Bipasha carries on the Emami legacy

 Bollywood glamour queen Bipasha Basu is ready to be the new

face of Emami, following the illustrious path set by Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Sharukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Kareena Kapoor and cricket hero M S Dhoni.  According to Aditya V Agarwal, Director, Emami Group, the deal has just been signed with Basu to promote the top brands from their portfolio in the skincare and personal care segment.

While Emami is tightlipped about the details, an insider said the three-year contract is estimated to be between Rs 3 to Rs 4 crores.  Emami has an annual marketing budget of over Rs 200 crores, out of which Rs 8-10 crores will be spent every year towards advertising and promotion of the brands associated with the Bollywood star. The campaign featuring Basu is likely to be unveiled during the forthcoming festive season.

In the past Emami has met with great success when Bollywood stars have endorsed their products. It all started with the Big B endorsing the herbal antiseptic all purpose cream Boroplus, which instantly went on to become a national name and later with the new king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan endorsing Navratna hair oil and talcum powder, catapulting the line to success. Preity Zinta and Kareena Kapoor have been the previous female brand ambassadors for Emami’s skin care and personal grooming products. Emami is hopeful that the smouldering charisma of Bipasha Basu will work well for the brand and up its sale significantly.

In the meantime, Malaika Arora Khan has been considered to endorse one of Emami’s popular products, Zandu Balm. Whilst talks are underway, Agarwal says the sales of Zandu Balm are increasing at a rate of 45-50 per cent.

Kolkata-based Emami Group started three decades ago and is today valued at Rs 3,000 crores whilst its subsidiary Emami Limited which is the company behind the Emami skin care and personal grooming products, stands at a value of Rs 1,000 crores.