DTH providers rope Bollywood biggies for the promotion!

Today Indian direct-to-home (DTH) services have strong subscribers in the market. There are 6 top players in the Indian DTH market, and they are - Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Reliance Big TV, Airtel Digital and Videocon D2H. Among all, only 4 DTH providers have roped in Bollywood celebrities who endorse the services.

Dish TV has roped in king of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan, to endorse their services. Last year in November Dish TV did a brand revamp campaign "Ghar Aayi Zindagi' and said is going to spend Rs 100-crore on advertising in the coming financial year. On this, the CEO, Dish TV, Salil Kapoor said, "We have been able to move from a functional to emotional positioning thanks to this campaign. Hiring Shah Rukh Khan has enabled us to save on advertising spends as he helps us get the message across more effectively in fewer exposures."

Tata Sky has roped in Bollywood perfectionist Aamir Khan as a brand ambassador. Then, Airtel Digital has signed up Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoora as the brand ambassadors, who are singing its praises. Last year in September, the company launched a 6 week ad campaign with Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. To this, the director and CEO, Bharti Telemedia, Ajai Puri said, "Thanks to that campaign, we had the highest sales achieved by any operator during October 2008, doubling our September sales in the process. Brand ambassadors are an integral part of our communication strategy. They give us instant clutter-breaking capability and help build brand recognition faster."

Similarly, Videocon D2H is the latest to have jumped on the bandwagon, who has roped in Abhishek Bachchan to endorse its offering. The CEO, D2H, Anil Khera by explaining the rationale behind signing up Abhishek Bachchan said, "We are a part of the entertainment industry, so it makes perfect sense for us to rope in Bollywood stars because they belong to this domain."

As per the media sources, now, Big TV ' part of Reliance Communications, is planning to launch a promotional campaign soon with Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan. He is also the brand ambassador of Reliance communications. The company will be spending Rs 150 crore on advertising this year.