PepsiCo drops Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassadorNEW DELHI: Beverage and snacks major PepsiCo has decided against renewing its long-standing association with its biggest brand ambassador, Shah
This is yet another example of PepsiCo phasing out of aging celebrities, in line with its 'youngistan' theme. Early last year, the company had dropped cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, also terminating a long-standing association.
It is learnt that PepsiCo's contract with Shah Rukh was up for renewal towards end-'08, and the company decided against renewing it.
The company is simultaneously in talks with Shah Khan-owned IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a sponsorship deal. The deal is expected to involve sponsorship of merchandise, aligning with the team as a beverage partner, and serving PepsiCo beverages in home stadiums. The association with KKR is expected to be finalised next week.
Both Shah Rukh and Sachin were among the company's most expensive celebrity endorsers, the third one being India cricket team captain MS Dhoni with whom PepsiCo is currently aligned. Earlier last year, the company had also dropped aging cricketers Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
From the film fraternity, PepsiCo has younger stars like Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone to endorse brand Pepsi and Katrina Kaif for its mango drink Slice. From the cricket world, the company is associated with players like Dhoni, Ishaant Sharma and Sreesanth.
Last summer, PepsiCo had adopted the theme 'Yeh hai Youngistaan meri jaan'. Its introductory campaign featuring Ranbir, Deepika and Shah Rukh, had shown the latter in a supporting role. PepsiCo's current ads also feature only Ranbir and Deepika.
When contacted, a PepsiCo India spokesperson said: "We have a long and enduring relationship with Shah Rukh which PepsiCo is very proud of. We are currently in discussions with him to take this relationship to a new phase."
In fact, PepsiCo is close to formalising sponsorship deals with three IPL teams – India Cements-owned Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai Indians (MI) and KKR.
As first reported by ET, PepsiCo's five-year, Rs 50-crore deal with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the IPL's pouring rights partner was called off last year. Financial details of the deals could not be confirmed independently. But the deals will be structured to involve an upfront cash transaction and a brand activation component.
Summer being peak season for beverage companies, IPL presents a big platform for marketing and brand building.
Chennai Super Kings' existing sponsors include Aircel and Reebok, while Kolkata Knight Riders has Nokia as main sponsor. Mumbai Indians' sponsors include MasterCard, Adidas and liquor company Pernod Ricard's Royal Stag.
No comments:
Post a Comment