Who's Worth It ???

Do you know what it takes to build great brands? Technically speaking, products can be branded using several functions which are Credibility, Attractiveness and Power. 

The usage of these forces are a function of nature of product. Suppose you have a food product, it needs credibilty as that is what distinguises it from competing brands. Now when it comes to cosmetics, attractiveness is the pre-requisite and as such, celebrities are best suited to be used to brand such products.

Well, most cosmetics companies have celebrities as endorsers. Taking the case of L'Oreal in India, it has had Aishwarya Rai Bachhan and Diana Hayden as its brand ambassdors, and for past few years, Aishwarya has been the only face of L'Oreal. Well, as a matter of fact, any brand requires a contemporary figure to endorse it and thereby protect it from getting enervated. As such, L'Oreal decided to rope in a fresh face for its brand, while retaining Aishwarya for some of its products. 

This new face is Sonam Kapoor. Well, no doubt she is attractive and can leverage her attractiveness to a cosmetics brand, but I don't think Sonam is the right choice for a brand like L'Oreal. L'Oreal is a brand that is truly international in its appeal. As such, it should have taken an endorsee with international appeal. I think any international beauty peagent winner would have been great, but we don't have any such figure in recent times. The  next best choice would have been Deepika Padukone, but then she has already been roped in by Maybelline and there L'Oreal looses the advantage. 

Let's see how Sonam fares for the brand. We can just speculate but times would confirm the success or failure of this move of L'Oreal. So, let us just wait and watch. 

Click here to see reviews on Sonam's selection as brand ambassador for L'Oreal. 

YOU ARE WORTH IT

I am hereby presenting the semiotic analysis of L’OREAL advertisement in India. I will make the analysis point wise.

1.      L’Oreal had chosen Aishwarya Rai for its product as she is an Indian beauty who is renowned worldwide. As such, any woman would want to match up to her level in terms of beauty and recognition and so they have selected and used this endorsee for the product.

2.      The background and the color of Aishwarya’s attire also symbolize some great positioning strategy. The background is dark and Aishwarya’s outfit is white. This means that L’Oreal products help you shine and gives you great visibility. To put it in a simpler way, it helps you glow in dark, separating you from the clutter.  

3.      L’Oreal isn’t advertising any specific product as it’s only the brand name that is shown in the advertisement. This is just a reminder for the consumers to maintain high level of brand recall.

4.      The advertisement displays the URL of brand on web, instigating the customers for its interactive marketing communication.