The influence of celebrities or icons on society cannot be denied and many companies have identified and banked on it on society, which makes a business sense. The role of celebrities and icons in marketing ranges from endorsers to brand ambassadors. The media companies prefer them to professional models for their reach and coverage among the society or target audience. This article mainly focuses on the role of celebrity in boosting sales, i.e. direct impact on soaring sales figures and the shelf life of the celebrities before they run out of steam/market. It also intends to throw light and debates on the potential of celebrities as brand ambassadors/indirect salesmen influence on an appropriate product/service category or a segment of consumers.

This is the vital question lingering on the minds of companies that sign celebrities for a whopping sum of money and the typecast answer for the question would be their reach, coverage and above all, their influence on society or a particular target consumer group. Yet, the direct relationship between the celebrities influence and the soaring of sales figures remains elusive. There could be other factors influencing consumers to buy a product/service endorsed by the celebrities. Is it the primary or trivial factor that influences the buying behavior or is it a mere brand recall that may or may not lead to sales? How would the companies justify the millions spent on celebrities? Would they be mere brand ambassadors or indirect salesmen? These are the questions always linger on the minds of the corporates before signing celebrities for endorsements. A question of why are the celebrities roped in always from the mass media, i.e. film industry, and sports, why not the leading personalities from NGOs, politics or corporate world? Would not the companies be able to gain the mind share of potential consumers by using these personalities? The answer to the question is both yes and no. Very few personalities like Narayana Murthy of Infosys endorsed Windows XP, and Rajeev Bakshi, CEO of Pepsi featured in its company's ad by offering testimony of the quality of its products. Meanwhile, Pepsi's rival Coca-Cola, in its commercials, used film personalities Aamir Khan and Radhika to prove its products' hygienic condition. It shows that the celebrities could even be used to repair the damage of companies' reputation. All these traits of the celebrities might influence the corporate world to bank on them, but there is always a question when it comes to their direct influence on sales or acting as salesmen/women to induce target group to buy.

A recent study in the US1 (Wealth Report, 2006) conducted by the Luxury Institute witnessed only 1% of wealth consumers possess the average income of US$ 250,000 per annum and net worth of $1.5 mn intend to buy a luxury product endorsed by a celebrity. Five percent of them expressed the endorsement would increase their consideration towards such purchases and around 76% of the respondents expressed the celebrities have nothing to do with their decisions on buying luxury products. But the respondents did agree that the celebrities triggered the awareness of such products and services, which could be a starting point of buying desire. It vividly expressed the role of celebrities in creating awareness, not influencing consumer buying decision.

Advertising Express Magazine, Brand Ambassadors, Media Companies, Corporate World, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG, Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs, Mass Media, Celebrities Endorsements, Consumer Buying Behavior, Brand Endorsements, Human Brands.