Of Bollywood stars and Compaq

We saw Shahrukh Khan doling out emails on a sexy Powerbook in Main Hoon Na. And we swooned. First over the Khan, then the MAC. Did it compel anyone into buying the computers though? I have no idea.
Yeah, so Khan wasn't blantantly promoting the brand but to have watched him use a brand I am loyal to made me smug. Ahh.. he's cool too, I thought.

Last week, Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan was signed by Hewlett Packard to endorse the Compaq Presario computers. In the history of computers, Indian advertising and Bollywood stars, no actor has ever endorsed a computer before. This might as well be the first of manys.

Computers become a household item in India
Ravi Swaminathan, Vice President, HP India was quoted saying they have been trying to position computers as a must-have durable product in India.
Of the 1 billion plus population in India, only 15 million computers are in use. But lets look at some facts before analyzing this further:

Microsoft annoucned an added investment of $1.7 Billion in India to create a total of 7000 jobs.
Cisco is throwing in another $1.1Billion in the next three years in software centers in India. Add to that the 5000 jobs Dell is creating and the additional $1 billion investment by Intel and you have basically passed computer science a mandatory subject in primary schools.

An early January BBC report mentioned that sales of personal computers in India have increased a whopping 36% since September alone. Prices for a standard computer have been slashed down to as low as $250 (10,000 rupees) and are made available on installment plans. PC sales are expected to touch 4.7 Million this year, a significant rise from the 1.7million last year.

The time is ripe. The potential is severely untapped. And HP is stepping in at the right moment to ensure atleast a prime chunk of the market.

So will star-power drive extra sales?
Shahrukh Khan, a brand by himself, already has an impressive (?!) portfolio of endorsements, each netting anywhere between $1M to $5M. Soft-drinks, cars, cell-phone service, health paste and soaps -- you know name it, the superstar has endorsed it. But does all this star-appeal really work? Especially when it comes to a computer?

Vivek Shrivastva, executive director of Triton Communications, India admits that there is no sufficient data that substantiates increase in sales because of star-endorements.
In this article, he woefully admits to having subscribed to the star-endorsement idea while planning a relaunch of Panasonic. The company signed on Bipasha Basu, current Indian heart-throb, ex-model and Bollywod actress, to promote the Panasonic brand to its targetted demographic: the youth.
The campaign managed to hold audiences attention for a while but failed to generate any sales or subsequent interest in the product.

Star-Power brings attention ...but
But brand managers and ad-directors agree that stars manage to bring consumers attention to the brand. Hemant Sachdev of Bharti-Tele ventures sums it up, "The advertising will work only if there is a perfect match between the core values of the product and the values that the star personifies."

Shahrukh Khan is already India's favorite. The classic rags-to-riches story, the perfect husband, the perfect father and the perfect friend- Khan's values reverbate with the Indian sensibilities. But he is already a super-star and has endorsed too many brands to count. Leveraging Khan's stardom to promote computers may end up diluting the brand message and is  very likely to fail to strike a chord between the products core consumers and the bollywood icon. Audiences can get confused with too many endorements from the same person, and this may also dilute the desired effect.

Compaq will benefit in one way though-- the major recognition Khan's name will give the brand more recall and generate awareness. People are likely to walk into stores asking for the "computer jo Shahrukh ke ad. me tha." (the computer that Shahrukh advertised) But by signing Khan, Compaq doesn't clearly identify its audience. Khan doesn't quite fit in any mold-  he's too old to play ambassador to the youth and too young to influence the older audiences.

So maybe signing on stars isn' t all that its hyped about. Shahrukh may act as a catalyst in helping launch the brand, but will he drive sales? We'll only know once the advertisements release.

 

Comments

[used computer]

wow king khan also like the compaqu it is cause of compaq because it is a dependable product.. so famous people like to buy a famous product..