Empee Group in tie-up with Smartline Pictures

Management & Marketing: "Empee Group has associated with Smartline Pictures� movie Karkaa Kasadara to advertise its Old Secret brand rum surrogately. The company will spend Rs 50 lakh in promoting the movie. This is the second such venture for the Empee Group after it has associated with another Tamil movie earlier called Dreams.

“As we cannot advertise our liqour products directly, we have chosen movies as a vehicle for surrogate advertising through Old Secret Cola brand. We will use our adeptness at marketing to create exciting promotions for the movie,” said S Balasubramaniam, vice-president (sales and marketing), Apollo Alchobev. Apollo Alchobev markets the Old Secret brand.

Karkaa Kasadara, directed by RV Uthaya Kumar, and featuring debutantes Vikraanth (cousin of Tamil film star Vijay), Laxmi Rai and Diya is slated for a February 14, Valentine’s Day release. Apollo Alchobev is targeting to sell 1.5 million cases of flagship brand Old Secret rum by mid-2005 in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The company also plans to launch the brand in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and West Bengal. It has earmarked a total of Rs 5 crore for advertising the brand in these states.

Empee Group is targeting Rs 300-crore revenues to accrue from its liqour business this fiscal. "