“Sourav Ganguly will be our brand ambassador, not exploring any new celebrity”

Sourav Ganguly’s cardiac arrest has put Brand Fortune from Adani Wilmar Ltd in a spot. However, instead of a kneejerk reaction, the brand has decided to stand by its brand ambassador, despite some sharp comments on social media.

As is known, Ganguly has been appearing in ads for Fortune’s rice bran oil, mustard oil and soya chunks. Health, especially heart health, has been a major peg of Fortune’s ad campaigns. For the time being, Fortune has decided to suspend its ad campaigns featuring Ganguly.

Also read:

What should be Brand Fortune’s stance after Sourav Ganguly’s cardiac arrest?

Adgully spoke to Angshu Mallick, Deputy CEO, Adani Wilmar Ltd, to know about how the company is handling the situation faced by its brand Fortune as well as the next course of action for their campaign as the brand has to stay top of mind with the consumers.

On the product and the brand

Firstly, rice bran oil is undoubtedly one of the best heart-friendly oils in the world as it contains oryzanol, which reduces bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol. You can Google and find out everything about rice bran oil. As far as the oil or its properties are concerned, there is no doubt about its good properties. Internationally, too, it has a lot of acclaim, such as in Japan, which why it is called the ‘heart oil’.

On the brand and Sourav Ganguly’s health setback

Sourav Ganguly has been appearing in Fortune’s ads for the last six months. He is a fit man and also a great sportsman and a great fighter, that’s why we chose him as our brand ambassador. This incident of Sourav’s cardiac arrest is very unfortunate, but such an incident can possibly happen to anybody even if they have taken all the preventive measures in life. We have seen a lot of examples where the best of the sportspersons or athletes or even military personnel who regularly work out, suffering a heart attack or some such health problems. This could be due to dietary issues or there could be hereditary issues.

On the lifestyle front, Sourav is not somebody who will go out of the way and spend a sleepless night. Yes, being a Bengali, he loves his food, especially the Sunday spreads. But otherwise his lifestyle is a very disciplined one; it is not like he stays out for longer hours or has nights out and all that. This incidence is very unfortunate, which I don’t think he would have ever dreamt of or imagined to be facing.

On the immediate action on the campaign

The next and immediate action that we have taken is that since he is still in the hospital and we are not clear what is going to happen, we have suspended the advertisement at least for the time being. We have taken a short break from the ad campaign. Sourav has conveyed to us that he will be back in action soon and that he will consult his physician on his diet and everything, including the edible oil that he should consume. On the product front, he will continue to promote the product and he will continue to be our brand ambassador.

On the next step in terms of brand communication

The campaign has not been withdrawn. As I said earlier, we have taken a small break till the time we get to know the exact situation. Till the time we talk to Sourav and understand the actual situation along with our advertising partner Ogilvy India, we will not decide on any solution immediately. We are also not sure whether we want to come out with a new ad or continue the same ad or may be something else. We leave it to our advertising agency to advise us on the same. Also, there is no intention of exploring any new celebrity.