By Jilawatan

Deepika Padukone has taken Preity Zinta’s place in the BSNL ad; it’s Katrina Kaif instead of Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for Pantene and Nakshatra respectively; the John Abraham-Bipasha Basu duo has made way for Kareena Kapoor in the Head and Shoulders commercials; and it’s Genelia instead of Rani Mukerji in the Fanta ad.

Titan Raga and PepsiCo have also dropped Rani Mukerji and Shah Rukh Khan respectively as their brand ambassadors. Clearly, the old order is changing in the world of advertising and endorsements and a new set has stormed the scene.

According to Sonali Dhawan, director, beauty care, P&G, “Katrina is the perfect beauty icon with healthy, strong and beautiful hair. She exemplifies the Pantene ideology of ‘inner strength that makes you shine on the outside’ and is a true reflection of Pantene’s image and its promise to consumers.”

Alpana Parida, head, marketing and merchandising, Tanishq, says it comes down to the overall popularity of the stars. “Tanishq chose Asin to break into the south market initially. But we saw her appeal as a national brand was great. We started shooting with Asin much before her Ghajini success. It was a coincidence that the Tanishq ad and Ghajini released around the same time.”

Alok Dubey, vice-president and brand head, Flying Machine, Arvind Brands, lists a number of factors for dropping a brand ambassador and finding a new one. Remuneration for a relative newcomer is a point of consideration, but not a deciding factor.

“If the star’s appeal to the core target group starts eroding or if the brand ambassador interferes with the brand’s point of view to push his/her own personal image agenda, then it may be time for a change. If the star is too busy or does not deliver the intended results, they’re replaced as well,” says Alok.

Says Suparna Mitra, head of marketing, Titan. “While remuneration is considered, it does not override the product value. Having newcomers shoot for a commercial before they become successful is what counts. After they become popular, the fee charged is more or less the same as what a big star would demand,” says Suparna.

Alok feels the advantage with newcomers is the freshness they bring to the overall brand proposition. “Having a new face to promote the growing franchise of a brand’s existing base helps. That the newcomer also comes at a lower price is an advantage. But the overall proposition is often better than the price alone,” he says.

Experts point out that the choice of stars to promote products does not depend on the box-office success of their films. “If the product has common value, then the number of flops at the box office matters. But each product has its unique qualities that fit the celeb promoting it,” says Suparna.

But Alpana feels film stars have their highs and lows, which converts into the number of advertising deals they get in a year.

“An established brand ambassador from the film/sports industry will expect Rs 2 crore or more for a one-year deal. A newcomer will not expect more than Rs 50 lakh per annum. Abhishek Bachchan is one of the faves of the ad world because he has incredible versatility, identity and the finest ability to marry class with mass.” adds Alok Dubey.