reach out their arms to Bollywood for influential actors and actresses (Shah Rukh Khan for Pepsi) and so on. Depending on the ad campaigns that were created there were couples of ambassadors who worked wonders for a brand but couldnt revive their magic when it came to other brands.
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ADVANTAGES OF CELEBRITY ENDORSSING A BRAND

Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in products or services, more and more brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As soon as a new face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to have it splashed all over. Witness the spectacular rise of Sania Mirza and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of a few months. The accruement of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the following advantages that are bestowed on the overall brand: Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that rand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products. We had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign. At launch, Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Santro and this ensured that brand awareness was created in a market, which did not even know the brand.
Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by

breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable. PR coverage: is another reason for using celebrities. Managers perceive celebrities as topical, which create high PR coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity campaigns is one of the Worlds leading pop groups, the Spice Girls, who have not only appeared in advertisements for Pepsi, but also in product launching and PR events. Indeed, celebrity-company marriages are covered by most media from television to newspapers (e.g. The Spice Girls and Pepsi)
Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the personalities of the

celebrity with the brand thereby increasing the recall value. Golf champion Tiger Woods has endorsed American Express, Rolex, and Nike. Actress Catherine ZetaJones is used by T-Mobile and Elizabeth Arden. 007 Pierce Brosnan promotes Omega, BMW, and Noreico.
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Associative Benefit: A celebritys preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.
Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the

consumers confidence in its chocolate brands following the high-pitch worms controversy; so the company appointed Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last year, when the even more controversial pesticide issue shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both soft drink majors put out highprofile damage control ad films featuring their best and most expensive celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fight back as an ingenious and fastidious Bengali who Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on a Brand finally gets convinced of the products purity, PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a television commercial which drew references to the safety of the product indirectly. Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalize on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand. Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.). Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest among the masses. Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant chyawanprash category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crores. Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas.
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DISADVANTAGES OF A CELEBRITY ENDORSING A BRAND

The celebrity approach has a few serious risks: 1. The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after he/she has
endorsed the product: Pepsi Colas suffered with three tarnished celebrities Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Since the behavior of the celebrities reflects on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at times become liabilities to the brands they endorse. 2. The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of a celebrity overshadowing the brand. If there is no congruency between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will remember the celebrity and not the brand. Examples are the campaigns of Dawn French. Cable Association and Leonard Rossiter. Cinzano Both of these campaigns were aborted due to Celebrities getting in the way of effective communication. Another example could be the Castrol commercial featuring Rahul Dravid. 3. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity: The celebrity may lose his or her popularity due to some lapse in professional performances. For example, when Tendulkar went through a prolonged lean patch recently, the inevitable question that cropped up in corporate circles - is he actually worth it? The 2003 Cricket World Cup also threw up the Shane Warne incident, which caught Pepsi off guard. With the Australian cricketer testing positive for consuming banned substances and his subsequent withdrawal from the event, bang in the middle of the event, PepsiCo - the presenting sponsor of the World Cup 2003 - found itself on an uneasy wicket
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4. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to
overexposure: The novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he does too

many advertisements. This may be termed as commoditization of celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big bucks. Example, RF was among the early sponsors of Tendulkar with its logo emblazoned on his bat. But now Tendulkar endorses a myriad brands and the novelty of the Tendulkar-MRF campaign has scaled own.
5. Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another (competitor):
Sainsburys encountered a problem with Catherina Zeta Jones, whom the company used for its recipe advertisements, when she was caught shopping in Tesco. A similar case happened with Britney Spears who endorsed one cola brand and was repeatedly caught drinking another brand of cola on tape.
6. Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the brand: Celebrities
manifest a certain persona for the audience. It is of paramount importance that there is an egalitarian congruency between the persona of the celebrity and the image of the brand. Each celebrity portrays a broad range of meanings, involving a specific personality and lifestyle. Madonna, for example, is perceived as a tough, intense and modern women associated with the lower middle class. The personality of Pierce Brosnan is best characterized as the perfect gentlemen, whereas Jennifer Aniston has the image of the .good girl from next door.
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HISTORY
Celebrities are involved in endorsing activities since late nineteenth century2. The advent of celebrity endorsements in advertising in India began when Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons began encroaching on a territory that was, until then, the exclusive domain of models3. One of the first sports endorsements in India was when Farokh Engineer became the first Indian cricketer to model for Bryl cream. The Indian cricket team now earns roughly Rs. 100 crores through endorsements. There was a spurt of advertising, featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige Pressure Cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings).
DOES CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT REALLY WORK?

Does celebrity endorsement really work? Theoretically yes, because the qualities associated with the endorser are associated with the brand and the brand therefore remains at the top of the consumer's mind. However one needs to realize that the impact of an endorser cannot be sustainable in all product categories and in all the stages of brand life cycles. It really depends upon the type of product. If it is a 'functional brand', then the product itself is the hero. Here any celebrity association with the brand without corresponding performance of the product will not be sustainable. While in case of 'image brands', like the categories of soaps, soft drinks, cigarettes etc., where it is difficult to distinguish between the products, celebrity endorsements help to distinguish between the brands at an emotional level. A research conducted by Synovate7, a global market research firm, revealed that 47% people would be more likely to buy a brand that was endorsed by their favorite celebrity. Pepsi Co. has used a variety of celebrities including Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Rahul Khanna Fardeen Khan, Sachin Tendulkar etc. Amongst advertisements featuring celebrities, Pepsi tops the heap with the highest recall of 70%, while arch rival Coke is lower across
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all markets with 52% recall. This proves that Pepsi has really exploited the use of celebrities in their advertisements and has worked. Whether Celebrity endorsement has a positive or a negative impact on the brand is a debate that is open to interpretation. But till the time the corporate world continues to foot fancy bills of celebrity endorsers and till consumers continue to be in awe of the stars, the party is not likely to break up. And in the chapters to come it can be learnt more on this grounds and at the end interpretation is on impact of brand ambassadors towards their perception and purchase behavior of soft drinks.
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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
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LITERATURE SURVEY 1. TITLE: The report has been done on Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Buying Behaviour and Brand Building Source: Google.com By: Dinesh Kumar Gupta
G.J. University Hisar (India). January 1, 2007
Date posted: August 05, 2008; last revised: August 10, 2008
Abstract: The field of consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use and dispose of product, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. And understanding the consumer behavior is the prime and toughest task in front of every marketer. There are a lot of factors, which influence consumer buyer behavior. This study aimed at to understand the "influence of celebrity endorsee on consumer buying behavior and marketing." Marketers pay millions of dollars to celebrity endorsee hoping that the stars will bring their magic to brand they endorse and make them more appealing and successful. But all celebrity glitter is not gold. Celebrity sources may enhance attitude change for a variety of reasons. They may attract more attention to the advertisement than would non-celebrities or in many cases, they may be viewed as more credible than non-celebrities. Third, consumers may identify with or desire to emulate the celebrity. Finally, consumer may associate known characteristics of the celebrity with attributes of the product that coincide with their own needs or desire.
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The effectiveness of using a celebrity to endorse a firm's product can generally be improved by matching the image of the celebrity with the personality of the product and the actual or desired serf concept of the target market. What therefore seems relevant by the study is that, yes, definitely celebrity endorsee influence consumer buying behavior and brand building but while using celebrity endorsee, marketer has to take care of all the aspect that whether the brought personality and image of celebrity matches or not, whether celebrity endorsee has deep penetration among the masses or not, whether he is considered as credible source or not etc. Keywords: impact, celebrity endorsement, endorser, consumer buying behavior, brand building, product, advertisement
Working Paper Series
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2. TITLE: Research Report has been done on Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on a Brand By: Rajat Goel (New Delhi)
All the Bollywood celebrities are set to intensify. Marketers find a huge potential in Bollywood stars in making their product successful. They also believe that with a smaller pool of celebrities to fish from, they will be able to trawl the available waters deeper. The last week has, in a way, borne this argument out: Unitech signed on Mr. Amitabh Bachchan in yet another deal rumored to be worth Rs. 50 crores.
Following in his footsteps, Mr. Abhishek Bachchan has been signed on for Flying Machine jeans for a relatively measly sum of Rs. 8 crores according to market sources. But the problem is that its the same names that appear to share of the Rs 250 crores endorsement pie, growing at 20%. Mr. Bachchan also endorsed Reid & Taylor with the consequence that now S. Kumars is left with no choice but to sign on someone of equal stature for Belmonte. In the endorsement game, size increasingly matters, and with just six seven bankable stars around, the competition is fierce.
So much so that even companies that compete with one another arent entirely averse to hiring the services of the same endorser. For e.g. Mr. Abhishek Bachchan, who endorses LG.s white goods range as well as Motorola. LG responds to this controversy by saying that most people want results delivered immediately and theres a very high amount of uncertainty with the non-established stars. All top actors have a shelf life and have a market rate on which benchmarking is done. Theres very little science or rigor that goes into selecting celebrities. Using a Bollywood celebrity has now become more of a tactical move rather than a strategic one. Unless theres a great creative idea, every brand will bank on a celebrity M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
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and in todays scenario, marketers are compelled to think of celebrities because if they are not going to do this then their competitors are going to take away their business from them. According to a survey, people would have seen nearly two hours of Mr. Shah Rukh Khan and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan endorsing everything from soap to hair oil . which, in effect, is the duration of a whole feature film. This sort of over-exposure has its share of risks. It is found that more than 80% of the people surveyed reckoned that the paint brand that Mr. Amitabh Bachchan endorsed was Asian Paints, when he was, infact, plugging rival Nerolac. Then theres the threat of the endorsers reputation smudging the brand.
Mr. Salman Khan was shunned by the marketers on account Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on a Brand of this various run-ins with the law and signed on Red Tape only two years ago. Marketers would want to address such risk, but its not easy. Quantitative measures for risk analysis are desired, but its largely very qualitative and based on value judgments. Coca-Cola is one company that claims to have a robust system of mapping celebrities, which shows how much value the celebrity can bring to the brand. Mr. Hrithik Roshan was signed for Coca-Cola even before the release of Krrish, based on his performance in the past and also his potential. Then theres the issue of brand fit and .believability. Brands signing up stars who seemingly have no relevance to the brand.
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CHAPTER 3 PROBLEM STATEMENT, RESEARCH OBJECTIVES RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
To study the influence of celebrity endorsement towards the buying behavior of soft drinks. On the basis of this problem statement, the following specific objectives have been crystallized.
HYPOTHESIS
Ho: There is no significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents to buy the soft drinks. (Ps = P) H1: There is significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents to buy the soft drinks. (Ps > P) Ho: There is no significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents not detracting someone from buying. (Ps =P) H1: There is significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents not detracting someone from buying. (Ps < P) Ho: There is no significant difference between impact of brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents viewing the soft drinks advertisement. (Ps = P) H1: There is significant difference between impact of brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents viewing the soft drinks advertisement. (Ps < P) Ho: There is no significant difference between observed and expected number of respondents who think that brand ambassadors are important. (Ps =P) H1: There is significant difference between observed and expected number of respondents who think that brand ambassadors are important. (Ps < P) Ho: There is no significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents unlikely to recommend the brand. (Ps = P) (The persons that the company expects that they are unlikely to recommend being small). H1: There is significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents unlikely to recommend the brand. (Ps >P)
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OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

1.To identify whether celebrity endorsement has any impact in the behavior of Soft drinks. 2. To find out the importance of celebrity endorsement in the product. purchase
promotion of a
3. To find out whether celebrity endorsement constitutes for brand brand awareness.
4. To identify the fissures and faults in celebrity endorsement.
recall and
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
SAMPLE SIZE
The chosen sample size is of 100 consumers of soft drinks between the ages 1730.
SAMPLE DESCRIPTION
The data taken for study is a convenient sample representing the youth of today, so that a proper conclusion can be reached. The target is youth aged between 17 to 30.
INSTRUMENTATION TECHNIQUE
The questionnaire technique is used for the survey and the reasons for using this approach are It covers wide area It is not an expensive affair Original data could be obtained It is free from all bias Easy to tabulate and understand
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COLLECTION OF DATA
Data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data is collected by the questionnaires and personal observation. Secondary data is collected by the referring to several journals, books, internet, magazines, etc,
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS The research investigation is restricted to Bangalore

Time and resource constraints The analysis and interpretation is made under the assumption that data are accurate
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CHAPTER 4 CONCEPT OF BRANDING
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BRANDING
BRAND
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.
REVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF BRAND:

INCUBATION OF THE CONCEPT OF BRAND EQUITY:
The 1980 marked a turning point in the conception of brands. Management came to realize that the principal asset of a company was in fact its brand names. A lot of writing followed this incubation of the idea of .Brand Equity or the financial value of the brand. In fact, the emergence of brands in activities which previously had resisted or were foreign concepts e.g. in Industry, banking, the service sector etc vouched for the new importance of brands. This is confirmed by the importance that so many distributors place on the promotion of their own brand.
A strong brand is comprised of:
Benefits Differe ntiation
Image
Brand
Presence Quality
Distribu tion Pricing
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Image. visual perception that supports brand and consumer preference Benefits. consequences of your branding Differentiation. your distinction from the competition Quality. impacts customer satisfaction, return business, growth Pricing. a component of value and suggestion of quality Distribution. availability implies (non)exclusivity Presence. visibility in media leads to brand recognition
Brands vary in the amount of power and value they have in the market place. David Aaker distinguished five levels of customer attitude towards their brand, from lowest to highest namely: i. Customers will change brands, especially for price reasons. ii. Customer is satisfied. No reason to change the brand. iii. Customer is satisfied and would incur costs by changing brand. iv. Customer values the brand and sees it as a friend v. Customer is devoted to the brand. Brand equity is highly related to how many of a brands customers are in Classes 3, 4 and 5.Moreover it is also, related, according to Aaker, to the degree Brand name recognition Perceived quality of brand Strong mental and emotional association Other assets such as patents, Trademarks and emotional associations.
Brand Equity is therefore an intangible asset i.e. it cannot be seen, tasted, heard or smelled before it is bought. Example: According to a study conducted in 2006, about 84 percent of the market value of ten of the leading FORTUNE 500 companies was attributed to intangible assets. Similarly an indicative analysis by the agency Price Waterhouse Coopers, of listed companies with a turnover of more than Rs. 100 crores, identified 25 companies which in todays market command a market value which is more than 4.5 times the book value of tangible assets.
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A Brand is more than a Product

Chart: Chart showing that a Brand is more than a product
Brand
Organizati onal Association
Brand Personality
Symbols
Scope Attitudes
P R O D U CT
Brand/ Customer Relationship
Country of Origin
Uses Quality/ Value Functional Benefits
User Imagery Emotional Benefits
SelfExpressive Benefits
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BRANDING AND BRAND ASSET MANAGEMENT

Brand management is still in a nascent stage even though brands are a business asset. At present, in many cases, the tendency is to manage products, which happen to have a name. Yet brand management involves different and specific reasoning and approaches. Till date the management books and marketing bibles have not yet assimilated the full implication of the brand revolution. Marketing books focus on the process of launching new products, when marketing the brand is considered merely as a tactical and final decision, which is developed through communication such as advertising, packaging and the logo. Yet the reality of the situation is very different. From now on companies will be faced with the strategic issues of whether or not growth should come about through existing brands by developing their sphere of activity or through new brands. Classic strategy models talk about product portfolios, whereas in reality companies have to manage their brand portfolios. Several companies have product managers but few have brand managers. This may cause problems in so far as more and more brands are being extended to more and more differentiated products, resulting in the delegation of the management of value to several decision centers. In the medium term this may diminish brand equity because decisions are taken without any integration of the decision centers. The brand is not the product but it gives the product meaning and defines its identity in both time and space. Companies are discovering that this brand equity has to be managed, nourished and controlled.
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THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF BRAND IDENTITY

BRAND IDENTITY
.It is the common element sending a single message amid the wide Variety of its products, actions and slogans. Brand identity is a recent concept; however researchers have already delved into the concept of corporate identity by the late 80.s so to simply put it
CORPORATE IDENTITY
It is what helps organization, or a part of it; feel that it truly exists and that it is a coherent and unique being, with a history and a place of its own, different from others. Thus we can infer that an identity means being true to yourself, driven by a personal goal that is both different from others and resistant to change. Thus a brand identity will be clearly defined once the following questions are answered: 1. What is the brands particular vision and aim? 2. What makes it different? 3. What need is the brand fulfilling? 4. What is its permanent nature? 5. What are its values? 6. What are the signs, which make it recognizable? This type of official document would help better brand management in the medium term, both in terms of form and content, and so better address future communication and extension issues.
Why speak of identity and not image?

Brand image is on the receivers side. Image research focuses on the way in which certain groups perceive a product, a brand etc. The image refers to the way in which these groups decode all of the signals emanating from the product, services and communication covered by the brand. Identity is on the senders side. The
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purpose in this case is to specify the brands meaning, aim and self-image. Image is both the result and interpretation thereof. In terms of brand management identity precedes image. Before projecting an image to the public, we must know exactly what we want to project.
Branding is raising new questions for managers:

i. How many brands do we need? ii. How do we manage our brand portfolio? iii. What extensions can we give the brand and which products and services could and should these encompass? iv. Into what areas should we not extend the brand even if you expect it to sell? v. Going too far may weaken brand equity. How do we manage brands over time? And keep them up to date, as technology, products and customers change? vi. How do we change while still staying the same? vii. How do we manage coherently and benefit from the synergy of a Range of Products sold under a single brand? viii. How do we optimize image in the relationship between products and their brand? ix. How far can a brand be extended geographically? x. Does it have the potential to become a homogeneous global brand in all countries? xi. Several companies have the same name as their brand (e.g. Coca-cola, Pepsi, etc) so what is the difference between managing a brand image, a corporate image and an institutional image? xii. Given that brands have a value, how can this be measured so as to survey and control it? xiii. Should it be included on the balance sheet to indicate its true economic value to shareholders, investors and financial partners? These are some very crucial questions that requires significant amount of attention from the brand management perspective, for a long time the answers to
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these questions were found intuitively and the decisions made on a trial and error basis. However, now these questions are addressed based upon some latest strategic models that have evolved based upon continuous and persistent research that continues to be undertaken in this field. Another impediment to brand management is that too often brands are examined through their component parts: the brand name, its logo, design or packaging, advertising or sponsorship, the level of image and brand awareness and a more recently evolved concept of financial Valuation. Real brand management, however, begins much earlier, with a strategy and a consistent, integrated vision.
BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE BRANDING STRATEGY

What constitutes a brand strategy?
Organizations undertake a .branding. Process yet the net outcome closely resemble a public relations face-lift. Why does this occur? One possibility might be the framework that guides the process. Another may simply be the viewpoint of the agency or consultant that is employed. In any case, valuable money is spent each year on brand strategy endeavors and frequently the outcome does not yield the tangible results organizations are seeking.
What is a Branding Strategy?

David Aaker implies the .objective of a branding is to create a business that resonates with customers.. Aaker also suggests this process must involve an analysis from three perspectives: customer, competitor, and self analysis. Another expert suggests a .Brand strategy is the process whereby the offer is positioned in the customers mind to produce a perception of advantage (David Arnold, 1992).
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OBJECTIVES OF THE BRAND STRATEGY:

It is imperative to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. The objectives that a good brand will achieve as a result of branding exercise: 1. Deliver the message clearly 2. Confirms your credibility 3. Connects your target prospects emotionally 4. Motivates the buyer 5. Concrete User Loyalty To succeed in branding the organization must understand the needs and wants of their customers and prospects. It does by integrating their brand strategies through its company at every point of public contact. The brand must reside within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which we can influence, and some that we cannot. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building their brand. After all, the brand is the source of a promise to the consumer. It's a foundational piece in the marketing communication.
In case of soft drinks the market is flooded with brands and an organization must spend time investing in researching, defining, and building their brand
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CHAPTER 4 INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDROSEMENT ON THE OVERALL BRAND
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INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDROSEMENT ON THE OVERALL BRAND

Celebrity endorsements are an omnipresent feature of present day marketing. The modern corporation invests significant amounts of money to align itself and its products with big-name celebrities in the belief that they will (a) draw attention to the endorsed products/services and (b) transfer image values to these products/services by virtue of their celebrity profile and engaging attributes. The consumer of today is becoming smarter and takes well informed decisions He is not easily swayed by the charms of his favorite celebrity be it a film star or a sportsperson. This makes Marketing Communications using celebrity endorsements all the more challenging. Since this field is very vast, the paper looks at important factors driving the celebrity's impact on the brand such as Attribute Matching, Celebrity Power, Effect of Cardinality, Choice of Media Vehicle, Brand Risks posed by Celebrities and the ultimate fight of Brand Vs Celebrity Before we draw conclusions on how celebrity endorsements impact the Brand, some important questions that mandate an answer are: - How do we quantify the effectiveness of a celebrity endorsement? What metrics determine the success of a celebrity endorsement? What parameters do we need to consider? Celebrity endorsement has been recognized as "a ubiquitous feature of modern marketing". Celebrity appeal is prevalent as a method of persuasive communication. There is so much clutter in the market that companies are constantly looking at ways to cut through it. Corporates believe celebrity endorsements are the easy way out, with their mass appeal. However there are chances of their Backfiring if there is a basic mismatch between the star personalities and the brands in question.
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FACTORS DRIVING THE CELEBRITYS IMPACT ON THE BRAND ATTRIBUTE MATCHING

Influence of the celebrity used on the brand will be determined by the process chosen to select the celebrity for the concerned product. The kind of celebrity chosen will depend on the objective of endorsing and the kind of product. Attribute matching is one of the most important factors when it comes to choosing a celebrity for the above objectives and also has a positive or negative impact on a brand.
A) OBJECTIVES OF ENDORSING
Breaking the clutter: When the objective is to break the clutter among the
deluge of advertisements, the impact on the brand will depend on the kind and quality of the message conveyed to the consumer. The celebrity is used to garner attention. To match the attributes: Endorsement for this particular reason might give you the brand recall hence having significant positive impact on the brand. The celebrity should be used to catch the attention of the viewer and associate him/her with the brand.
Celebrity used to represent or pass on attributes: The use of celebrity in

such a situation should be linked with the objective and the strategies of the organization promoting the product. If the objective is to portray leadership then the celebrity chosen should reflect the same or else there would be no impact or possibly a negative impact on the brand.
Example:
When a sportsman lets say Dhoni who is believed to consume 2 liters of milk everyday and who is so conscious about health endorses any healthy drink then it makes more sense. To achieve the objectives of the communication, attribute match-up should be done with great care. The steps are as below: clearly define the objective Identify attributes of the product and the celebrity Match the attributes of the product Vs personality and decide which attributes need to be transferred from the celebrity to the product Decide the right media for the communication Design the right kind of advertisement considering the factors like Exposure of the celebrity, his image, other brands endorsed and attributes already exploited.
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B) KIND OF PRODUCT
Apart from objective the kind of product is also important when it comes to matching the right attributes. For example: If it's a high involvement product, the right message from the celebrity will have a significant impact and a consumer might wait for sometime if the product is not available readily. On the other hand if it's an impulse product an attractive celebrity might play a big role depending upon the availability of the brand at the outlet when the consumer wants to buy it. So it becomes the integrated work of a supply chain to support the positive affects of the celebrity endorsement.
CELEBRITY POWER
Tom et al. (1992) suggest that celebrities possess different types of social powers expert power, referent power, legitimate power, coercive power and reward power - that enable them to have an effect on consumers. Apart from that a celebrity attains a power to influence the consumers by his/her various attributes. We shall classify these attributes into: * Source Credibility * Source Attractiveness * Source credibility: It is the extent to which the recipient perceives the source as having relevant knowledge and/or experience and therefore trusts the source to give unbiased information. From a study by Hovland and Weiss, credibility has two components (refer exhibit) has two components that effect believability and persuasiveness: 1. Expertise 2. Trustworthiness Source Attractiveness: Society throughout the ages has determined that particular features of persons are attractive. It is therefore to be expected that physical attractiveness as a source attribute would affect the receptivity of the message. Two discrete elements of source attractiveness are generally identified by researchers: 1. Likeability 2. Similarity. Trustworthiness, likeability, attractiveness and personality of the celebrity endorser play an important role in attracting attention to both the endorsement and the brand, fulfilling a requirement in successful advertising. Once attention had been gained, other source characteristics could come into play and have a more persuasive impact on the audience. The source characteristics with the greatest impact on consumers' intention to purchase were those of credibility and expertise.
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THE EFFECT OF CARDINALITY

The following observations can be made regarding number of celebrities and brands endorsed:
1 Celebrity 1 Brand - The association between the two would be high

but this also has a flipside as in over dependence on one celebrity for brand success
1 Celebrity n Brands - The audience may perceive the celebrity to

possess little focus and may not be able to recall the combination. But different brands may be harnessing different attributes of the celebrity, in which case it is either baneful or beneficial to the celebrity depending on what effect overexposure has on him. This case would again lead to confusion in the minds of the audience who may fail to correlate the advertisement with the brand. The effectiveness of the celebrity endorsement in such cases will depend on how effectively the advertiser correlates and projects the attributes of the celebrity and passes on to his product. From a study (Tripp, Thomas and Carlson, 1994) it was observed that a celebrity who endorses more than one brand is generally perceived to be more credible with the consumers than a celebrity who endorses only a single brand but on the other hand the perceived likeability of a celebrity who endorses multiple brands is lower than celebrity who endorses only one brand. On the other hand, consumers might become skeptical and accuse them of slack endorsements. So this tradeoff should be handled by the advertiser efficiently and effectively. N celebrities 1 Brand - The brand is at an obvious advantage if all the n celebrities are in the scene simultaneously. But sometimes these celebrities need to have a strong interlinking factor amongst them as in "The Indian Cricket Team" endorsing Samsung, "Film stars with Youth Appeal" Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Rahul Khanna for Lays. Nevertheless, multiple celebrities in distinct active endorsements may lead to low recall among the targets. According to the attribution theory (Kelley, 1967), people assign causality to events on the basis of either their own behavior or the behavior of others. In the context of celebrity endorsement advertising, consumers might ask whether an endorser recommends a product because he/she
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actually believes the positive characteristics of the product (an internal attribution) or because he/she is paid for endorsing it (an external attribution). Since consensus is one of the attribution cues, using multiple celebrities may create a consensus and help advertisers to positively affect consumer perception. A brand has a wide range of consumers and sometimes the use of multiple celebrities is needed to cover the whole target audience, though it must be made sure that each celebrity's values reflects core brand values. Studies have shown that multiple celebrities help marketers reduce audience boredom which may be caused by a single celebrity. However it should be assured that "each and every celebrity possesses compatible meanings that are sought for brands".
Choice of Media Vehicle

The effectiveness of the celebrity depends to a great extent on the media vehicle. Celebrities are of various types and are brands in themselves. If the celebrity is a model, in which case "looks" are the attention grabbers, then the print medium would probably be almost equally effective as television. But if the celebrity's character is to be portrayed, wherein audience identify with the celebrity not by mere looks but by talent or ideology, as in a sportsperson or a social activist, it makes more sense to project him or her on television to leverage on maximum impact
Brand Risks Posed By the Famous

The celebrity may cease to denote the same set of brand values after a point in time. Cases are aplenty wherein a celebrity endorsing a brand has been accused of nefarious activities. To quote a few instances, Salman Khan (Thumbs Up), OJ Simpson (Hertz car) and Mike Tyson (Pepsi) were all subject to allegations. They were not only accused of tarnishing their brand image, but also that of the product. A contradictory testimony to this conventional belief is Martha Stewart Living Omni media (MSO). When people had started to tire of Martha's "perfect" home-maker image and the Company turnover was plummeting, the imprisonment of Martha rejuvenated the brand MSO and culminated in a shining stock value. This leaves us to ponder whether infamy spells bad omen for a brand or if it depends on the mindset of the target population.
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However such surprises are few in number. There have been plenty of reminders for marketers in recent months of the potential danger of aligning their brand with a personality. Halos are easily tarnished and golden boys - and girls can slip up and instantly lose their sparkle. While things do not always turn out too badly for the person concerned, the brands they were endorsed by can find it harder to make people forget their alliance. To avoid some of these risks, some Companies safely go in for cartoon characters or dead celebrities.
Another risk is the transference of unintended meanings to a product through a celebrity endorsement. Celebrities and products have numerous attributes, and there may be congruity on certain ones and incongruity on others. In the selection of a celebrity endorser, one has to consider not only the product attributes that are to be established, but also the broader meanings associated with an endorser. Although the endorser may have certain attributes that are desirable for endorsing the product, he or she may also have other, even more closely associated attributes that are inappropriate for a specific product For instance, marketers of bath towels who want to promote only the luxurious and sexy nature of their towels may be indifferent to the selection of Madonna or Christie Brinkley as an endorser. However, using this narrow definition may result in the selection of Madonna, which would also transfer a low-class meaning to the product. The totality of the endorser's symbolic meaning should be considered. As a Concluding remark, Celebrity endorsements may not always give a positive return on expectation. Product endorsements for international brands must be managed cautiously. Also, using celebrities has been commoditized now to the extent that the same people are chased. Quite often, having a celebrity in an advertisement in a meaningless fashion without developing a clear strategy leads the celebrity to act as a vampire to the brand proposition so that the advertisement is remembered; not the brand name. The larger question is how to make best use
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of celebrity advertising. People who have done this successfully such as Lux using film stars in India and Nike using well-known American sportsmen are two great examples wherein the celebrities act as a support to the main advertising communication. No wonder these two examples use celebrity endorsement as a core part of their advertising and the brand has grown in importance and improved in terms of its quality over time. Celebrity Endorsement should be a strategic decision taken after weighing all the risks associated with it.
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CHAPTER 5 SOFT DRINKS INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW
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A soft drink is a drink that does not contain alcohol, as opposed to hard drinks, that do. In general, the term is used only for cold beverages. Hot chocolate, tea, and coffee are not considered soft drinks. The term originally referred exclusively to carbonated drinks, and is still commonly used in this manner
Major Soft Drinks Brands:

Of late, there will be almost very few people who dont know brand names like Coca Cola or Pepsi. The soft drinks industry is cluttered with many brands and the companies are struggling to maintain their market share. They resort to several marketing strategies to entice the customers towards them. Some of the famous soft drink brands are
Coca cola Fanta, Miranda Thumbs up, Pepsi 7UP, Sprite Fanta, Miranda Thumbs up
There has been a war going on between these brands and several strategies has rather confused consumers to buy a brand rather than making him loyal towards the brand. As a result brand loyalty is soon fading among the brands available in the market and he is loyal to more than one brand. To retain a customer the companies undertake several strategies like pricing strategy, advertising strategy, etc. But one welcome trend that companies have seen is that the volume is increasing and as a result the market penetration is going up.
China Verses India: Soft Drink Industry

China is the bigger market. And the beverage brands operating here are doing better in China in terms of profitability. And just last year, the growth rate in China has been higher than India. China has a national policy on FDI, and all the provinces get right in line. The market looks spectacular. The economy looks spectacular. It looks like a clean New York transplanted into China many times over. It will be infact a pipe dream for India to reach that level. But not that it is Unachievable. The scene is so, because we have a democratic regime and everything has to go through a consensus process. Also, our core infrastructure is aged, and we can replace all of them if there is enough political will. But the growth of India will catch up with that of China in the next two or three years. The administration now is rolling out the welcome mat for FDI and that will yield in the long term.
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MARKETING STRATEGIES OF SOFT DRINK BRANDS:

Creating a brand is a time-consuming process because it involves organizational commitment and orchestrating the resources in the right manner and channel for building the brands image in the mind of consumers. In other words, branding creates predictability. Its about creating a relationship with consumers. What the brand does today should help you anticipate what it will do tomorrow. Promotion, on the other hand, is a short-term phenomenon. ACT NOW is the definition of sales promotion; tomorrow will be too late! Whether it is price reduction, larger packaging, a tie-in with another product, a coupon or some other incentive, it is temporary. Does this mean that you shouldn't run promotional campaigns? What should happen is this: Promotions should help build a strong brand. Building a brand works towards building a strong consumer base. Think beyond coupons, giveaways and free trials! Sales promotions can attract a different audience and encourage people to try a product for the first time. You have the opportunity to influence people. perceptions of a brand, and then, through ongoing activity, retain those customers. Marketers must recognize where sales promotions fit into the marketing mix and what goes beyond the promotion. There should be a synergy between brands and promotions. For example, when the cola war was intense ad the market was cluttered with many soft drink brands the companies came up with pricing strategy, which is reducing the price to Rs 5, it worked. It gave good results to the companies. The companies which posses the brands have understood that an ideal promotion should result in increasing short-term sales and building the brand in the long run. There is nothing as such .a winning promotion. Its all how t e people perceive it. For example, many of the marketers comment that the concept of Pepsi TV in which Pepsi Advertises itself recommending people to consume Pepsi while watching television seems ridiculous. But some people like it. Hence it is all perception. The companies keep changing their strategies to suit the consumers mind. Brand ambassadors, in that aspect come handy for brand recall and Brand Awareness.
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PESTICIDE ISSUE: THE DEATH KNELL FOR SOFT DRINK BRANDS

The following is the report released by Centre for Science and Environment alleging that there is pesticide content in soft drinks which rocked the nation completely. After bottled water, its aerated water that has plugged the purity test. In another expos, Down To Earth has found that 12 major cold drink brands sold in and around Delhi contain a deadly cocktail of pesticide residues. The results are based on tests conducted by the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory (PML) of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). In February this year, CSE had blasted the bottled water industrys claims of being .pure. When its laboratory had found pesticide residues in bottled water sold in Delhi and Mumbai. This time, it analyzed the contents of 12 cold drink brands sold in and around the capital. They were tested for organ chlorine and organ phosphorus pesticides and synthetic pyrethroids. All commonly used in India as insecticides. The test results were as shocking as those of bottled water. All samples contained residues of four extremely toxic pesticides and insecticides: lindane, DDT, Malathion and chlorpyrifos. In all samples, levels of pesticide residues far exceeded the maximum residue limit for pesticides in water used as food set down by the European Economic Commission (EEC). Each sample had enough poison to cause. in the long term .cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, birth defects and severe disruption of the immune system.
WHAT WE FOUND
Market leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi had almost similar concentrations of pesticide residues. Total pesticides in all PepsiCo brands on an average were 0.0180 mg/l (milligramme per liter), 36 times higher than the EEC limit for total pesticides (0.0005 mg/l). Total pesticides in all Coca-Cola brands on an average were 0.0150 mg/l, 30 times higher than the EEC limit. While contaminants in the Dil mange more. Pepsi were 37 times higher than the EEC limit, they exceeded the norms by 45 times in the Thanda matlab Coca-Cola. Product Mirinda Lemon topped the chart among all the tested brand samples, with a total pesticide concentration of 0.0352 mg/l. The cold drinks sector in India is a much bigger money-spinner than the bottled water segment. In 2001, Indians consumed over 6,500 million bottles of cold drinks. Its growing popularity means that children and teenagers, who glug these
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bottles, are drinking a toxic potion.PML also tested two soft drink brands sold in the US, to see if they contained pesticides. They didnt the question, therefore, is: how can apparently quality-conscious multinationals market products unfit for human consumption? CSE found that the regulations for the powerful and massive soft drinks industry are much weaker, indeed non-existent, as compared to those for the bottled water industry. The norms that exist to regulate the quality of cold drinks are a maze of meaningless definitions. This "food" sector is virtually unregulated. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act of 1954, or the Fruit Products Order (FPO) of 1955 both mandatory acts aimed at regulating the quality of contents in beverages such as cold drinks do not even provide any scope for regulating pesticides in soft drinks. The FPO, under which the industry gets its license to operate, has standards for lead and arsenic that are 50 times higher than those allowed for the bottled water industry. Whats more, the sector is also ex empted from the provisions of industrial licensing under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. It gets a one-time license to operate from the ministry of food processing industries; this license includes a noobjection certificate from the local government as well as the state pollution control board, and a water analysis report. There are no environmental impact assessments, or sitting regulations. The industrys use of water, therefore, is not regulated. It is clear that the regulations have been designed in total disregard for Public health. But what is unfortunate is that the global players two giant corporations, who swear by the principles of corporate responsibility and global standards have been caught in the act, taking advantage of the weak and nonsensical regulatory standards in India. Or, may we say, by fixing the standards to compromise our health. The above given is the complete report given by CSE and as a result of which there were several controversies regarding whether to allow soft drinks in our country to continue or not was triggered. The sale of carbonated water (soft drinks) was badly hit.
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COLA WARS
Cola Wars is the term used to describe the campaign of mutually targeted television advertisements and marketing campaigns between Coca-Cola and PepsiCola.
CHART SHOWING MARKET SHARE OF SOFT DRINKS
Whether its business or product strategies or the critical distribution game plan, the arch-rivals are taking roads that do not meet. Of late, in one of the interviews with Business Line Indra Nooyi, the president and CFO of PepsiCo commented .The cola wars are alive and kicking. That's what makes us both great companies. True to the words of Indra Nooyi, the cola wars have stayed for decades and several strategies were implemented by both the companies to woo customers. Global cola war is age old. They both have been fighting tooth and nail to gain the market share. Some people have even compared that to two kinder garden school children fighting it out in the road. Lets come to another phase of the coal wars. With the sweltering April-July summer months now under way in India, the country's version of the global cola wars, featuring perennial combatants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, is heating up fast. With health consciousness on the rise, the
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health-drinks business has picked up as well, with several players, including the aforementioned cola giants, wading into the fray. One of the most visible battle fronts in India's cola wars is Celebrity endorsements, and Pepsi and Coke have rolled out the biggest categories of celebrities in the country, film stars and cricketers, signed up as brand ambassadors at humongous cost. Their well-known faces are splashed on billboards and newspaper pages, even as television spots roll out by the dozens featuring the stars. The Coke-Pepsi rivalry is so intense that there is a fight to win ad space at every shop, bus-stop stall and roadside eatery. Each transnational company marks out its territory in either bright red or blue, the colors associated with the two brands. Top film stars Kareena Kapoor, Sharukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan and cricketers Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and many more have been offered contracts that are sometimes worth more than their earnings from films or cricket. According to reports, Aamir Khan's contract for Coca-Cola is worth more than $4 million over three years. For that money, Aamir sets aside a few days every year for the commercials. Sharukh Khan, who rivals Aamir in the movies, charges a similar amount for Pepsi, while among the ladies, Aishwarya Rai leads with more than $2 million. Coca-Cola is reported to have roped in the maximum number of 15 celebrities, followed by eight for Pepsi. Other brands such as Thums Up (Coca-Cola's local brand) have three, while 7Up (a Pepsi brand) has Yana Gupta and, this year, the hot Mallika Sharawat. The advertising strategies have changed over the years, moving on from print ads to TV commercials to promotions at restaurants, events, the Internet, contests, and tie-ups with shops and movie theaters. India's total advertising market (print plus TV) is more than $2.5 billion, with print ads accounting for 45% of the total. There will strategies, and there will celebrities and the war will continue for the ages to come. The onus is on the part of the companies to showcase their features and woo the customers towards them.
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CHAPTER 6 INFLUENCE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS IN SOFT DRINK INDUSTRY
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SOFT drinks, chocolates, biscuits, paints, cars, tyres, scooters, suitings, footwear, watches, pens, hair oil, chyawanprash, insurance packages, diamonds, liquor, photo films ... The list could go on. It appears that, of late, corporate India does not want to sell anything to the consumer without using either a movie star or a sports hero. If we are rapidly turning the pages of glossy magazine or channel surfing, an advertisement featuring Aishwarya Rai or Aamir Khan for coca-cola or Sharukh Khan for Pepsi its sure we will slow down. Then again, we might find the exasperating ad lines or jingles buzzing in our head all the day. Celebrity endorsements ensure that the product lingers I the memory long after the advertisement has been seen and phrases like .Thanda matlab coca-cola. or Yeh Dil Maange More. are often discussed in informal circles. Such is the power of celebrities that they are increasingly finding their way in almost all then product lines in the business world. Before really getting into the discussion of what impact has the brand ambassadors made towards soft drink brands, lets have a overview on
DO CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS HELP SELL PRODUCTS?

What is more insulting to the consumer: A celebrity who thinks you should buy anything he endorses or the marketing gurus who expect you to buy their product just because of the presence of a celebrity in the ad? The cult of celebrity endorsements does a disservice both to the brand as well as the consumer. A brand which is confident of its positioning in the market will not require the services of a celebrity. A strong brand identity would not really need a big name to help advertise it. After all, the only person who benefits from celebrity endorsement is the celebrity himself.
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Celebrities are used supposedly to stand out from the clutter, but these days it's the celebrities themselves who are adding to that clutter. Take any big star like Amitabh Bachchan or Sharukh Khan. It's likely that one will recall them with their overwhelming personalities and not the product they were paid big bucks to endorse. End result: Celebrity becomes richer and there is little recall for the brand. As the consumer has matured advertisers can no longer fool the consumer by sticking in a celebrity to push up sales. With celebrities themselves becoming akin to commodities willing to put their names to just about any product, the consumer today is smart enough to distinguish between a genuine endorsement and a case of poor branded- celebrity fit. This skepticism in the mind of the consumer can be further aggravated if there is a complete disconnect between the product and the celebrity. By placing a celebrity in an ad without thinking through as to whether there is any synergy between the two is lazy advertising. A company also runs the risk of a celebrity losing his shine overnight especially if he has run-ins with the law, a la Salman Khan. As a gimmick, celebrity endorsements have lost their luster. It's time then for advertising and marketing professionals to come up with some real ideas rather than depending on celebrities to sell products.
BRAND AMBASSADORS AND SOFT DRINKS:

Brand ambassadors have ruled the soft drinks industry. Their presence has become inevitable that the companies now feel without the celebrities the brand cannot be promoted. Name a icon, let it be Sharukh Khan or Aamir khan, Aishwarya Rai or Priyanka Chopra from Tinsel Town, or Sachin Tendulkar or Sania Mirza from Sports arena, they are now a face of some brand or another. Last year, when the controversial pesticide issue shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both the top brands sat with fingers crossed. Both soft drink majors put out high profile damage control ad films featuring their best and most expensive celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fight back as an ingenious And fastidious Bengali who finally gets convinced of the product's `purity,' PepsiCo brought Sharukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a
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television commercial which drew references to the `safety' of the product indirectly. The success that the Aamir Khan Thanda matlab commercial brought Coca-Cola is universally acknowledged. A creation of Prasoon Joshi, National Creative Director, McCann-Erickson, the ad has been exported to foreign markets as well. The way that the soft drink companies carried away the pesticide controversy makes the common public feel that, Is he made gullible?
BRAND AMBASSADORS: SAFE BET FOR THEIR SOFT DRINK BRANDS?

Points out R. Bal Krishnan, Executive Creative Director, Lowe, "It depends on how well or how badly brands use celebrities. Sometimes, a good brand uses a celebrity ineffectively, and there are times when a smaller brand does extremely well with good use of a celebrity endorser." As for overkill, Balki says, "It is not that the consumer gets tired or confused about the same star endorsing various products. If an ad film is told well with a differentiated story, it works. Otherwise, it doesn't. It is as straightforward as that." Lets take the example of Aamir Khans Association with Coca Cola. It clicked. The association had a positive correlation. In this case the brand used the celebrity effectively. But in some cases people may feel that the association is not proper and rather the brand value has gone down after such an association with the celebrity. Sometimes a bad spell can also affect the brand value. The following attributes can be discussed
TESTIMONIALS
If the celebrity has personally used the product, that is the soft drink brand that he endorses and is in opposition to attest to its quality, he or she may give a testimonial citing its benefits for example in one of the interviews with Aamir Khan he told that he consumes only Coca Cola and not any other brand. This in some way or other will augment the sale of the brand.
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SPOKESPERSON
A celebrity who represents a soft drink brand over an extended period of time, often in print and television advertisements and in personal appearances, becomes the spokesperson of the brand. For example, Sania Mirza who endorses Sprite is the spokesperson of the brand and she must like Sprite, which will add value to the brand.
BREAKING THE CLUTTER

When the objective is to break the clutter among the deluge of advertisements, the impact on the brand will depend on the kind and quality of the message conveyed to the consumer. The celebrity is used to garner attention. Further the celebrity chosen must be so popular among the general public. Aamir khans association as mentioned earlier is one such good example. It has helped Coca Cola to break the clutter.
WHICH ONE TO BET ON: THE IDEA OR THE BRAND

Celebrity endorsement is mainly carried out for better brand recall and better brand awareness. There are many soft drink brands flooded in the market and umpteen numbers of advertisements to promote it. Hence consumers get sick of these advertisements. Hence to make the consumer look on the advertisement, it must be innovative or use a charming celebrity and the rest will be done. But when the advertisement is both innovative and the celebrity is charming, then its likely that the advertisement will become a very big hit. Advertising agencies use famous icons to get the job done. They are paid a lot to do it. Trustworthiness, likeability, attractiveness and personality of the celebrity endorser play an important role in attracting attention to both the endorsement and the brand, fulfilling a requirement in successful advertising.
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ETHICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

When the pesticide issue rocked the country and the cola companies were in affix to set the sales graph right they had to do lot of home work. They knew that the tarnished image can be only rebuilt with the celebrity endorsement as they posses high trustworthiness among the general public. but some of the celebrities fearing on the ethical grounds. Gopi chand, the famous Badminton player was offered at the time of pesticide issue a huge sum to endorse one of the soft drink brands, which he refused to do on ethical grounds. But later the companies roped in famous celebrities and showcased to the public that the soft drink brand can be consumed as there is no harm in doing so.
ALL MARKETERS ARE LIARS

Seth Godin, in his famous book .all marketers are liars. says a very different line of idea for selling products. He says that all the marketers are liars and a perfect marketer must know to address the irrational wants of the consumer. Any advertisement can tell about the features that the product has and any agency can do it. Further people are least interested in hearing to it. Rather fantasize him and address that his irrational wants will be fulfilled after he buys the brand. That its shown in an advertisement that a boy gets a Girlfriend after he consumes a particular brand of soft drink may look ridiculous. But it actually clicks. The above thought can be best materialized by effectively using a brand ambassador. Because the message is easily reached. He would be earlier in no mood to watch an advertisement or see a print advertisement if it were ordinarily done. But now it looks different. It can fantasize him to a different world. But brand Gurus say that it results in better brand recall and better brand awareness. The purpose is clearly served with the help of the celebrity that is used to endorse the product.
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CHAPTER 7 DATA ANALYSIS AND INFERENCES
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Hypothesis Testing FAVORITE BRAND AMBASSADOR AND CHANCES OF BUYING

Chances of buying Very Less Less Neutral High Very High No. of Respondents 53 14 21 07 05
Source: Field Investigation Ho: There is no significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents to buy the soft drinks. (Ps = P) H1: There is significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents to buy the soft drinks. (Ps > P) Ps: sample population; Ps = 0.67 P: expected population P = 0.80 Level of significance 5% Z tab =1.645 (one tailed test) Test statistic Z = | P. Ps | PQ / n DATA: P =0.80 Ps =0.69 n =100 PQ / n = 0.04 TEST: Z cal = | .8 .0.67 | = 3.25 0.04 Since Z cal > Z tab, Ho is not accepted. That is Ps < P
INFERENCE:
It clearly shows that the sample observed is more than that of expected. Usually due to brand Endorsement it is expected that less should be unlikely to buy the brand and more should be likely to buy the brand. It means that the consumers in the case of soft drinks give much importance to other attributes like quality, value for money etc.
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BRAND AMBASSADORS AND DETRACTORS

Chances of Recommending Most Unlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most Likely No. of Respondents 63 23 09 02 02 Source: Field Investigation Ho: There is no significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents not detracting someone from buying. (Ps =P) H1: There is significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents not detracting someone from buying. (Ps < P) Ps: sample population Ps = 0.86 P: expected population P= 0.80 Level of significance 5% Z tab=1.645 (one tailed test) Test statistics Z = | P - Ps | PQ / n DATA: P =0.80 Ps =0.86 n =100 PQ / n= 0.04 TEST: Z cal =|0 .8- 0.86 |=1.50 0.04 Since Z cal < Z tab, Ho is accepted. That is Ps = P. INFERENCE: In this case the pragmatic number of people from the sample who say that they will not detract is more than that of the observed. This is a good sign. Hence it implies that the Respondents will not detract another person because their hated celebrity endorses the Product.
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BRAND AMBASSADORS AND ADVERTISEMENT REACH AMONG CUSTOMERS

Chances of buying Very Less Less Neutral High Very High No. of Respondents 02 06 18 49 25 Source: Field Investigation Ho: There is no significant difference between impact of brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents viewing the soft drinks advertisement. (Ps = P) H1: There is significant difference between impact of brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents viewing the soft drinks advertisement. (Ps < P) Ps: sample population Ps = 0.74 P: expected population P = 0.80 Level of significance 5% Ztab =1.645 (one tailed test) Test statistics Z = | P - Ps | PQ / n DATA: P =0.80 Ps =0.74 n =100 PQ / n = 0.04 TEST: Z cal = | 0.8 -0.74 | = 1.50 0.04 Since Z cal > Z tab, Ho is Rejected. That is Ps < P INFERENCE: In this case the sample observed is less than that of the expected. The companies which use brand ambassadors and celebrities to endorse their brand expect large number of people to view the advertisement. Although 74 % is very good proportion, by the test it is less than the expected/hence some creativity should also be coupled with celebrities to make the advertisements more reachable.
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IMPORTANCE OF BRAND AMBASSADOR

Importance Most Important Important Neutral Less Important Not at all Important Source: Field Investigation Ho: There is no significant difference between observed and expected number of respondents who think that brand ambassadors are important. (Ps =P) H1: There is significant difference between observed and expected number of respondents who think that brand ambassadors are important. (Ps < P) Ps: sample population Ps = 0.85 P: expected population P= 0.80 Level of significance 5% Ztab=1.645 (one tailed test) Test statistics Z = | P - Ps | PQ / n DATA: P =0.80 Ps =0.75 n =100 PQ / n= 0.04 TEST: Z cal =| 0.80 - 0.85 |= 1.25 0.047 Since Z cal < Z tab, Ho is accepted. That is Ps = P. INFERENCE:
It is obvious from the analysis that there is no significant difference between observed
No. of Respondents 11 47 27 15 00
and expected number f respondents who think that brand ambassadors are important. The rules of marketing are changing. Although companies use several strategies to make products reach the people, brand ambassadors also constitute one of the important attributes. M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
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RECOMMENDATION AMONG THEIR FRIENDS/COLLEAGUES

Chances of Recommending Most Unlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most Likely No. of Respondents 49 31 12 07 02 Source: Field Investigation Ho: There is no significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents unlikely to recommend the brand. (Ps = P) (The persons that the company expects that they are unlikely to recommend being small). H1: There is significant difference between brand ambassadors and expected number of respondents unlikely to recommend the brand. (Ps >P) Ps: sample population Ps = 0.80 P: expected population P = 0.20 Level of significance 5% Ztab =1.645 (one tailed test) Test statistics Z = | P - Ps | PQ / n DATA: P =0.20 Ps =0.80 n =100 PQ / n= 0.04 TEST: Z cal =| 0.2 - 0.80 |= 15 0.04 Since Z cal > Z tab, Ho is Rejected. That is Ps > P. INFERENCE: This means that people give importance to other factors The company always expects that the number of people unlikely to recommend the brand Should be less, or in other words, there should be large number of persons who should recommend the brand. In case of soft drinks this can be seen that there is no such trend. And they think that they can recommend a brand only after they are thoroughly satisfied. Hence attribute like satisfaction can be considered for recommendation of a brand.
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DATA ANALYSIS AND INFERENCE:

A questionnaire was prepared keeping in mind all the criteria to assess the impact of celebrity endorsement towards purchase behavior of soft drinks and the data is analyzed for interpretation of results
Sample size: 100

Gender Male Female Total Sample size 67 33 100
Source: Field Investigation
INFERENCE : As observed from the above table and Graph the sample constitutes of 67% male respondents and 33% female respondents. There is a quite a lot of difference between the number of males and females in the sample. Most of them were students, as the study was done with a convenient sampling. The students communities are from various states who undergo their education at Bangalore and they are from different states so that the sample represents different taste and preferences to get an unbiased result.
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BRAND RECALL OF SOFTDRINKS

Most of the respondents could recall the advertisements of the brand Coca-cola that gained 97 Reponses. The next brand the respondents could recall was of Pepsi, which gained 87 responses and then 7up, which gained 85 responses. With the response from the sample population the brand recall is being analyzed. It was asked to mention top six brands which they like from which such information is being taken up.
BRAND RECALL
NAME OF THE BRAND NUMBER OF MENTIONS
Coca- cola 97 Pepsi 87 Sprite 83 Mirinda 81 7up 85 Fanta 79 Thumps up 88 Mountain Dew 61 Limca 66 Others* 62 *others include brands like Mazza, Slice Source: Field Investigation Coca- cola Pepsi Sprite Mirinda 7up Fanta Thumps up Mountain Dew Limca Others* *others include brands like Mazza, Slice
BRANDS UNDER STUDY
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The respondents were asked what the chances that they will view a television ad of a soft drink brand if it is endorsed by their favorite icon. And the response was as follows: Chances of buying No. of Respondents Very less 03 Less 05 Neutral 19 High 47 Very high 26 Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWING CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND CHANCES OF VIEWING A TELEVISION AD
INFERENCE: From the chart it can be clearly seen that about 26% of respondents say that there is a very high and 47% high chances of viewing a television ad, given the ad is featured with their favorite icon. Advertisement is one of the important modes for brand awareness and brand recall. Hence if the celebrity endorsement can do that effectively, then it will have a positive influence on the buying behavior. On the other hand only 5% say that there is less chance of viewing and again another 3% say that there is very less chance of viewing. And the remaining 19% remain neutral.
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BRAND AND CELEBRITY ASSOCIATION

The respondents were asked to specify top 6 brands that come to their mind and in the order of preference and also asked to specify the name of the brand ambassador of the soft drink brand if they know. And the response was as follows
Name of the brand Percentage of people who Could associate with celebrities
Coca-cola Pepsi Sprite Mirinda 7up Fanta Thumps up Limca
63 56 55 38 55 29 42 29 Source: Field Investigation

BRAND AND CELEBRITY ASSOCIATE
It is obvious from the above chart that above 63% of the respondents says that they associates with brand coca cola are very high and 55% of the respondents says that they will associates Pepsi and then 55% 7up and 55% Mirinda will associates and rest are below 40% respondents says that
INFERENCE:
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FAVORITE BRAND AMBASSADOR AND CHANCES OF BUYING

The respondents were asked what the chances are of buying a soft drink brand if it is endorsed by their favorite icon. And the response was as follows: Chances of buying Very less Less Neutral High Very high Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWNG BRAND AMBASSADOR AND CHANCES OF BUYING
No. of Respondents 51 12 24 09 04
INFERENCE: It is obvious from the above chart that above 51% of the respondents say that the chances are very less that they will buy a soft drink brand when it is endorsed by their favorite icon while 12% say the chances are less, and 24% remain neutral. On the other hand about 9% say that their favorite icon influences them in buying the brand to high extent and about 4% say that it influences to very high extent. Since the majority say that celebrity endorsement doesnt influence them to buy the soft drinks they have in mind also other attributes like quality, value for money etc.
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The respondents were asked what the chances that they will see a print ad/hoarding of a soft drink brand if it is endorsed by their favorite icon. And the response was as follows: Chances of buying No. of Respondents Very less 05 Less 07 Neutral 15 High 59 Very high 14 Source: Field Investigation CHART SHOWING CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND CHANCES OF VIEWING A PRINT AD
INFERENCE: From the chart it can be clearly seen that about 14% of respondents say that there is a very high and 59% high chances and 15% natural of viewing a print ad or a hoarding, given the ad is featured with their favorite icon. Advertisement is one of the important modes for brand awareness and brand recall. Hence if the celebrity endorsement can do that effectively when, then it will have a positive influence on the buying behavior. On the other hand only 7% say that there is less chance of viewing and another 5% say that there is very less chance of viewing. And the remaining 15% remain neutral.
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BRAND AMBASSADORS AND SOFT DRINK BRAND RECOMMENDATION AMONG THEIR FRIENDS/COLLEAGUES
The respondents were asked what are the chances that they will recommend a soft drink brand to their friends/colleague/spouse because their favorite icon endorses it. And the response was as follows: Chances of No. of Recommending respondents Most unlikely 51 Unlikely 26 Neutral 15 Likely 05 Most likely 03 Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWING CHANCES OF RECOMMENDING A SOFT DRINK BRAND IF ENDORSED BY THEIR FAVORITE CELEBRITY.
INFERENCE: From the chart it is obvious that about 51% respondents say that they are most unlikely and 26% unlikely to recommend the brand if endorsed by their favorite icon. On the other hand 5% of respondents are likely and 3%most unlikely to recommend the brand. This can be interpreted that although they like the brand for several reasons, most of them may recommend the brand taking into consideration some other attributes but not celebrity endorsement. For example the consumer can find quality as one of the important attribute and hence can recommend a soft drink brand. About 15% remain neutral in the response.
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BRAND AMBASSADORS AND DETRACTORS

The respondents were asked what are the chances that they will restrain their friends/colleague/spouse from buying a soft drink because the brand is endorsed by their hated icon. And the response was as follows: Chances of No. of Recommending Respondents Most unlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most likely Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWING CHANCES OF RESTRAINING A FRIEND/COLLEAGUE FROM BUYING A SOFT DRINK BRAND IF ENDORSED BY THEIR HATED CELEBRITY
61 27 07 03 02
INFERENCE: From the chart it is obvious that about 65% respondents say that they are most unlikely and 22% unlikely to restrain their friend/colleague from buying a soft drink brand when it is endorsed by their hated icon. On the other hand only 3% of respondents are likely and another 2% most unlikely not to detract. This can be interpreted that most of the respondents have the idea that they wont restrain somebody from buying soft drink brand because it is endorsed by their hated icon about 8% remain neutral in the response.
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CHANGE IN PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR AFTER A NOT-SOFAVORITE BRAND AMBASSADOR STARTED ENDORSING THE BRAND
The respondents were asked, after their not-so-favorite icon started endorsing the soft drink that they consume did their purchase behavior change and their response was as follows ATTRIBUTE No. of (Did they feel like...) Respondents Shifting to another brand 00 Remain in same in any case 55 Not sure 02 Do not care about these attributes 41 Source: Field Investigation CHART SHOWING CHANGE IN PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR AFTER A NOT-SO-FAVORITE BRAND AMBASSADOR STARTED ENDORSING THE BRAND
INFERENCE: It can be interpreted from the above chart that about 41 respondents (41%) do not care about attributes like change in brand ambassador. While about 55 respondents (55%) say that they will remain in the same soft drink brand in any case. Hence it can be said that change in the brand ambassador doesnt have much effect as only 2% say that they will shift if such a change happens.
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BRAND AMBASSADOR AND PREFERENCE AMONG TWO BRANDS HAVING SAME ATTRIBUTES
The respondents were asked whether they will prefer to buy a particular brand among two brands having same attributes because that brand is endorsed by their favorite celebrity. And their response was as follows Chances of Preference Most unlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most likely No. of Respondents 35 16 22 24 03
Source: Field Investigation CHART SHOWING PREFERENCE AMONG TWO BRANDS HAVING SAME ATTRIBUTES WHEN ENDORSED BY THEIR FAVORITE CELEBRITY
INFERENCE: It is obvious from the chart that here are mixed reactions. About 35% of respondents say they are most unlikely and 16% unlikely that they will prefer one brand among two if it is endorsed by their favorite icon. On the other hand about 3% of respondents say they are most likely and 24% likely that they will prefer one brand among two if it is endorsed by their favorite icon. Hence there is a mixed reaction from the respondents. About 22% remain neutral in the response.
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PURCHASE OF A SOFT DRINK AFTER IT BECAME POPULAR DUE TO CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

The respondents were asked whether they have bought a soft drink which was not much popular, and then it became popular after an icon started endorsing it. And the response was as follows Chances of Purchase Yes No Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWING PREFERENCE OF PURCHASE OF A SOFT DRINK AFTER IT BECAME POPULAR DUE TO CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
No. of Respondents 26 74
INFERENCE: The above chart showing about the purchase behavior of a soft drink after it became popular due to celebrity endorsement clearly indicates that most of the people havent shifted to another brand after they felt that a particular brand has become popular after the brand was advertised aggressively.
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BRAND AMBASSADOR AND STATUS SYMBOL

The respondents were asked whether they associate a brand ambassador endorsing their favorite brand with that of their status symbol. And the response was as follows: Chances of No. of Association Respondents Most unlikely 36 Unlikely 17 Neutral 13 Likely 31 Most likely 02 Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWING ASSOCIATION OF RESPONDENTS BETWEEN BRANDS AMBASSADOR AND STATUS SYMBOL
INFERENCE: The product under study in this research is soft drinks. And it must be noted that for different product and for different celebrities the association of the brand that they use and the status symbol differs. In this case, it is obvious that nearly 36% say that they are most unlikely and 17% unlikely that they will associate the brand ambassador of the soft drink brand they use and status symbol. On the other hand about 31% of the respondents say that they are likely and 2% most likely to associate the brand ambassador of the brand that they consume with that of status symbol.
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IMPORTANCE OF BRAND AMBASSADOR

The respondents were asked that other than brand attributes like quality, value for money, how much is celebrity endorsement important. And the response was as follows: Importance Most important Important Neutral Less important Not at all important Source: Field Investigation No. of Respondents 05 58 16 21 00
CHART SHOWING THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND AMBASSADOR
INFERENCE: From the chart it is obvious that most of the respondents feel that apart from attributes like quality, value of money brand ambassadors are also important for a brand. A consumer wants to get the most out of a brand, at the same time he feels that the brand that he uses must also be aware among his friends and others. Because, only in the case of premium brands there will be few users. Except for that it usually forms a clutter. It can be seen from the chart that 58% feel important and 5% feel most important that there must be brand ambassadors. On the other hand only 21% say that brand ambassadors are not important.
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MAJOR REASONS FOR SHIFT FROM THEIR BRAND

The respondents were asked the major reasons for shifting from their previous brand and the response was as follows: Reasons for No. of The shift Respondents Non-availability Offer/Price For a change Quality Others Source: Field Investigation
CHART SHOWING MAJOR REASONS FOR THEIR SHIFT FROM THE PREVIOUS BRAND
25 07 33 31 05
INFERENCE: There are various reasons for shift from a brand. And it is obvious from the chart that nearly 32% of respondents say that they would shift for just a change. About 31% of the respondents say that they would shift for seeking better quality. 25% of the respondents say that they would shift because of non-availability of the brand. It can be inferred that the brand loyalty status can have a shift. Since the market is flooded with several soft drinks brand there is more kind of chances that are available to the consumer to shift from one brand to another.
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EFFECTIVE ASSOCIATION OF THE CELEBRITY AND THE BRAND THEY ENDORSE

The respondents were asked how they rate the association between the celebrity and the brand that they endorse. Eleven such associations were asked to be rated and the response was as follows:
1.
COCA COLA AND AAMIR KHAN

No. of Respondents 03 07 19 27 44 Source: Field Investigation
Rating
Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Aamir Khan endorsing Coca Cola
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2.
COCA COLA AND RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE
Rating
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Rajyavardhan Rathore endorsing Coca Cola
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3.
COCA COLA AND AISHWARYA ROY

Rating Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Aishwarya Roy endorsing Coca Cola
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4.
PEPSI CAFECHINO AND KAREENA & PRIYANKA

Rating
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Kareena & Priyanka endorsing Pepsi Caf chino
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5.
DIET PEPSI AND JOHN ABRAHAM

Rating
Chart showing association and effectiveness of John Abraham endorsing Diet Pepsi
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1.
PEPSI AND SHAHRUKH KHAN
Rating
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Sharukh khan endorsing Pepsi
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7.
7up AND MALIKA SHARAWAT

Rating Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Mallika Sharawat endorsing 7up
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8. FANTA AND TRISHA

Rating No. of Respondents 33 30 29 06 02 Source: Field Investigation
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Trisha endorsing Fanta
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9. MIRINDA AND ASIN

Rating No. of Respondents 16 29 27 19 09 Source: Field Investigation
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Asin endorsing Mirinda
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10. THUMS UP AND AKSHAY KUMAR Rating No. of Respondents 02 06 18 32 42 Source: Field Investigation
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Akshay Kumar endorsing Thumps Up
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1. SPRITE AND SANIA MIRZA
Rating
Chart showing association and effectiveness of Sania Mirza endorsing Sprite
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CHAPTER 8 MAJOR RESEARCH FINDINGS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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MAJOR RESEARCH FINDINGS: 1. Brand endorsement by celebrities is mainly done To make an appeal among the consumers That the consumers should notice the brand The brand ambassadors would set a trend among the consumers To influence the consumers To bring a trust about the brand among the consumers To achieve high brand recall To establish high brand awareness 2. Almost all respondents, that is, nearly 64% of them replied that they will not detract their friend/colleague from buying a particular soft drink brand because it is endorsed by their hated icon. This shows a very good sign. Because in any brand detractors must be given due importance to curb them. They not only dont buy the brand but also detract others from buying. 3. Also, nearly 59% of the respondents say that there are huge chances that they will see a print ad or a hoarding of a soft drink brand ad, if it features their favorite icon 4. On an average about 35-40% of the respondents could associate the soft drink brand with that of the ambassadors/celebrities. This shows that there has been a very good reach of the advertisements featuring with celebrities.
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5. More than half of the respondents (51%) said that there are less chances that they would buy a particular soft drink brand because it is endorsed by their favorite icon. They also look into other attributes like quality, value for money etc.
6. Many respondents, nearly 68% of the respondents told that there is high chance of viewing of television ad of a particular soft drink brand if it endorsed by their favorite brand.
7. There are some soft drink brands which were not much popular earlier and then became popular after it was being endorsed by a famous icon. Hence the respondents were asked whether they tried. Any such brand, for which 63% of respondents told that they havent tried. 8. Most of the respondents told that, that is, nearly 33% of the respondents that they would shift from their previous soft drink brand for just a change. Next nearly 25% say that they will shift due to non-availability and about 31% on account of quality. It can be noted that even attributes like quality doesnt take the drivers seat. This result also synchronizes with that of a study conducted recently on this subject in Tamilnadu. 9. Brand awareness and brand recall can be effectively established by advertisements only. And if brand ambassadors can help to do those, then it can be inferred that brand ambassadors indirectly help in creating good brand awareness and brand recall. 10. Many of the respondents replied that they wont care about attributes like change in the brand ambassador to a not-so-favorite icon. And they told that they would persist to remain in the same brand.
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11. There were mixed reactions when the respondents were asked, among two soft drink brands having same attributes will they prefer a particular soft drink brand because it is endorsed by their favorite icon. Partly told that they would prefer and partly took the other view. 12. Most of the respondents could recall many brand of soft drinks which are in the market. Among all coca cola and Pepsi had about 97 and 87 mentions. 13. Brand ambassador who endorse the soft drink brand and the status symbol of the consumer is of immense importance. In such a question put to respondents they told that they wont associate the status symbol with that of the brand ambassador who endorses the brand. 14. Nearly 58% of the respondents felt that apart from attributes like quality, value for money brand ambassadors is also important. 15. The respondents were also asked to rate the effectiveness of the association between the celebrity and the brand ambassador that they endorse. There were mixed reactions among the respondents 16. Nearly 26% of respondents replied that they are unlikely that they will recommend a soft drink brand to their friends /colleague only because it is endorsed by their favorite icon. Actually a consumer will recommend a brand only if he thinks that he is satisfied from the brand and that the brand is worth recommending.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Celebrity endorsement is mainly undertaken because to create brand awareness and brand recall. The selling proposition is no longer the same. Earlier people were only concerned about quality. But now things have changed. There are umpteen numbers of products which floods the market. To stand out from the clutter brand ambassadors can be better tool. Hence Articulate with clarity on the brand promise (What am I?) and the brand personality. Create consensus among the brand team on what the communication objectives for The campaigns are. Focus single-mindedly on the characteristics the chosen celebrity should possess, in order to provide synergy with the brand to be advertised. Overtly establish what the celebrity is going to communicate. Celebrities must be associated properly to the brand that they endorse once when these criteria are met, endorsements can work as a force multiplier. On the flip side, the greatest danger is that because celebrities already carry a strong brand character, a mismatch could be counterproductive to the brand. It is very tempting to be carried away by the short-term exposure and interest that an endorsement could generate.
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ANNEXURE
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1. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BOOKS: Title of the Books Marketing Management Consumer Behavior Statistics for Management 22 immutable laws of the branding Business Mathematics Advertising & Sales Promotion Name of the Author Philip Kotler Shiffman P N Arora. N. Arora
A1 Ries
Batra & Kazmi, Excell Books H.V. Verma, Excel Books.
Brand Management.
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JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES:

Journal of Marketing Published, ICFAI Publications Journal of Advertising Management , ICFAI Publications Marketing Mastermind, ICFAI Publications 4 P s, IIPM publications Brand Wagon--Financial Express Brand Equity--Economic Times Strategist--Business Standard Catalyst--Business Line
WEBSITES:
1. www.wikipedia.com 2. www.coolavenues.com 3. www.google.com 4. www.magindia.com 5. www.brandchannel.com 6. www.blonnet.com 7. www.consumervalue.com 8. www.sebdi.com
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2. QUESTIONNAIRE:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am a student of M P Birla Institute of Management and presently conducting a research on. Influence of Brand ambassadors on buying behavior of soft drinks. I request your valuable participation. Your participation is voluntary. There are no foreseeable risks associated with this project. However if you feel uncomfortable answering any questions, you can withdraw from the survey at any point. Your opinion is highly appreciated. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential and will be used for Academic purpose only. Please answer the following questions.
QUESTIONNAIRE Name _______________________ Age ___________ Gender _______________ Income per annum: <50,000 50,000-1L 1L-3L >3L Not Applicable
1. Can you specify top 6 brands of Soft Drinks that come to your mind? (In order of brand preference with their brand Ambassador. 1- highest preference, 6- least Preference) Brand 1.___________________ 2.___________________ 3.___________________ 4.___________________ 5.___________________ 6.___________________ Ambassador (if you know) ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________
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2. What are the chances that you will buy a Soft Drink because it is endorsed by your favorite actor/actress/icon? Very less Less Neutral High Very High
3. When a soft drink brand is being endorsed by your favorite actor/actress/icon what are the chances that you will Very less Very High a) Watch the advertisement b) See a print ad/see a hoarding 4. Will you recommend a soft drink brand to your friend/colleague/spouse because it is endorsed by your favorite actor/actress/icon? Most unlikely Likely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most Less Neutral High
5. Will you restrain your friend/colleague/spouse from buying a soft drink brand? Because it is endorsed by your hated actor/actress/icon? Most unlikely Likely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most
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6. After my not-so-favorite actor/actress/icon started endorsing the soft drink I Consume I feel like Shifting to another brand Not sure, because you feel attributes The icon will be soon changed remain in same in any Case do not care about these about these
7. Among two soft drink brands x and y almost having the same features, will you Prefer to buy brand x because it is endorsed by your favorite actor/actress/icon? Most unlikely Likely Unlikely Neutral Likely Most
8. Have you bought a soft drink that you were not much aware of, and then the brand became popular after an icon started endorsing it? Yes No
9. (If your answer is yes for the previous question continue, or pass to the next question.) After doing so, you have Continued to buy that brand Continued for 6 months Continued for 3 months More than 6 months (Specify)
Tried once, and then shifted to my previous brand
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10. Will you associate a brand ambassador endorsing your favorite brand to that of your status symbol?
Most unlikely Likely
Unlikely
Neutral
Less
Most
11. Other then brand attributes like quality, value for money how much do you think celebrity endorsement is important?
Most important
Important
Nuetral
less important
not at all important
12. Due to celebrity endorsement which brands do you think has reached more masses? (Specify the brands giving ranks from 1-6) 1.___________________ 2.___________________ 3.___________________ 4.___________________ 5.___________________ 6.___________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________
13. What are your major reasons for shifting from your previous brand, if you did? Non Availability Quality Offer/ price for a change
Others (Specify) _________________

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14. Which soft drink brand among the following do you think has made effective use of their Brand Ambassadors Association? Brand Excellent Excellent 1. Coca Cola 2. Coca Cola 3. Coca Cola 4. Pepsi Ambassador Poor Fair Good Very Good
Aishwarya Rai Aamir Khan Rajyavardhan Rathore Sharukh Khan
5. Pepsi cafe chino Kareena & Priyanka 6. Diet Pepsi 7. 7up 8. Sprite 9. Fanta 10. Mirinda 11. Thumbs up John Abraham Mallika Sharawat Sania Mirza Trisha Asin Akshay Kumar
THANK YOU FOR SPARING YOUR VALUABLE TIME FOR GIVING YOUR RESPONSES 3. DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:
From our research investigation, the following areas for further research have been identified: Myths and Realities of Brand Ambassadorship--Phenomenological Study Impact of Brand Ambassadorship on Market Share--Micro Analysis M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
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INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

INFLUENCE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR IN RESPECT OF SOFT DRINKS.

DODDAHULUGAPPA GOUTAM Reg No: 07XQCM6024

Dr. K.V. Prabhakar Senior Professor

MP BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE. 2007-2009

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

Place: Bangalore Goutam Date:

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

PLACE: Bangalore DATE

(Dr. Nagesh Malavalli) Principal

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

PLACE: Bangalore DATE:

(Dr. K.V Prabhakar) Senior Professor

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

PG. NO 21-29 30-32

33-41 42-49 50-56 57-62

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

View of Brand ambassador

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

Brand Ambassadors: Who or What Are They?

WHY BRAND AMBASSADORS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

ROLE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

ADVANTAGES OF CELEBRITY ENDORSSING A BRAND

Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by

Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the personalities of the

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

DISADVANTAGES OF A CELEBRITY ENDORSING A BRAND

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

4. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to

overexposure: The novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he does too

M.P.BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

INFLUENECE OF BRAND AMBASSADORS ON BUYING BEHAVIOR OF SOFT DRINKS

DOES CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT REALLY WORK?