Bengaluru: Big B has added one more brand in his endorsement kitty as the brand Cycle Pure Agarbathies have roped in Bollywood mega star Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador as part of its pan-India expansion plan with a target to double market share in the next three years.
Cycle Pure Agarbathies is the flagship brand of Mysore-based NR Group.According to company’s Managing Director Arjun Ranga, TV commercials featuring Bachchan endorsing the new brand positioning “Prarthana ki Shuddhata” will be aired from 1st August.
These TV advertisements featuring Bachchan are made in Gujarati, Hindi and English and have been directed by filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, said Ranga.
He also said since Bachachan is the face of Gujarat Tourism campaign since long, the company hopes that the commercials will be a hit among the people of Gujarat and other parts of India, particularly northern and central.
Cycle Pure Agarbathies has 20% organised market share in the incense stick market in India, which is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore.
The NR Group company provides employment to nearly 20,000 people, mostly women, and has a five lakh sq feet mother plant in Mysore. It produces in-house around 500 fragrances and 900 crore agarbathies, and, through backward integration, which makes them number one manufacturer.
“Now, we want to expand our retail base in central and north India. We are doing fantastic in south India. But, we don’t have a strong distribution network in north and central India. Thus, we have planned to double the number of our retail outlets to 20 lakh in the next three years,” he added.
“Bachchan is having a huge fan following in this part of country. Thus, we believe that our association will help us in expanding our presence further. We want to double our market share within next three years,” said Ranga.
Amitabh Bachchan endorsement career has witnessed a controversy last week on his remuneration for endorsing the DD Kisan Channel, where the actor said he has endorsed the brand for pro bono while the Prasar Bharati has claimed that they have paid Rs 6.8 Cr towards his endorsement fee.
Finally the ad agency Lintas has to intervene to clarify the issue that the actor has offered to do it free of cost and the monies received from Prasar Baharati will be refunded soon.
