Kevin Pietersen to bat for Whyte & Mackay

UB Group flagship company United Spirits today said it has roped in English cricketer Kevin Pietersen as brand ambassador for the Whyte & Mackay brand, as the company looks to expand presence in India as well as overseas markets like South Africa and the Gulf region.

"For the last 12 months we have been on a roll out mode of the Whyte & Mackay (W&M) brands in India. After getting entrenched slowly in the market, we thought it was time to take the awareness level to a next step and hence we roped in Pietersen," United Spirits Head (Luxury Brand, Trade Marketing Institutional Sales and Franchise) Anant S Iyer told PTI.

The signing of South Africa-born Pietersen will help not only in India but also in markets like the UK, South Africa and the Gulf, where he is popular among the Indian diaspora, he said.

"In India the W&M brand is in its infancy. By virtue of Pietersen being a popular member of the Bangalore Royal Challenger's (RCB) team in the IPL, it should help in popularising the brand," Iyer said.

When asked why Pietersen was chosen as brand ambassador and not an Indian cricketer, he said, "W&M is an international brand and he suited our requirement as he has presence both in England, being an English player and India due to his association with RCB."

Currently, United Spirits sells a variety of brands from the W&M portfolio, including the W&M 13, W&M 19, Jura 10, Jura 16, Dalmore 12 and Dalmore Gran Reserva.

Commenting on sales network expansion, Iyer said W&M is now available in all relevant outlets for premium Scotch in all the four regions of India.

"Last year we witnessed good sales growth," he said, but declined to share details such as the number of cases citing competitive reasons. W&M competes with the likes of Johnnie Walker and Beam Global in the premium Scotch whiskey segment.

The UB Group had acquired the Scotch spirits maker W&M in 2007 for 595 million pounds (about Rs 4,783 crore).