Following the winning performance of the Indian cricket team against Australia in the 20/20 World Cup semi final, durables major Videocon Industries is now planning to relaunch Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the company’s commercials from November-end this year. Sunil Tandon, group head- marketing, Videocon Industries, told FE, ?We will air many new advertisements with Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Videocon?s consumer electronics (CEs), but not for appliances. We have especially chosen the festival period of 2007 (from November-end to December-end) to air many Videocon ads with Dhoni. We would be setting aside an investment budget of Rs 10 crore soon. ?
According to Tandon, ?We will also renew our contract with Dhoni in December 2007 for another two years. We had signed a contract with him in October 2005, which is supposed to end in December this year.?
Six months back, due to the dismal performance of the Indian cricket team in the World Cup, Videocon Industries, which had used cricketers in its advertising campaigns, had chosen to replace these fallen stars, and had pulled Dhoni out of their ads. The tides, now, have turned in the stars’ favour. Says Tandon, ?We feel proud of the performance of Team India in the 20/20 World Cup. Dhoni has proved to be one of the gems of the Indian cricket team. Even before the results of the 20/20 World Cup Final are out, we decided to redo the ads with Dhoni after winning against Australia. Thus, Team India should keep up their spirit with other upcoming matches as well.? Videocon Industries spends Rs 125 crore on advertising every year (the company had spent Rs 15 crore on the previous World Cup alone).
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also currently a brand ambassador for Sonata, the largest selling watch brand in the country. The cricketer will be endorsing the brand for the next two years.
Meanwhile, Donear Industries Ltd is making Yuvraj Singh the brand ambassador for Donear Suitings for their existing and new product launches apart from new retailing strategies. Ajay Agarwal, executive director, Donear Industries Ltd said, ?For the purpose, we have signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Yuvraj Singh.?