It's a big name in the floor, bathroom and kitchen-tile space in India. For 55 years, H & R Johnson, which markets the popular Johnson Tiles, saw no need for a brand ambassador to fire up its portfolio. Its name carried enough heft, it believed. But now the Mumbai-based firm, subsidiary of the Rs 5,212-crore Prism Cements, appears to have had a change of heart, rushing to tie up a Bollywood celebrity, none other than Katrina Kaif, in a bid to up its brand quotient.
And H & R Johnson has paid big monies to get Kaif on board. Persons in the know say that the tile maker, which has expanded into areas such bathroom fittings, modular kitchens, marble and quartz in recent years, will pay the actor Rs 3-4 crore for a two-year endorsement. Sushil Matey, chief operating officer, H & R Johnson (India), says, "Over the last ten to fifteen years, brand awareness in the home lifestyle category has grown. Consumers demand big brands when shopping for their products. If there is a big name endorsing our range, it will help."
Johnson is not the only one chasing big names. The company, in fact, joins a growing band of local firms, who are increasingly getting aspirational in their drive to reach more consumers. Kaif herself endorses products such as Flite slippers from Delhi-based Relaxo Footwear even as she lends her star power to products such as Sony Xperia Z or Panasonic air conditioners, Pantene shampoos and conditioners from Procter & Gamble, Lux soaps from Hindustan Unilever and Nakshatra diamond jewellery from Gitanjali. She is also seen munching on a little known chocolate brand called ChocOn from another Delhi-based company called S K Industries. "Our visibility has suddenly gone up with Katrina endorsing our chocolate. Retailers and distributors, who were hesitant to stock our products earlier, our now calling us and saying that they would like to carry our products," S K Industries' MD S K Jain had said in an earlier conversation with Business Standard.
"Small companies are quite ambitious and harbour a desire to compete with the big boys. When they tie-up with the big names it makes a huge difference," says Bunty Sajdeh, chief executive officer, Cornerstone Sports & Entertainment, which manages the brand endorsements of batting sensation Virat Kolhi and was responsible for getting the cricketer endorse a little-known handset brand called Celkon.
Kaif's nemesis and Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan has been endorsing the iBall Andi range of smartphones for a year now. iBall is a Mumbai-based company manufacturing computer peripherals, smartphones and tablets. It also has actor Hrithik Roshan endorsing its Slide range of tablets. When announcing iBall's association with Khan last year, company director Sandeep Parasrampuria, said, "Kareena is a youth icon and is known for setting trends. There is no doubt that she would provide the perfect brand fit for us."
