Suits me fine

New Delhi, April 11: If you are in the game of selling brands then a tango with a branded star is perhaps now a must in the great Indian bazaar.

Never mind if the filmstar is endorsing a brand too many. To get that mind space, a tie-up with the brand ambassador is a must.

For Aati Kya Khandala star Rani Mukherjee, Dabur Aamla hair oil and shampoo will be just one more brand to sell. Mukherjee already sells Coke’s Fanta. In the past, she also used to sell Pepsi and she still sells Bata’s women’s footwear.

However, Mukherjee’s endorsing prowess looks small, when compared with the biggest of them all, the Big B. Amitabh Bachchan is endorsing about a dozen odd brands, including the latest contract he has signed for personal and health care major Emami, which industry buzz pegs at around Rs 10 crore.

Other brands endorsed by Bachchan include ICICI, Pepsi, Parker pens, healthcare products of Dabur like Chyawanprash, Hajmola and Glucon D, Nerolac Pints, Sahara, Cadbury's, Reid & Taylor and of course his social endorsing for eye donation and pulse polio.

Other big time endorsers include Shah Rukh Khan, whose list includes Pepsi, Tag Heur watches, AirTel and Mayur Suitings among others. Preity Zinta, who promoted brand Pepsi, also did it for Cadbury’s Perk. Then, of course, it is a tradition with Lux, who has used generation of Hindi film heroines to vouch for the soap.

Sharad Goel, official spokesperson for Dabur, said actors are chosen for particular brands, in tandem with advertising agencies who are handling the campaign. “If the celebrity is not endorsing other similar products, then it is okay. What is important is to tap the power of the celebrity in an effective manner,” he added.

Ad industry whizkid and Creatigies CEO Navroze Dhondy feels that it does not matter if the star is endorsing multiple brands as long as they are not competing products. “What matters is that the communication has to be effective and the actor has to be a right choice to be the vehicle for that communication,” he said.

Dhondy, who has personal experience with celebrity management, including Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan, draws a short life span for the celebrity brand endorser, though not always. “While a product may last for more than 100 years, a celebrity endorsement can last between six months and six years.

Money that celebrities earn from such endorsement remains a hush-hush affair. Neither firms nor ad agencies are ready to open their lips on the issue. Industry veteran Dhondy was, however, more forthcoming. “From a minor celebrity to real-time biggies, the range stretches from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 5-6 crore. The top bracket of Rs 5-6 crore will belong to people like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar,” he said.

Analysts say Hindi filmstars and cricketers are by far the best paid and most in demand in the endorsing community. But others, ranging from models like Bipasha Basu, tabla player Zakir Hussein to singer Lata Mangeshkar, do end up endorsing products and earning good money out of these.

Dhondy said some stars have also carried brands on their shoulders for years together (“Shah Rukh Khan is doing Santro for more than six years”). But others had to take a hasty retreat. Noteworthy among stars who have fallen by the wayside include Salman Khan who was dropped like a hot potato by Coke soon after he allegedly shot at rare wildlife species.