PTM, Hansa Research to launch celebrity research study

The two aim to create a knowledge bank and develop a systematic approach for the field of talent management

Percept Talent Management (PTM) is partnering with Hansa Research, a leading marketing communications and services group, in a celebrity research study in the field of entertainment. The research study, called CelebTrack, will focus on ensuring that clients get their money’s worth when they use celebrities to endorse their brands.

PTM, Hansa Research to launch celebrity research study

Celebrity endorsement is a game that involves high stakes, so lack of numeric data and objectivity lead to ‘gut feel’ selections. The personality fit of stars with the brands they are asked to endorse are often based on subjective opinions. Meant for advertisers who currently use or are considering using celebrity talent for their above-the-line and below-the-line initiatives, CelebTrack will track 150 top celebrities over 10,800 respondents across two pan-India waves annually. The first wave will commence from December 2008 and the results will be out by February 2009.

Manish Porwal, chief executive officer, Percept Talent Management, tells afaqs!, “At PTM, we are talent led, but talent neutral. Unlike run of the mill talent management outfits, we do not merely broker talent. We will measure celebrity power, not just on the basis of popularity, but also on four other parameters – media presence, power of persuasion, popularity and image attributes.”

When asked about the immediate purpose of launching the study at this juncture, he says, “We wanted to create a dedicated and well researched knowledge bank for this particular segment. Like TAM or IRS, which are major currencies in their respective fields, there should be a currency in the field of talent management too, we felt.”

The research study will cover celebrities from quotas based on occupation, including film stars, sports stars and TV artistes, and quotas based on appeal, including national and region specific talent.

As early as 2001, brands realised that a star has influential power over the consumer and the utilisation of celebrities rose from 25 per cent to 60 per cent. As with all new trends, the celebrity endorsement concept took off in a big way with stars being paid huge sums of money till gradually, it was found that stars do not always draw consumers.

For the record, PTM is a leader in the field of talent management responsible for identifying, grooming and managing talent on the one hand and enhancing an opportunity or solving a challenge through talent-led solutions on the other. It aims to provide 360 degree solutions for talented and famous individuals from the field of entertainment, including films, music, sports, fashion, direction, writing, modelling and acting. Some of the celebrities it manages currently are Priyanka Chopra, Sreesanth, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Pankaj Advani.

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