The Hindu Business Line : Sumo wrestling, Idea style in Pune

SHOPPING for jootis in Ahmedabad, dabbling in a bit of kushtee at an akhaada in Panipat, enjoying a dosa in Pune and admiring pretty Indian faces.

Idea Cellular's brand ambassadors, sumo wrestlers Tachibana and Motohashi are right now in the midst of having a close look at apna desh and enjoying it.

Their only peeve is that there are too many people everywhere and too many cars on the roads with horn-happy drivers behind the steering wheel!

Cellular service provider Idea said here on Thursday that the Sumo wrestler campaign, launched to promote its pre-paid cards at an estimated cost of Rs 16 crore is paying off dividends in the form of a healthy growth in subscriber base.

"We have witnessed consistent growth in the subscriber base since the launch of the campaign in September," the Circle Head, Maharashtra and Goa, Mr Lakshminarayana, said adding that the exercise has strengthened brand health and brand equity and made it the second most recalled brand in the country.

The company is following up the electronic campaign with a national tour that will take the two sumos on a visit to the eight circles in which the company is operational. The duo has already been to Delhi, Agra, Meerut, Ahmedabad among other cities and will visit Hyderabad and Kochi in the next leg of their tour.

The company, meanwhile, is using the opportunity to grab subscriber eyeballs to the maximum. In Pune, the duo will visit the children's ward of a hospital, attend a music show, tee-off at Idea's annual golf shindig and indulge in a bit of shopping, if their over-crowded schedule permits.

In between, they will put in an appearance at a multiplex where they will put up an impromptu exhibition of their wrestling skills. The company, meanwhile, said that the sumo campaign would go on at least for the next six months but added that it has no plans to extend the campaign to any of its other products.

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