Indian brands cash in on foreign celebrity endorsements

Pan Bahar ropes in Pierce Brosnan as brand ambassador

On most days, a can of pan masala barely evokes a reaction from readers, viewers or twitterati. But when a Hollywood actor lends his name to a pan masala brand, heads turn.

Social media was abuzz on Friday following print, television and outdoor ads of actor Pierce Brosnan endorsing Pan Bahar pan masala.

@babumoshoy said: Explains the iconic pause. "My name is Bond, *turns sideways, releases brown jet from mouth, looks at adversary* James Bond. #PunBahar

@rameshsrivats said: "Pierce Brosnan. Played James Bond. Endorses Pan Bahar. Licensed to kill."

@Madmanweb said: "Class never goes out of style. Until you appear in a Pan Bahar ad."

While DJ Group, owners of Pan Bahar, has described some of the comments on social media as "unfair and rude", brand experts say the Pierce Brosnan-Pan Bahar association is a continuation of a trend.

"There have been international celebrities endorsing Indian brands in the past and companies have their reasons for getting an international name on board," says K V Sridhar, chief creative officer, SapientNitro.

In Pan Bahar's case, explains Akhil Jain, CEO of Ashok & Company-Pan Bahar Ltd, part of the DJ Group, the firm was looking to rise above the clutter of pan masala ads common on television today. "Pan Bahar is a premium brand and we wanted to send this message across to consumers. Second, pan masala in people's minds is linked to gutka. That is not true. Pan masala is a mouth freshner. We felt it was important for this point to be communicated with our association with actor Pierce Brosnan."

Sambit Mohanty, creative head, DDB Mudra North, Pan Bahar's ad agency, says: "Given the advertising clutter on television, it is very difficult to get a reaction from people to anything these days. However, the reaction that this endorsement has received on social media - whether good, bad or ugly - has at least served its purpose of getting the brand noticed. That is key."

At a broader level, brand experts say the Pierce Brosnan-Pan Bahar endorsement points to the need of Indian brands wanting to be aspirational. In the past, Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman was roped in by Micromax to give it an image uplift in a cluttered smartphone market. Micromax was also looking to position itself as a global brand and needed a known face to project the same in international markets. More recently, football legend Zinedine Zidane was brought on board to endorse Kanakia Builders in Mumbai; tennis player Maria Sharapova endorsed a project of real estate company Homestead in Gurgaon; footballer Lionel Messi was appointed as the global brand ambassador of Tata Motors; and Hero MotoCorp brought golfer Tiger Woods on board.

Indranil Das Blah, founding partner and COO of Kwan Entertainment & Marketing Solutions, says international names are expensive and, hence, finding the right fit becomes critical for Indian companies. "The Indian brand must exactly know why they want an international name. Otherwise, the investment can seem out of place."

Brosnan has been contracted for a year on Pan Bahar, and according to sources, is being paid Rs 3.5 crore a day for the number of days he makes himself available for shooting.

This figure is akin to what most other A-list Indian celebrities are paid for their brand engagements, experts said.