What drives youngistan in endorsement deals ?

Recently, a screaming headline in a tabloid grabbed my attention. Out of work Sushmita Sen loses advertising deal to petite Asin. A sophisticated diva like Sushmita Sen, given the heave-ho, for a product she has been associated with for years Pantene, and replaced by pretty South Indian actress Asin, of Ghajini fame. Why, even Shah Rukh Khan, whose other name seemed to have been Pepsi Khan, dropped from Team Pepsi in their outing. Ditto for yesterday's queens like Ash Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta. On the cricket front too, similar tremors have been felt. Yesterday's icons Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, V. V. S. Laxman, even the sensational Sachin Tendulkar, have suffered anything between a meltdown to a slowdown.

It's the T-20 kids – M. S. Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, who are zooming centre-stage and replacing the old players in the endorsement sweepstakes. In Bollywood, new dazzlers rocking it include Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Asin, Genelia, Jiah Khan, Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padkone, even Farhan Akhtar. With half of our one billion population said to be under the age group of 25, marketers are indeed getting hot in the business of torpedoing this target base, all the way.

Is it working and what drives it ? Who better to kick-off this debate with the very person who founded and coined the ground-breaking term youngistan, which for Washington Post defines young India as also TV channels and political parties identifying the new India – Soumitra Karnik, creative head of JWT's Pepsi team. Karnik says, "Much as I am tempted to say that I suddenly dreamt it all up one stormy night – like fake directors or smart plagiarists. I didn't! Its just that, while reading up something, the words 'Young' and 'Hindustan' struck me as interesting cues for coining something new, fresh, simple along street-speak lines that would resonate with the target base. That's how it was really born." "If it captured popular imagination instantly, I guess its largely because it was red-hot topical, had the required bindaas tone to it and reflected the mood, colour and voice of today's most important segment-youth." Karnik says, who doesn't munch his words and packs in a solid punch when he says that today's marketers live in the here n' now and grab only what they believe will rock their product. Karnik continues to explains, "They are pretty much like fair-weather friends – and why not ? They have a job to do. If its not working, then its goodbye time. The new kids on the block, both in the Cricket and Bollywood arena, reflect this reality in dramatic fashion, right? The age of loyalty is over, boss. It is the age of Return on Investment (ROI)."

However, industry-watcher Ashish Kukreja chooses to rain on Karnik's parade. He reckons all this is "a bimari (a disease) and fad grabbing the new-age marketers, looking for a quick kill. It has no logic, focus or perspective. Its just a brainless follow-the-herd mentality. Where is the brand-fit ? Does a Yusuf Pathan or Praveen Kumar go with the profile of a Pepsi ?" Gullu Sen, vice-chairman and chief creative officer, Dentsu India, believes that Kukreja must have both his head and eyes examined immediately because he seems to be living in another planet. "Soumitra is spot-on. Youth is definitely in and the role-models for big buck celeb deals are selected completely on the basis of who's the flavour of the day. No question about that. It has to do with that segment the product is targeting and with the kids' universe getting more impatient, adventurous and promiscuous towards brand usage than ever, shifts in role-models take on critical dimensions," avers Sen. And L. K. Advani's visuals of pumping iron to attract the young voter, is further indication of the might of youth power, right ? At the end of the day, other aspects come into play too.

For one, there is a definite fatigue-factor when one single celeb endorses a brand forever, especially in today's impatient, novelty-driven times. Two, age does matter. Three, success is the key, which is explained by Dhoni's dynamic leadership and subsequent success strike-rate has, which got him endorsement to this staggering amount of Rs.300 crore. You can't have a poor run of scores, either in cricket or Bollywood, and expect the sponsors to keep pampering and batting for you. Nestle dropped Rani for South Indian actress, Trisha, who also, ironically, replaced Preity in the Scooty Pep Ads. The once-bubbly Zinta was also relieved of her endorsement with Perk, Lyril, BSNL and Santro. However, all is not lost for the likes of Ash, who was recently replaced by Katrina in the Nakshatra Diamond endorsement deal. The power of two, thanks to the humongous and insane curiosity, influence and impact that both Bollywood and cricket attract, ably-supported by media, is gaining huge momentum and so the John-Bips, Saif-Kareena, Ajay-Kajol, Ranbir-Deepika and Ash-Abhi combo can keep earning those big bucks, before another recession arrives.

A Televisionpoint News