Star-stacked campaigns are everywhere, but are too many celebrities killing the brand story?

When Dream11 launched its splashy IPL 2025 campaign “Aapki Team Mein Kaun?”, featuring Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor leading rival fantasy teams filled with cricket giants like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, it became an instant internet sensation. Social media erupted with memes, reels, and endless commentary. People quoted dialogues, fuelled rivalry banter, and generated millions of organic impressions.

It was, by all visible metrics, a blockbuster success, except for one central question many industry observers are now asking: did people remember Dream11, or did they remember the celebrities more than the brand itself?

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That question sits at the centre of a growing marketing debate: In the age of celebrity inflation, are brands losing their voice to star power? And is the short-term buzz worth the long-term dilution of identity?

More celebrities don’t guarantee more recall

Chandan Mendiratta, Chief Brand Officer at Zepto, believes that piling on stars is no longer a guarantee of impact.

“In today’s cluttered landscape, more celebrities don’t guarantee more recall. What cuts through is originality,” he says, pointing to the brand’s now-famous irreverent OOH, cheeky flyers, and highly shareable cultural stunts like the Valentine’s Day song or The Great Indian Fake Wedding; none driven by celebrities, all driven by ideas.

According to him, the most authentic advocacy now comes not from stars but from real people, including Zepto employees whose LinkedIn posts and organic social reach generate more credibility than any endorsement.

On the other side of the debate, many agencies argue that multi-celebrity campaigns reflect a shift in the role celebrities now play in culture.

Hemant Shringy, Managing Partner & CCO, Wondrlab Network, says the meaning of celebrity has evolved beyond face value.

“The lens has changed. The celebrity today is not just the individual, they are also the message and the medium. We know what they stand for, and that can strengthen the narrative,” he says.

According to him, curated combinations of stars and influencers help brands reach multiple cohorts at once and build cultural scale instantly.

However, he notes a critical failure point: the moment communication becomes about building celebrity myth rather than brand narrative, the campaign collapses. “The celebrity must serve the brand, not the other way around,” he says.

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This distinction between noise and meaning is repeatedly reinforced by industry creatives.

The lens has changed- celebrities are now the message and the medium

Jackie J. Thakkar, creative director and stand-up comic, says star-stacked campaigns almost always guarantee initial attention but not necessarily lasting connection.

Using the Dream11 campaign example, he says that while the rivalry format and humour made it memorable, the heart of the category, the thrill of fantasy sports, did not shine as strongly.

“A big celebrity cast buys eyeballs, not loyalty,” he reflects, calling the strategy effective for tentpole moments like IPL but financially unsustainable for continuous brand-building.

He argues that unless storytelling is strong, consumers walk away remembering only the celebrities, not why the brand matters.

The real cost question

Financial efficiency is part of why critics are calling celebrity inflation irrational.

Vishal Singh, Vice President–Brand Partnerships at Globale Media, notes that brands often use multi-celebrity formats out of fear of being ignored in an overcrowded ad landscape.

But he warns that too many faces can dilute what a brand stands for, referencing Manyavar, which frequently changes and adds ambassadors like Ranveer Singh, Kiara Advani, Rashmika Mandanna, and Kartik Aaryan, creating a fragmented identity.

He contrasts that with the power of single-ambassador consistency, pointing to the Abhishek Bachchan–led Idea Cellular campaigns, where Sirji became iconic branding rather than a celebrity endorsement.

Singh also reminds us that some of India’s most enduring campaigns - Vodafone’s ZooZoos and Fevicol’s timeless humour - became cultural landmarks without a single famous face.

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Even brands that regularly engage celebrities admit that this isn’t about recall anymore.

Pratik Shetty, Vice President, Growth & Marketing at Flipkart, previously told Storyboard18 that the company uses celebrities to build equity and emotional connection rather than visibility. “Recall isn’t our challenge. Used well, celebs help us drive the right message and brand love,” he said, highlighting that what matters is not the number of stars but the quality of storytelling.

Looking across the landscape, the divide is clear: when multi-celebrity films work, they do so because the idea binds everyone tightly - as seen with CRED’s iconic Rahul Dravid “Indiranagar ka Gunda” moment, or Neeraj Chopra’s deadpan humour in later campaigns, where the celebrity becomes a character serving the creative idea.

When they fail, it is because the film becomes a parade of faces fighting for screen time, leaving no memory of the product. The difference between the two is clarity of narrative.

What’s emerging is a new realisation across marketing circles: attention is easy; meaning is hard. Brands are beginning to rediscover the power of creator-first storytelling, always-on narrative worlds, and real community involvement — whether through Viraj Ghelani’s work with Mumbai Indians, Zomato and Swiggy’s creator collaborations, or Zepto’s culture-led stunts that don’t rely on star visibility.

As budget pressures intensify and consumer cynicism toward celebrity endorsements rises, the future may belong less to crowded screen frames and more to grounded storytelling. The era of celebrity inflation may soon give way to what marketers call meaning inflation, where authenticity matters more than star wattage.

Star power will always buy attention. But in a world where loyalty is scarce and trust is fragile, only a strong idea wins the final recall battle.