If any further proof was required that banking has become a fast moving consumer product, financial intermediaries are increasingly turning to brand ambassadors for marketing their brands.
ICICI started the trend last year with Amitabh Bachchan endorsing ICICI's vast array of financial services products targeted at the retail customer. Tata AIG has roped in Naseeruddin Shah to sell its personal line products. And, the Chennai-based insurance outfit Sanmar-AMP Insurance Company has brought in Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh as its brand ambassador, much like Cindy Crawford for the Omega brand and Sachin Tendulkar for Fiat Palio.
The Indian insurance sector, which opened up for private players just a year back, is witnessing an era of competition the industry did not imagine when it started out. Signing on brand ambassadors has become the "in-thing" in building one's brand in the country. Over the last five years, there has been the plethora of celebrities endorsing products, more in the area of fast moving consumer goods -- Shahrukh Khan as brand ambassador for Omega, Aishwarya Rai for Longines, Hrithik Roshan for Tamarind, Sonali Bendre for BSL Ltd. The choice of brand ambassadors contracted so far are either movie stars or famous cricketers. This is because the country produces and relishes vast quantities of both.
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In the financial services sector, the choice of a brand ambassador gravitates towards the more mature icons. This, because the industry is addressing an audience that is more mature, and the choice of a brand ambassador has to reflect the same. As Raj Raman, Tata AIG senior vice-president - marketing, puts it: "Naseeruddin Shah scored over a host of other well-known actors and cricketers simply because he is valued among the masses for his credibility, and candidness".
"We wanted a brand ambassador who the man on the street could relate with, not one, whose lifestyle is seen as flashy, " Raman added, noting that: "We are using the product advertising route to build the brand, instead of the brand-building route to build the product".
This is what many fast moving consumer good manufacturers follow in the country. Hindustan Lever does not push its own brand name, but advertises specific products. Similarly, Nestle does not project itself, but rather Maggie noodles and soup or its various branded chocolates.
In the same manner, Amitabh Bachchan is not projecting ICICI per se, but rather the various products the financial services company has to offer. In the same fashion, Naseeruddin Shah's first assignment as brand ambassador will be to promote Tata AIG's personal accident cover -- Shanti --targeted at the millions of daily commuters.
Brand ambassador is a concept imported from the West. Promoters go 'celebrity head-hunting' for a persona that suits the aspirational quality of a product; where he becomes the walking and talking spokesperson for the company.
Insurers see their audience as one that is mature which makes its decisions -- especially on insurance and retirement products -- after much deliberation. Since the product is not an impulse buy, the younger crowd of celebrities is edged out. Hrithik Roshan and Sachin Tendulkar are perceived to be talking more to the younger generation, a generation that believes in impulse buying, private insurers say.
Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah share another commonality. They both host TV contest shows -- 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' earlier on Star Plus, and 'Super Selector' on ESPN respectively. This ensures top-of-the-mind recall for the two companies, ICICI and Tata AIG. Naseeruddin's latest hit 'Monsoon Wedding' that did well, further adds to name recall, said Raman.