The Hindu Business Line : Brand Ganguly caught in the gully!

SOURAV Ganguly's endorsement contracts seem to be replicating his current fortunes on the cricket field. In fact, his departure from the country's one-day squad seems to have taken some sheen off his saleability. While this is evident from the fact that the brands he endorses are at present not using him in their commercials, LG Electronics India is not planning to renew its contract with Ganguly.

"The contracts of all our cricketing brand ambassadors ended in November. This includes Sourav Ganguly and we are not planning to renew these contracts for now. We will take a call on signing on sporting brand ambassadors after our financial year ends in December," Mr Girish Rao, Vice-President, Sales, LG Electronics India, said.

Ganguly has also been associated with brands such as Hero Honda, Pepsi, Tata Indicom, Britannia Tiger biscuits, and Emami's Sona Chandi Chyawanprash.

However, almost none of these companies are using him in their national promotions and campaigns at present.

According to Mr Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Percept D'Mark, "Ganguly's future will depend on his performance in the test matches against Sri Lanka. In India, if a cricketer scores a century his fortune changes."

Reacting to the LG loss, Mr Singh said, "The company has not replaced him with anybody else. At present LG is not taking on any new endorsement contracts, so it would be unfair to say that this is a setback for Ganguly."

Meanwhile, advertising sources said that Ganguly's contracts with Tata Indicom, Hero Honda and Emami still have more than six months to go before they expire.

Sources added that these brands have not yet decided whether they would renew their contracts and would take a call on deciding to use him in the ads depending on Ganguly's performance on the field.

"We are sure that Ganguly would make a comeback in the test series and subsequently find a place in the one day squad as well. We have not stopped featuring him in the ads for Sona Chandi. In fact, during the India-South Africa match in Kolkata, we came out with ads stating Dada, we are with you," Mr Aditya Agarwal, Director, Emami, said.

According to sources, Percept had signed on Ganguly on a basic minimum guarantee of Rs 48 crore over the five-year period.

Essentially, this implied that Percept would fetch an additional Rs 5 crore worth of business per year.

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