Date:05/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/05/stories/2006010502550800.htm

Back Madison Teamworks to focus on celebrity management

Ajita Shashidhar

Mumbai , Jan. 4

MADISON Communication's film promotion and entertainment unit, Madison Teamworks (Mates), will focus on celebrity management as a business vertical. The company, which recently signed up with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, to manage his advertising career, is reportedly in talks with other Bollywood personalities too.

Speaking to Business Line, Ms Darshana Bhalla, CEO, Mates, said, that the major differentiator that Mates seeks to offer is a proper co-relation between the personalities of the celebrity and brand. "We will ensure that the brand uses the actor well, and the celebrity is used only if his or her personality gels with the brand's personality. We are interested in building the brand as well as the brand of the actor."

"Having been in this industry for so many years, we now have a fair idea of what works and what doesn't work," she adds.

Though the trend of using celebrities to endorse brands is on the rise, Ms Bhalla said that very often there is a mismatch of the brand and the actor who endorses it. "We are going to be extremely choosy about the brand our clients are going to endorse and are not going to just look at the revenues."

Mr Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison Communications, said that if celebrities are used correctly and meaningfully, they could become important ammunition in a brand's arsenal. "With the growing competition and diminishing differentiation amongst brands on the one hand and increasing clutter in media on the other, brands can benefit immensely by exploiting the persona and attributes of a film star."