Air India’s Maharaja which came into existence in the year 1946 and the Amul girl in 1967 are the mascots which captured the hearts of one and all in India. These mascots caught the attention of the consumers as they were charming and connected well with the consumers. Indian corporate have also seen few other mascots like Fido the cool swanky doodle of 7 Up, doughboy the sweet little butler of Godrej Pillsbury, Gattu who build brand Asian Paint, Chintamani who endorsed ICICI, Sunny who is creating magic with Sunfeast. The success of these mascots can be qualified by, the increase in the brand value of these brands consumer connect.
Decline of mascot power
The Indian market grew at a fast pace in nineties everything from pencils to cars, salt to luxury goods required an advertising campaign this was the time when we saw emergence of celebrity advertising and mascots lost their appeal. We also lived in a time when there was no argument regarding the fact that a celebrity can make or break a brand. The pampering and recognition given to the celebrity in the marketing of the product in some cases was even greater than the product itself. The advertising world, during this time strongly believed that the celebrities transfer their success, personality, status and power to the brand. They attributed reasons for the growth of celebrity endorsements to:
• Create great brand awareness for product
• Sustaining the brand image
• Stimulating and reviving brands
• Product association
However, the advertising world also realized that many brand ambassadors does not practice what they preach and sometimes controversies and unpleasant incidents connected with the celebrity causes damage. It is also observed that over exposure and multiple endorsements too can damage the image of product. The Indian market which is saturated with celebrity endorsements has seen emergence of the mascots.
Emergence of the mascots
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