Chyawanprash makers to ride on star power

With winter just around the corner, ayurvedic health product 'Chyawanprash' makers are loosening their purse strings to rope in Bollywood biggies to endorse their respective brands, with a specific sight on youth consumers.

Market leader Dabur India announced its plans for a Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) media campaign for its 'Dabur Chyawanprash' recently, close on the heels of its Kolkata-based rival Emami announcing a Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) similar exercise for its 'Sona Chandi Chyawanprash'.

While Dabur has signed Vivek Oberoi to partner Amitabh Bachchan, Emami, which earlier had Sourav Ganguly and Sunny Deol starring in its ads, has notched up Shah Rukh Khan to add to its star power campaign.

"The Chyawanprash market, which is estimated to be about Rs 160 crore (Rs 1.6 bilion) as per ORG survey, has stagnated in the last couple of years and in fact it had a negative growth of 8 per cent last year. Hence the companies need to push it with aggressive campaign and look for newer customers," Emami Ltd director Aditya Agarwal told PTI.

Echoing similar sentiments, Devendra Garg, vice-president, marketing, Dabur India said, "The perception is that adults and kids are the traditional customers of Chyawanprash and we are missing out on the youth."

As the companies set their eyes on the youth, it explains why a company like Dabur would require Vivek Oberoi to add panache to its already strong brand endorsement from none other than Bachchan. The company had reported double digit growth after Big B's endorsement.

Similarly, Emami had also set its eyes on the next generation when it launched the 'Sona Chandi Chyawanprash'.

"When we signed Sourav Ganguly, we had the youth as customers in our mind. So was the case with Sunny Deol. Youth can help widen our customer base," said Agarwal of Emami.

While the market estimation of Chyawanprash is subject to debate, Dabur claims it is much bigger than reported by ORG. "Our own in-house estimate puts it at Rs 250 crore and last year we had a sales of about Rs 150 crore (rs 1.5 billion)," Garg said.

With new media campaigns involving youth icons, the market leaders of Chyawanprash are looking at improved figures.

"This year we expect a sales of close to Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million). Last year the sales was about Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million)," said Agarwal.

Dabur is also looking for better sales of Chyawanprash. "A growth of five to ten per cent growth is what we are aiming this year," Garg said.

It remains to be seen though if star power of Shah Rukh Khan and Vivek Oberoi can help spur growth in the stagnated Chyawanprash market.