'Dabangg' makes Zandu Balm dearer to Emami

'Le Zandu Balm hui, darling tere liye' is what seems to be on everyone's lips at Emami these days. Yes, Emami's gamble with the in-song brand campaign seems to have paid off. Zandu Balm has clocked a whopping `25 crore in August, `5 crore additional to what it generated every month prior to the release of Salman Khan starrer 'Dabangg'. Riding on this success, Emami plans to extend this initiative to its other brands and try some regional language films.

Weak marketing was a concern for Zandu Pharmaceuticals in 2002. Post-coming under the Emami family in 2008, Zandu Pharma became the associate sponsor for the IPL Mumbai Indians team for 2009 and 2010. Emami has set a marketing budget of `20 crore for Zandu Balm for the current financial year. As a start to this, they cashed in on the success of IPL by signing up Delhi Daredevil players Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Kartik and Amit Mishra as brand ambassadors.

The pain balm market in India is estimated to be about 450 crores. Zandu Balm leads the market due to its extensive penetration but is currently perceived as a product for the elderly. It now wants to popularize the brand among the Indian youth and have come up with new ad campaigns with the Daredevil icons. From the days of 'Zandu balm Zandu balm peeda haari balm...', to little or no advertising, Zandu Balm has once again  initiated extensive advertising with proxy-brand campaigns and new television commercials.

With a fine lineage, substantial market share, iconic brand ambassadors and a decently-sized budget, the company should now also look to go the viral route.