Owning a fashion or make-up brand is in vogue these days. Many young celebrities, including Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Anushka Sharma, Lara Dutta, Kriti Sanon and Sonam Kapoor among others, have their own fashion brands. And joining the bandwagon is tennis star Serena Williams, who is reportedly launching a beauty line.
Williams previously secured ‘Aneres’ as the name of her clothing line, but according to certain new legal documents, filed in January this year, the sportswoman has secured rights for her brand to create make-up kits comprising lipstick, lip gloss, eye shadow, powder, foundation, remover, eyeliner and mascara along with hair shampoo, dry shampoos, hair rinses, hair sprays and hair gels among other items.
One wonders in what way it helps the brand if a celebrity’s name is associated with it. Throwing some light on the matter, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar states that sometimes celebrity brands can affect the business of already existing products in the market. “Now that Serena is launching her own line, and Serena is a huge name, all her fans would want to buy the product. I am sure she has many admirers. They might ditch the product they are using and go for Serena’s products.”
At the same time, the relevance of the product also plays an important role, Kakkar feels. “I see many young stars coming up with their brands. Now, if their brands have fashionable stuff that reflects today’s styles and trends, and if they are reasonably priced, I am sure they would fly. But if either of these things is missing, then a celebrity name can sustain them only for so long,” he says.
Resonating with the same line of thought, Piyush Pandey, co-executive chairman and national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), India and vice-chairman of O&M Asia-Pacific, says, “Advertising is a long-term thing and making a brand value cannot be done in a single day. It requires a lot of hard work and dedication for the consumer to believe in you and your product.”
However, he feels that being a celebrity certainly helps in a kick-start. “A celebrity starting a company is no different than a big company launching a new product. You get the desired kick-start, but then it all depends on the quality of your product,” he elaborates.
Ask the ad guru how much does a star contribute in the marketing, creativity and business of their own brand, and he quips, “Of course they contribute a lot. After all, it’s their name! So, if something affects the brand, it also affects the brand value of the star. That’s why we see an actress gifting other stars clothes from her clothing line. All that is to increase the visibility and promote the product! Also, many good designers are working for these fashion houses, making sure that the clothes are not just of good quality but trendy and in line with today’s fashion scene too.”
