The Truth About Celebrity Advertisements Influencing Realty Projects

The present trend in advertising, by businesses, of using celebrities to market their wares, has acquired a new twist to the tale. Increasingly, realty projects too, are opting to use celebrities to promote their unique projects and all the amenities they have.

Open the newspaper in the morning and find your favorite stars smiling at you with all the charm at their disposal, coaxing you to ‘zero in’ on to a product they seem to find to be the one best suited for you. On your drive to work daily, you are greeted at places by a celebrity on huge hoardings atop buildings, posing with some or the other product extolling its virtues. From the doyen of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan, across a gamut of sporting heroes and stars like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, right up to the new kids on the block in tinsel town, and sport, almost all stars worth their salt are being roped in to influence their fans by endorsing umpteen products floating around nowadays. Does this innovative branding extended to realty projects really translate into better sales figures? Read on as we explore the truth.

Celebrity Power to the Fore
Saurabh Mehrotra, National Director Advisory for Knight Frank, India Pvt. Ltd. acknowledges the role that a celebrity can lend to a product. He says, “It is a well known fact that celebrities carry with themselves a certain position of trust since they are role models in their area of expertise. The idea of celebrity endorsement is to position a developer’s product using the celebrity’s position stature in his/ her field. For example, if a cricketer is associated with consistency and superior performance, then a developer who wants to position his brand as one that consistently delivers a good quality product would look at approaching him for an endorsement. Many a time, a potential home buyer may not identify with the product, but will identify with the celebrity.”

He is not the only one who voices this opinion. His sentiments are echoed by Veena Kumar, a psychologist who says, “Celebrities are influencers and impact the rationale of a potential home buyer while making a decision. If his/her favorite celebrity is endorsing a particular project, then it is a reassurance to the buyer that it is a safe bet.” Celebrities are rapidly emerging as the most potent weapon with developers, in the attempt to convince their customers. The personal appeal of a celebrity enhances the value of a brand which is seeking to establish an enduring customer recall to its advantage. It goes a long way in building goodwill in the hearts of buyers which results in an increase in sales.

The aura of invincibility and reliability of a celebrity in the minds of people is what the developers seek to tap. The glamour and mystique associated with their personality is a strong diver of marketing and over time develops into an enduring brand value. A developer who wants to emphasize certain unique features of his project, positions those in relation to the celebrity’s unique characteristics, in order to convert it into a talking point, thereby attracting attention of customers. However, this can boomerang on the developer if the customer perceives that the positioning is mismatched with the celebrity. Dharmesh Jain, Chairman, Arihant Superstructures Ltd. cautions the use of celebrities beyond a point. He says, “Celebrity endorsements surely help in grabbing eyeballs. However the celebrity per se, may not add value to the project. If the target audience feels that the celebrity is a misfit for that product, the endorsement may backfire.”

A Contrarian View
It is evident that celebrity endorsements can bring great gains to the property sector. The association of celebrities with realty projects serves to transcend the presence of other mediocre products in the market and place the endorsed brand in an enviable position of prominence. Ashok Mohanani, CMD, Ekta World says, “For players looking for a keen sense of exclusivity, celebrity endorsements can help. However, while high-profile personalities can give a certain validation to the project they recommend, contemporary home buyers generally tend to seek developers who meet standards of excellence, quality, price, and timely delivery.”

There is no denying that celebrity endorsements pique the interest of the public in a project and create a positive discourse about it, but in the end, the quality, reliability and usefulness of a project boost the sales of it. Pankaj Kapoor , MD, Liases Foras concurs with this assessment and says, “ Usually the end users focus more on quality of the offering, its price point, infrastructure, connectivity, amenities and other personal factors more than the celebrity endorsements before taking a decision.” Investment in a home is still the most important decision a household makes and in this effort they are guided by the quality of the project, its price, locality, future value appreciation and other significant factors.

In conclusion, it can be said that while celebrity endorsements help generate interest in the realty markets and may attract attention to the project, it usually has not been seen to deliver better sales. Celebrity endorsed projects are attractive only for niche buyers who for novelty sake, may prefer to buy into such projects.