NEW DELHI: Bajaj Allianz is one of the few major advertisers on television which has refrained from using a brand ambassador, because it feels the basic agent should be given importance.

For this reason, it has been using an animated character as an agent for its advertisements instead of a film, TV or sports personality as others have done.

Bajaj Allianz head of marketing and corporate communications Akshay Mehrotra said Bajaj Allianz had 250,000 agents and this ad was to give them importance and make them more friendly and noticeable. He also said using a brand ambassador may deflect attention from the real agents.

Mehrotra told indiantelevision.com that it spends approximately Rs 800 million on its marketing and advertising, which works out to around 0.2 per cent of its total revenue. He said most of this was spent on TV advertising. The online advertising was through online aggregators and Google, he added.

Mehrotra was speaking on the sidelines of a press meet to announce a tie-up with Rubberband Infotainment Ventures and Anupam Kher Company for a quiz programme, ‘Discover India with Anupam Kher’ to be telecast on Star Plus at noon on Sundays from 13 February in eight episodes, starting with quarter finals.

Mehrotra said that there was no plan even at present to take on a brand ambassador, and the tie-up with Kher was only for this programme.

He said that Bajaj Allianz preferred to enter into partnerships rather than sponsorships, and it had earlier produced a 10-episode programme ‘Super Idols’ on IBN 7 on the disabled with Salman Khan.