Cricketers, young stars most appealing in celebrity survey

Sports personalities were rated as having a higher nationwide appeal than screen stars and singers in a celebrity survey carried out by advertising agency Leo Burnett, and released in Colombo. While 39-year old cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya was the most popular celebrity according to the survey, a number of unexpected names were in the top 20, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Individuals aged from 15 to 54 were targeted for the survey, which covered both urban and rural areas. It showed that in the recent past, the trend of simply involving a celebrity in a brand endorsement is proving to be inadequate.

The survey revealed that picking a relevant celebrity to advertise the product contributes to the believability of the concept. For instance, hugely popular cricketer Kumar Sangakkara, appealed to a more concentric audience than youngster Lasith Malinga. Malinga showed to be popular islandwide, while Sangakkara’s fans were mainly in the Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces. This in turn could lead to the conclusion that while Sangakkara would be more successful in endorsing upmarket goods, Malinga might be a better plan for more mass market goods. In fact, according to Ravi Bamunusinghe, Managing Director of the Research Consultancy Bureau which handled the survey, by endorsing a brand, a celebrity’s appeal could be defined by the brand endorsement itself. “His popularity may be driven by his brand endorsements,” he said, speaking about the Superstar phenomenon that was sparked with singer Shihan Mihiranga who was chosen as brand ambassador for Mobitel, and was involved in the much-publicized ‘Smart 5’advertisemens and promotions.

The survey also revealed some interesting information regarding the mindset of the people scattered over the island: While the North Central Province proved to be the most easily influenced by celebrity endorsements, the majority of the Uva province was indifferent to the same endorsements.

With advertising changing face as technology changes, the new fad in the business-and one that most advertisers think is more than just a fad-is Virals. A viral is essentially described in most websites as a marketing phenomenon that encourages audiences to pass on the message. These can come in the form of a video-clip, a picture or a jingle. However, according to Marsh Dondawela, Group Head-Digital Marketing, Arc Worldwide Sri Lanka, the real challenge in virals is making them good enough for the target audience to pass on. The trend has not picked up in Sri Lanka as much as it has abroad but shows promise.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to get the bigger companies to really take a risk,” he said speaking about one of the main challenges faced by advertisers. While the established ‘big names’ are at times unwilling to jump into a commercial that might shock their audience into realization, for fear of losing their image, celebrities too are reluctant to step out of the proverbial box. “Sometimes you can’t blame them, if they have spent their whole life building up their image, they don’t want to do anything really crazy,” he explained. However, “crazy” by foreign standards may also not be the best thing for local audiences as they tend to still be rather conservative. Foreign advertisements- many were shown at the event- are pushing conventional limits but would probably meet with some disapproval in Sri Lanka.