Famous faces, fading brands: Why celebrity ads need stories again

The advertising industry is undergoing a fundamental shift in how celebrity endorsements are designed. What was once the craft of integrating stars into compelling narratives has slowly turned into a templated exercise in visibility. The structure has solidified into a rhythm so predictable that audiences can anticipate each beat before it unfolds. A grand entry, a precisely timed music swell, a brief product interaction, and a tidy logo sign-off. It certainly garners attention. But does it create lasting memory?

The question occupying creative minds across Indian advertising today is whether this move toward attention-optimised celebrity campaigns is quietly weakening long-term brand equity. And more crucially, whether the industry is prepared to recalibrate before the format becomes completely hollow.

From protagonists to props

"I do believe celebrity advertising today is optimising heavily for attention and speed rather than for memory," says Ambika Sharma, Founder and Chief Strategist at Pulp Strategy. "Attention is rented in seconds. Memory is built through narrative tension, character, and emotional payoff. When celebrities are used as billboards instead of protagonists, the brand borrows fame but does not build equity."

The assessment is straightforward. Celebrities now operate more as embellishments than as core elements. They expand reach but rarely deepen meaning. The template-driven model may spark immediate buzz, social shares, and media headlines, yet it leaves minimal imprint in the consumer’s mind once the scroll continues. What’s absent is the script, the dramatic curve, the emotional structure that turns a celebrity cameo into a brand-defining moment.

Moumita Pal, National Creative Director at Dentsu Creative Webchutney, notes that the digital ecosystem’s appetite for short-form content and algorithm-led visibility has hastened this transition. "A big-name celebrity can generate instant buzz, social shares, and media coverage but that doesn't always translate into lasting brand recall or meaningful brand association," she says. The format performs brilliantly for the first few seconds. What follows is where brands are losing direction.

According to a 2024 report by Pitch Madison Advertising, celebrity endorsement spending in India exceeded Rs 2,800 crore, rising from Rs 2,200 crore in 2022. Yet brand recall indicators have not grown proportionately. Data from the Brand Equity Survey 2024 reveals that while celebrity-backed brands see 23% higher initial awareness, their sustained recall after six months declines sharply compared to brands built on consistent storytelling campaigns. The figures suggest that fame is being leased, not compounded.

When stars became characters

There was a period when celebrities didn’t merely endorse products but stepped into brand universes. These weren’t simple commercials. They were short films where the product appeared as a resolution rather than a disruption.

"Vodafone in its glory days did lovely work with Irrfan Khan," recalls Nakul Sharma, Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director at VML India. "The brand and the celeb were both simple, straight and classy. The client used Irrfan's matter-of-fact style and merged it seamlessly with the uncomplicated nature of Vodafone. For three years running, Irrfan and Vodafone would join hands and, in a truly clutter-breaking way, make a point about its offers."

What made the Vodafone-Irrfan collaboration memorable wasn’t only repetition. It was tone. The ads carried rhythm, subtlety, and conversational intelligence that treated viewers as individuals, not data points. Irrfan wasn’t acting out a brand. He was expressing a sensibility that Vodafone aimed to own. That’s the difference between being showcased and being integrated.

Sharma from Pulp Strategy points to the enduring Fevicol campaigns as another instance where storytelling outshone star power. "The celebrity did not overpower the brand. The screenplay did the heavy lifting. The humour, timing, and situational exaggeration created recall far beyond the individual face," she explains. Whether it featured a Bollywood actor or a cricket icon, the Fevicol narrative possessed its own vitality. The celebrity strengthened it but didn’t replace it.

Likewise, the early Cadbury Dairy Milk campaigns starring Amitabh Bachchan succeeded because his presence enhanced an emotional arc rather than substituting it. The pauses carried significance. The silences resonated. The product became embedded in a human experience, not a transactional plug.

The new wave and what it's getting right

Not all modern celebrity advertising has abandoned narrative depth. Some brands are discovering ways to make stars feel essential rather than decorative.

Pal from Dentsu Creative Webchutney highlights recent wins. "Campaigns like Aamir Khan's iconic 'Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola', and Shah Rukh Khan's long-running association with Pepsi are great examples of celebrity partnerships that went beyond visibility and built strong brand memory," she says. More recently, she references Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt’s work for MakeMyTrip, Rahul Dravid’s now-legendary CRED campaign, and Dream11’s inventive use of the 3 Idiots cast alongside cricket stars as examples of narrative-led celebrity advertising done right.

What ties these campaigns together is simple: the celebrities weren’t merely endorsing. They were performing. They inhabited situations that felt engaging, credible, and aligned with the brand’s identity. CRED didn’t simply purchase Rahul Dravid’s presence. It tapped into the cultural contrast between his composed image and the chaotic world the brand created. That contrast became the narrative engine.

Yasin Hamidani, Director at Media Care Brand Solutions, a Mumbai-based media consultancy working with brands like Tata and Reliance Retail, cites the Shah Rukh Khan-Cadbury Dairy Milk collaborations as a benchmark. "What made it work was the screenplay—the pauses, the emotion, and the way the product amplified a human moment. The celebrity elevated the narrative instead of replacing it, which is why the brand stayed memorable long after the ad ended."

The cost of shortcuts

The templated model isn’t just creatively uninspired. It’s strategically precarious. When brands rotate celebrities from one campaign to another, they imply that the face outweighs the concept. Audiences notice that immediately.

"The fact that celebs are changing from one campaign to another is proof of this phenomena," says Sharma from VML India. "At times, the celeb is an afterthought. Almost like a garnishing to attract eyeballs. Ultimately, I see this dying out. There is just no substitute for good old consistency and hammering away with the same celeb face."

A global study by Nielsen indicates that brands maintaining long-term celebrity alliances achieve a 34% higher brand affinity score than those frequently switching endorsers. In India, where loyalty often carries emotional weight, such steadiness becomes even more vital. However, the drive to remain visible in an algorithm-dominated media environment nudges brands toward short-term visibility rather than enduring equity.

Pal from Dentsu Creative Webchutney believes the industry stands at an inflection point. "There's a growing realisation among creative teams and marketing partners that superficial celebrity placement, mere lip service, is no longer effective. Audiences are far more discerning today. They can quickly sense when a celebrity endorsement feels forced, transactional, or disconnected from the brand's core values."

Bringing back the screenplay

So how can brands and agencies shift direction? The answer lies in seeing celebrities as performers again, not revenue machines. It demands patience, belief, and investment in narrative craftsmanship over algorithmic shortcuts.

First, brands must assign celebrities roles to inhabit, not simply products to display. That means scripting scenarios with tension, payoff, and emotional stakes. It involves allowing pauses, shaping momentum, and letting the product surface organically within the climax.

Second, consistency outweighs repetition. One well-developed campaign narrative featuring the same celebrity across multiple years will always surpass a sequence of disconnected appearances. The Vodafone-Irrfan example demonstrates this. So does Cadbury’s enduring partnership with Amitabh Bachchan.

Third, authenticity cannot be manufactured. "For celebrity-led advertising to truly work, the role has to be believable. The celebrity must embody a relatable stance and integrate naturally into the brand's narrative," says Pal. When Ranveer Singh channels energy for MakeMyTrip or when Jackie Shroff and Tiger Shroff appear together for Uber, it resonates because the alignment feels genuine, not engineered.

The equilibrium Sharma from Pulp Strategy advocates is within reach. "The brands that will win long term are the ones that treat celebrities as actors inside an idea, not as the idea itself." That transition from billboard to protagonist, from embellishment to ingredient, distinguishes brand building from brand borrowing.

Celebrity advertising isn’t fundamentally flawed. But it is being underleveraged. The faces remain iconic. The narratives have dimmed. And in an era where audiences seek meaning as much as spectacle, that gap is what agencies must address. Not with louder soundtracks or grander entrances. But with stronger scripts, sharper dramatic pacing, and the bravery to let celebrities dissolve into stories worth remembering.