Look out for model CEOs

So you thought only celebrities become brand ambassadors? Think again. In a move that appears worthy of emulation, HP’s Imaging and Printing Group has roped in Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO, Makemytrip.com, to endorse its new range. HP India has been identifying key segments and identifying “heroes” in those segments as brand endorsers.

Kalra fits the bill as CEO of a company that needs an IT backbone in its core function. On his part, Kalra feels the assignment made sense to him. “The concept is good. I felt the endorsement would help reinforce our brand,” he says. It’s not as if HP India has thought this up for the first time. Earlier, its Personal Systems Group has featured Dilip Chhabria, MD, DC Design, as a model.

The trend is not new. UB Group’s brands have also used this to their advantage in the past. More recently, the face of C.K. Ranganathan, Chairman & MD, CavinKare, has been visible outside Chennai and Mumbai airports endorsing the shirt label Karlsberg. Ranganathan, however, says he simply stepped in for a friend. With the asking rates of film stars and other celebs going through the roof, maybe this trend of CEOs endorsing other brands will grow.