A perfect fit?

ITC Foods gets Rakhi Sawant to pep up Minto-O Fresh. But will it work?

Women, by and large, can't stand her guts, but men (not all, of course) seem to quite like her. And now, it seems, Rakhi Sawant has fans among marketers too.

ITC Foods has recently signed her as a brand ambassador for its Mint-O Fresh mint lozenge brand, and soon the lady, who seems to generate publicity with almost everything she does, will be all over television screens and billboards.

According to Ishita Tandon, brand manager, confectionery, ITC Foods, "She is bold, confident and frank and Mint-O Fresh has similar brand values. Thus there is a good fit with Mint-O fresh. Moreover, the brand statement centres around breath freshness and the communication is about the protagonist trying to impress a girl. And who better to impress than Rakhi Sawant?" Fair point.

But brand consultant Harish Bijoor feels that the mindset of companies signing up brand ambassadors is seeing a major overhaul these days.

"Companies these days tend to sign on endorsers with a myopic view rather than look at the big picture."

Bijoor agrees that Sawant has sensational value and would probably be a great fit, especially in the case of a sustained campaign built around breath freshness.

"For this particular brand, she goes with the flow pretty well. But overall, I doubt if there would be brands queuing up to sign her."

Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands, too feels that the role of an endorser these days seems to be more a part of the "casting for an ad". Although he feels that if the idea which filters through matches with the profile of Sawant, then it could make for a great fit for the brand.

As Bijoor puts it, "The trend seems to be to sign on endorsers who have more editorial value as well. No doubt awareness levels about the brand would reach a different level with her."

Interestingly, Perfetti Van Melle India recently signed on Kajol as its brand ambassador for its candy brandy Alpenliebe, and the first TVCs are currently on air. This is the first time in the company's 14 years in India that Perfetti is making use of a celebrity to endorse any of its brands.

For the record, the organised confectionery market in India is pegged at around Rs 2,000 crore and is growing at the rate of eight per cent a year. The cough lozenges market, of which Minto-O is a part, accounts for nearly 10 per cent of this.

Meanwhile, ITC Foods has plans for a multimedia campaign around Rakhi Sawant, starting with a TVC and moving on to other on-ground activities.

Sawant seems to have made a sensational start in her career as a celebrity endorser. How long it lasts is a different story altogether!