Source characteristic-ATTRACTIVENESS
In the ad world, 'Attractiveness' characteristic of source is very
important. The three elements of source attractiveness are :
- Similarity
- Familiarity
- Likability
Similarity
implies to the fact of resemblance between the source and receiver. How much
the receiver finds itself similar to the source? Similarity can be in terms of
lifestyle, habits, beliefs, needs and goals. The idea here is that people tend
to get persuaded more when they see or hear something similar to their own
characteristics’.
Example: Airtel ad “Har ek friend jaroori hota hai”
This very ad of airtel
has modified and re-established itself as brand for youth. Message was
completely on lines of friendship as it wanted to leverage on emotional aspect
“friendship” and physical aspect “mobile phones”, which at the end connect all
of them. The message appeal is perfect blend of various shades of friendship
which help the audience to associate more with the ad.
Learning: Importance
of product and promotion is directly associated with the third P, people. It is
righty said that its through promotional content, strong association can be
built between consumer and product. And once the perception of product is
created, it’s very difficult to change.
Here, the lifestyle, habits,
belief and needs of the characters in the ad are very much similar to today’s
youth. And therefore this campaign was a great success.
Next the familiarity
implies to the popularity/knowledge of the source. How much the source is known
to audience? The companies do spend a lot on celebrity appearance in their ads.
The main reason behind this is that they believe that these celebrities have
the “stopping power”. The influence of these celebrities can help in changing
the perception of product in viewers’ mind or it can instigate a thought
towards the product.
Example: Slice:Aamsutra campaign
This ad was designed to position slice as delivering
superior mango experience for its consumers. With the tough competition in
market from the well established brands maaza and frooti, slice had to come up
with something new and highly attractive. Since the drink is mere mango juice
that they offered which itself was not new in market, their main focus was on
the positioning of the product.
Hiring Katrina Kaif for their ad campaign proved to be the
most correct decision as this celebrity had the highest stopping factor among
the youth(to be more specific).Further the storyline of ad which makes drinking
of slice as act of pleasure in the crouching heat of summer, bags more
inclination towards the ad. The ad focus on the concept of indulgence and
pleasure to be take a step ahead with excitement. And this could be well
executed only with the appearance of celebrity which would arouse all the above
mentioned emotions.
Learning: In case of celebrity endorsement, utmost attention
is required to maintain the thin line between the sensuality and sexuality. If
the blend is not perfect, that is if too much sensuality is there it would make
the ad less view-able and overshadowing the product and too less will make the
ad boring. And as the image of product has directly linked with the image of
celebrity, the future product depends a lot on future image of the celebrity.
And finally the most difficult task is to choose the celebrity who will
symbolize your product perfectly and at the same time will be equally
attractive.
Likability- it
implies on the fact of likeness of the audience towards the source. This
likeness can be because of many reasons like physical appearance, behavior,
personal traits. For this the source may not be known personality. It is just
the characteristics of the source is very much likable that attracts audience.
Example: The TATA tea campaign “jaago re”
