Brand Equity Program on State Tourism

Watching BRAND EQUITY program on celebrity endorsement of state tourism.

Pleasantly surprised to note Gujarat has won the best state tourism award, ahead of Kerala & Rajasthan !
Brand Amitabh works, whatever experts feel ( on program!)
AB's endorsements cut across numerous product categories & brands. But, perhaps his endorsement of Guj Tourism just raises the brand awareness by a few notches ?!

The 'Rang Barse...' star has done smart commercials, elegantly conceived & executed.
Did not feel same about the latest campaign by Kerala Tourism though. God's Own Country has nothing 'Godly' or SSpiritual on their campaigns. May be time to add Kerala's unique multi-religious/cultural destinations, and other attractions ?  Also communicate more appropriate to the target audience ?

One of the experts spoke against using any celebrity and also due to non-availability of suitable candidate. Perhaps he may not be thinking beyond Mammotty/Mohanlal or Yesudas/Chitra ( deliberately not mentioning Sreesanth). But how about the latest superstar of Bollywood, Vidya Balan? Riding on the super success of her last film ( Dirty Picture ) and all accolades thereof, incl the national award just announced... Her current brand profile will be an extension of the latest Kerala Toursim campaign !! ( Pun intended)

In an earlier posting, I had predicted TN roping Rajnikanth, Mumbai approaching Sachin, etc ( SRK brand ambassador of Kolkotta). That may still happen !!

SRK brand ambassador of Kolkotta

@SrBachchan was chosen brand ambassador of Gujarat. I was not entirely happy. Not because I have anything against the superstar or the govt.

Even now, when I see AB on TV, whether in a movie/ad/interview/news-bite, I get 'hooked', briefly though.  When I get totally involved with the program, laugh (as it happened 2 days ago watching a scene from 'Sharabi'), my wife finds it amusing! Otherwise my natural disposition is not a 'smiley').
The angry young man was the hero, all along childhood & teens!

For Gujarat, I felt a better choice would have been a successful Gujju. But then, as always, AB brings an element of class to anything he does - whether it is performance in Chini Kum/Paa or KBC (I hardly watched though) or ads (ICICI bank/Pru or Titan or Reid & Taylor).

 Now Kolkotta has gone a step further & roped in SRK. Now, he does not live there, naturally. He is not a Bong! Of course, he owns part of Knight Riders.(He just introduced a new logo, along with Juhi )
But, by 'mis-handling' the Prince of Kolkotta, he has as many cricket-fans against him, across the city & country.

Why this obsession with Bollywood ? BWood is an important, beautiful & integral part of India. But, we need to look beyond just Bollywood. Of course, beyond cricket too. Tendulkar can expect a call to represent Amchi Mumbai. Rajnikanth/MSD can expect a call from Chennai ( a new Tamil film is "Dhoni, not out")  Of course, current CM & previous CM, both with their roots in Tamil cinema, may consider themselves the ultimate brand-ambassadors for Chennai !

Watch out for more city/state brand ambassadors !