The other day, I was showing an American colleague around Madras and he was staring
wide-eyed at almost everything, just like any tourist. Being a Sunday, traffic was almost
nil during the day and I could give him a good tour of Mount Road, the Marina beach,
Eliott's beach, etc.
Like any guy new to India, he had lots of comments and questions, most of which I was
able to answer satisfactorily. However, one question stumped me. Actually, it was one of
those things that we have come to take for granted over the years, without even giving a
second thought. That is, until the time, someone raises it & then you fumble for an answer.
My colleague was wondering how appropriate (& logical) it was to have white-skinned guys
(and gals) sell stuff to us. He had noticed that most of the hoardings had white people selling
stuff to us. Be it apparel or electronic items or undergarments or liquor, he noticed that the models were mostly caucasian & in some cases even black. He wanted to know the marketing logic behind the same and whether it helped increase sales, if the models were foreigners.
Well, I had never given it another thought till he brought this up. And could not think of a suitable answer. Even though I am not in marketing, I am intrigued by the whole business
of marketing. So much that it led me to pursue a programme in marketing, and which admittedly gave me a whole new insight of how marketing works. Still, I did not remember reading about this particular practice, and whether it yielded any dividends.
How much sense does it make to have a white guy, dressed in formals, sell us the idea of a
nice set of formal clothes ? Does it create any additional aspirational value in our minds, if
the model is white ? Will we drink more of a particular whisky because Ricky Ponting is advertising it, as compared to our buying behaviour if Dhoni was to model for it ? Are the chances of our women buying a particular lingerie brand more, if a white women were to
pose alluringly in the said stuff ?
Frankly, I would actually not give a hoot about whether the model is white or black or
brown. I do not buy stuff because it is modelled by someone I like - I buy it if it suits my requirements. Infact I would usually avoid stuff modelled by stars because it makes me
aware that the huge pay packet paid to him would be spread over the product cost. So,
I would be paying more for such products. I am a big fan of Jothika, but studiously avoid products endorsed by her.
But I am also aware of people who actually buy a particular brand because it is endorsed by
their favourite personality. And contrary to popular belief this is not a behaviour restricted
to illiterate, rural consumers. My friend, an MBA from a premier institution, bought a car
(Hyundai Santro) just because his favourite star Sharukh Khan was endorsing it. Going by
this, I guess there is a case for the success (atleast partial) of brands that have cine/sports personalities endorsing the products.
But, is their any logic in having personalities of a different race, endorse products meant for
consumption by another ? As a race, apart from the very visible difference in skin color, we
are quite different from the caucasians in build, behaviour, culture etc. If so, what's the logic
that marketers find in selecting white models while selling to us ? Beats me.
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