Whenever we think of Cadbury dairy milk, the image of Amitabh Bachchan comes before our eyes with a tag line “kuch meetha ho jaye”. There are more than hundred examples like this as we connect the products with the people who are the brand ambassadors of the products. The companies go for celebrity brand ambassadors as the patron gets excited when they see their dream star endorsing the products. To market product, some companies go for one brand ambassador while some go for numerous.

A Brand Ambassador is a person employed by a company to be the sales rep and physical representative of the company with respect to sales and marketing. The Brand Ambassador is meant to embody the corporate image in appearance, demeanor, values, and ethics. Customers no longer simply purchase a product or service; they buy into the idea of the lifestyle the brand represents. But selecting the right brand ambassador should be an integral part of your marketing strategy.

The King Khan of Bollywood earns around 150 crore a year from endorsements. His list of endorsements include Pepsi, Bagpiper, Santro, Omega, Nokia, Emami (5 crore every year), Hyundai, Airtel, Videocon, Sun Feast, Tag Heur, Mayur Suitings, Pulse Polio and AIDS control programmes.

Ambassador embodies the core values of the Brand. The brand ambassador must be somebody who embodies the core values and characteristics of the brand. For example, Lance Armstrong’s association with Livestrong and Nike is a well crafted relationship. Inspirational to some, motivational to others, Livestrong was a brand forged around Lance Armstrong’s personality, on his road to recovery.

Brand ambassador serves as the face of the company and offers an opportunity to the company to make an excellent impression on prospects. Brand ambassador describes the qualities of the product with an impressive personality and magnetic charm as well as shape the fortune of products. The success of a brand relies on customer satisfaction, quality, marketing, and somewhat on brand ambassador. So the companies select famous personalities to endorse a product which help in building brand demarcation and rapid awareness as well as connect with the consumer.

The brands and products that are launched newly get the utmost publicity and attention of the public when they have shining celebrity as brand ambassador. The brand ambassador’s positive trademarks get relocated to the brand as the patrons begin to view the brand in connection with the brand ambassador. Brand ambassadors guarantee the patrons to trust in the reliability of the brand. Brand ambassador endorse names of brand and products through interacting with sales prospects, business partners, customers and the media.

Brand ambassadors are the new-found marketing mix for real estate sector. Last year had many celebrities from Bollywood, sports and glamour world enter the realty sector as brand ambassadors of prominent developers. The brand name, no doubt, matters; but the developers are now associating celebrities (some of whom have national and international presence) with advertisement campaigns. The concept was at a nascent stage in the NCR, but once it was tried, it took the sector by storm. Popular cine stars like Twinkle Khanna, Kangna Ranaut, Rajeev Khandelwal, Prachi Desai, Sushmita Sen; cricketers like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, to name a few, are the faces of different realty firms today.

Good brand ambassadors know the product, they know the competition, and they know the market. These are people that are constantly present and building up the reputation of the company and stirring up the interest of the general public. Part of their job entails helping potential customers discover the brand, so their role also has a bit of a sales function. Fundamentally, though, their task is to keep the image positive and to help others learn about the brand.