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Snapdeal: Risks and Rewards of Celebrity Endorsement
This compact case was written by Alok Kavthankar, IBS Hyderabad. It was compiled from
published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to
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illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.

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Snapdeal: Risks and Rewards of Celebrity Endorsement

In 2015, the Indian e-commerce industry was on a steep growth trajectory. Analysts speculated
that it would grow at 35% CAGR, crossing the US$100 billion mark by 2020.1 Backed by a slew
of investors, the e-commerce companies were more focused on aggressive growth and the industry
as a whole had not turned profitable till then. The industry was characterized by aggressive pricing
and the deep discount model, which resulted in analysts questioning its sustainability. Top e-

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commerce companies splurged huge amounts on advertising and on signing up renowned

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celebrities from the Indian film industry to endorse their brands. It was estimated that the 2015
festive season triggered a cash burn of Rs. 20 billion2 in advertising expenses.

Taught by Yvonne Saini, from 25-Jul-2019 to 25-Oct-2019. Order ref F357432.

Founded in 2010, Snapdeal was an India-based e-commerce company owned by Jasper Infotech
Pvt Ltd and was the second largest e-commerce company in the country. In March 2015, Snapdeal
signed a contract with popular Indian film actor Aamir Khan (Aamir) to endorse its brand through
TV commercials and online. Aamir was known to be selective about the brands he endorsed. In the
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past, he had been associated with brands like Coca Cola, Samsung, Godrej, Tata Sky, and Titan
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watches. A renowned film star, he was a recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest
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civilian award, and later the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his work. As a
person, Aamir was reserved. He lived with his wife Kiran and son Junaid Khan.
On November 23, Aamir Khan, while speaking at a Journalism Awards function, expressed alarm
and despondency over the rising display of intolerance in India. He later said “Kiran and I have
lived all our life in India. When I sit at home and talk to Kiran, for the first time she said, ‘Should
we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make to me. She fears
for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the
newspapers everyday. That does indicate that there is a sense of growing disquiet… growing sense
of despondency. You feel depressed, you feel low…why is it happening? This feeling exists in me
too.”3
The comment kicked off a controversy with different sections of people in the country reacting to
it. Outraged by the comment, many Indians tagged the comment as communal and anti-national,
and a debate raged across different media channels and social media too.
Due to its association with Aamir, Snapdeal too found itself at the receiving end of the criticism.
Though the company brushed aside the controversy, a number of outraged users on social media
started a campaign to down-vote and uninstall its app. They gave their initiative the hashtag
#AppWapasi (App boycott). The outraged users down-rated the app on Google Play and demanded
that Snapdeal disassociate itself from Aamir.
Snapdeal, which was reticent about releasing a statement, later told the media that, “Snapdeal is
neither connected nor plays a role in comments made by Aamir Khan in his personal capacity.” It
added, “Snapdeal is a proud Indian company built by passionate young Indians focused on

1
PTI, “Indian ecommerce industry to post 35% growth: Study,” Times of India, 6th September , 2015
2
1 US$ ≈ 66.85 Indian Rupee as of December 08, 2015
3
“Aamir Khan at RNG Awards: ‘If I must Represent anyone, why just Muslims?’,”
www.indianexpress.com, November 25, 2015.

2
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building an inclusive digital India. Every day we are positively impacting thousands of small
businesses and millions of consumers in India. We will continue towards our mission of creating
one million successful online entrepreneurs in India.”4
Several brands were quick to distance themselves from Aamir. Godrej announced that its contract
with the movie star ended in 2014. Another brand Coca Cola claimed that they had not had any
association with Aamir for the last several years. Experts observing the incident commented that
though celebs had faced problems due to the brands they endorsed, this was a rare case of the
brand facing a backlash due to the personal opinions of its brand ambassador.
Snapdeal received support from unexpected quarters. Rival Flipkart (India’s largest E-commerce
company) came to its defense, with Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal (Bansal) refuting the
contention of outraged Indians that brands should be held responsible for the opinions expressed
by their brand ambassadors. He tweeted, “Brands don’t buy into brand ambassador’s personal
opinions. Snapdeal shouldn’t face this.”5 Bansal had faced a backlash when Flipkart had tied-up

Purchased for use on the Marketing in the Connected World, at University of the Witwatersrand (WITS).
with Airtel ‘0’; net neutrality supporters had registered their protest by down-rating the Flipkart
app for Android.

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But as the Snapdeal row progressed, there was an unexpected outcome to the whole issue. There

Taught by Yvonne Saini, from 25-Jul-2019 to 25-Oct-2019. Order ref F357432.

was a spike in the number of downloads of the Snapdeal app on Google Play. The rank of the app,
which had been 28 before the controversy, climbed to 24 within a week. Media opined that there
was nothing called bad publicity after all.6

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

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1. “There is nothing called bad publicity after all.” The rise in app rankings after the row
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corroborates this statement but in the long term, what are the possible repurcussions on the
brand image?
2. Aamir was associated with several brands. Why do you think Snapdeal became the only target
and not Coca-cola or Tata Sky, for that matter?

4
“Snapdeal Distances itself from Brand Ambassador Aamir Khan’s Remarks,” www.ndtv.com, November
25, 2015.
5
“Aamir and Snapdeal: Will #Appwapsi make Brands Intolerant of Celebs?” www.hindustantimes.com,
November 26, 2015.
6
Shoaib Daniyal , “#AppWapsi Backfires as Increased Publicity Spurs Snapdeal’s App Rankings to Rise,”
www.scroll.in, Novemeber 28, 2015.