The Siyaram Celebrity Endorsement Experience

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Siyaram was one of the few non-FMCG companies in India that was known for its lavish advertisements. The 'Coming Home To Siyaram' campaign was reported to be one of Indian advertising's costliest campaigns. The 'Coming Home To Siyaram' advertisements were much talked about for being of much longer duration than the usual advertisements3, and also for the huge budgets Siyaram set aside for them. The company believed that good commercials helped it to effectively position its suitings on a global platform. Siyaram officials said the company's focus on marketing was responsible to a great extent for its growth over the years. Percept had conceptualized the 'Coming Home to Siyaram' campaign in the early 1990s. Over the years, the campaign established the brand's association with 'true love for the motherland,' by showing successful men maintaining lasting, strong ties with their families. Analysts commented that the campaign was largely responsible for Siyaram's high brand recall and positive consumer feedback. As part of its brand-building initiatives, Siyaram also organized major sporting events like the triangular cricket series - Siyaram's Cup, 1997 and Siyaram's Celebrity Soccer 1998. The company also held Siyaram fabric shows, aimed at increasing awareness among its target audience about the company's range of products.

For 2001-02, Siyaram had increased its advertising and promotion budget to Rs 300 million from the 2000-01 level of Rs 200 million.

The J.Hampstead Story

J.Hampstead was a very popular suiting brand in Europe, renowned for its premium 100% wool suitings woven from rich natural fibers like merino wool, cashmere and woolsilk. In 1995, Siyaram tied up with J.Hampstead for marketing its suitings in India. The company imported the fabric from Italy. It was priced in the range of Rs 1,500-1,600 per meter. In September 1997, Siyaram decided to begin manufacturing the brand at its plants with technical assistance from J.Hampstead. The product was slightly different from the imported version and was priced in the range of Rs 275-1000 per meter. Explaining the reason for the decision, Gangadhar said, "The imported J Hampstead faced two problems: that of maintenance and price. The imported product had to be dry-cleaned and steam-ironed. The Indian fabric can be hand washed." Siyaram earmarked around Rs 50 million for the marketing, sales and promotion of J Hampstead. The first phase of this promotion was in the form of commercials featuring Indian tennis superstars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati. These commercials with the positioning line, 'The finest fabric in the world,' were aimed at positioning the brand in the premium segment. In September 1999, Siyaram held a tennis carnival to promote J.Hampstead, where several Hindi film stars were invited to play tennis with the brand ambassadors. Soon after, Siyaram faced problems with the tennis duo when they decided to break their partnership, reportedly due to personal problems. However, the company continued running the advertisements. Company officials justified this, claiming that the 'sport was bigger than the players.'

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