Business

Saturday September 5, 2009

Terms of endorsement

By LEE KIAN SEONG


BRANDING through the appointment of ambassadors has been an important advertising strategy for Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd (Canon Malaysia) and the company will continue to apply this strategy due to its vast impact in the market.

The company has used Hong Kong celebrity Simon Yam as its brand ambassador since 1995 and he is the longest endorser for Canon locally.

Simon Wong (left) and Simon Yam believes that celebrities need to have a sense of belonging to the brand.

“The appointment of Yam came from his passion for photography and his great personality that suit the brand,” says Canon Malaysia image communication products division assistant director Simon Wong.

Wong says Yam is a good fit due to his wide range of fans across all races, genders and age groups.

Some of Canon’s ambassadors are in short-term relationships but Yam is always the first choice for the company to continue in terms of endorsement.

“Yam is a good asset for us and the brand association between Canon and Yam is very strong in Malaysia,” he tells StarBizWeek in an interview.

As an ambassador, Wong says, Yam does a good job in promoting the brand in any public event or whenever he has the opportunity to meet dealers and fans.

He says appointing celebrity endorsers is not the easiest way to promote the brand but it will create some noise in the market and lift the brand awareness.

“Quality and content of the product are still essential for customers when purchasing it,” Wong notes.

He says a camera is a “planned purchase” item and consumers will not simply purchase the product due to the artist endorsement, adding that companies need to have a mixed advertising strategy in promoting their products.

However, he says, celebrity endorsement will add value to the products and bring in more “colour” to the brand.

On the problems of celebrity endorsement, Wong says certain artistes would list down their endorsement rules and it can be troublesome sometimes.

“The risk for this kind of strategy is the artiste’s behaviour as it might impact the brand if the celebrity is involved in any scandal or controversy,” he says.

Wong says the company will cease the contract if something serious happens to the celebrity but it is based on the agreement that was signed.

Normally, the endorsement contract is for one year.

“Celebrities need to have a sense of belonging to the brand,” he says.

Canon Malaysia does not cut down their advertising budget during the crisis as the company believes in the need to spend continuously to create market awareness.

The company spends about 3% to 5% of its turnover for advertising and promotion (A&P) activities annually. Its total revenue for last year was RM635mil, of which RM220mil was contributed by the camera segment.

It spends 50% to 60% of its A&P budget on advertising and the others for promotional activities, which include dealers’ incentives, promotional activities and consumer campaigns.

Wong says the endorsement fees will depend on the artiste’s popularity and the job scope, adding that the endorsement fee is not a major part of Canon’s total advertising budget.

From the brand ambassador’s perspective, Yam says this kind of advertising strategy is popular across the world and the most important point is the value of the artiste.

“Celebrities have to take care of their image and it is important to continue to be active in the market to keep the popularity and value. You have to always move forward with the brand,” he says.

Yam is also the brand ambassador for Omega internationally and some brands in China. Even his wife, Qi Qi, has endorsed brands, including SKII.

On his criteria for choosing a brand to endorse, he says the company must be healthy and has high capability in advertising and manpower.

“I will test the products before an endorsement to make sure that the products are of good quality for the consumers. You need to love the product to be a successful spokesperson,” he says.

As a brand ambassador, Yam will make sure that he is not involved in any controversy and maintain a healthy image and always be “young”.

“It is important for an artiste to have wide range of fans to get the endorsement,” he says.

Asked on whether the endorsement jobs had been reduced due to the economic crisis, he says he is not affected but others may be.

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