Kinetic energy

After starting an entirely new segment by launching a moped specifically for women the Firodia has now decided to pull in Kapil Dev to promo...

After starting an entirely new segment by launching a moped specifically for women the Firodia has now decided to pull in Kapil Dev to promote Kinetic8217;s new bike christened 8216;Boss8217;. Some fear that besides putting the reputation of Boss at stake, she might also be running the risk of losing her brand in the clutter of other brand8217;s endorsed by celebrities. The critics say that the identity of a brand is a concept that seems to be lost on most of our tycoons. Everyone from Samsung with 8216;Team Samsung8217; to Sahara with 8216;Team Sahara8217; seems to have jumped onto the bandwagon. Instead of defining a position for the product in the market they would rather depend on the celebrity crutch which gives the product a boost in sales in the short run. But the long-term effects cause more harm than good. People remember the celebrity and the ad but forget the product. But Sulajja brushes aside these concerns and justifies her choice of Kapil Dev as brand ambassador by saying that Kapil is now a stronger man and he has a formidable reputation amongst all Indians for being the only captain to have lifted the World Cup trophy. Besides hers is a three pronged strategy wherein besides promoting Boss she will also supplement the image of GF and Challenger by using Kapil in her campaign.

Sowing seeds together

Tattle goes that in the pipeline is a tentative coming together of the Tatas and the AV Birla group, confined of course to their respective fertiliser businesses. The story is still at its nascent stage and both parties are merely talking it over. A decision like this will certainly impact the country8217;s fertiliser business in a big way. The alliance if it happens, was contemplated as a play for a pivotal role in the now delayed disinvestment process for PSU fertiliser firms. Tata Chemicals and Indo Gulf Fertilisers are both entities to be reckoned with and the entity will undoubtedly have a huge role to play in the prices that will be posted in the market. But the Tatas and Birlas may not come to a decision soon. The delay has to do with the government8217;s own uncertainty in its fertiliser policy. Until and unless the pricing norms and disinvestment terms are decided, the coalition may just have to wait.

Neither here, nor there

If you had paid 255 million to ICC for exclusive cable and television rights to telecast live the next two World Cups and three Champions Trophy tournaments, then you would probably be as worried as Kunal Dasgupta. The astounding bid that the CEO of Sony Entertainment Television made, took many by surprise. He might be walking a thin line by assuming that everything is going to fall in place. Major sponsors may shy away from the tournament and such a turn of events could spell disaster. The statistics aren8217;t very reassuring either, if all does go well SET will earn about Rs 1,300 crore over a period of five years from advertising revenues and subscription fees. Minus from this the Rs 1,200 crore that has already been paid to ICC and it will leave Sony with a comparatively small margin of about Rs 100 crore. Though what Dasgupta is banking on is the CAS amendment to come in place soon. He says this would sky-rocket the revenues as the actual numbers of subscribers would be revealed and hence the cable operator will have to pay appropriate compensation to the broadcaster. Let8217;s wait and watch whether Kunal hits a six or a miss.

Dilip Cherian, runs a public affairs firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. None of the people he writes about are his clients. Your insider tales are welcome at dilipcheriannow-india.net.in