Lotto signs Sania as brand ambassador

NEW DELHI (PTI): Teenaged tennis sensation Sania Mirza yesterday signed her first product endorsement deal under which she becomes the brand ambassador for global sports apparel and footwear major Lotto Sport Italia for three years.
"Traditionally Lotto has a long-standing relationship with the game of tennis. Right from Boris Becker to Martina Navratilova - all have endorsed Lotto. Now Sania Mirza will be our brand ambassador," said Sunil Taneja, managing director of Sierra Industrial Entp. Pvt. Ltd. which is the Indian licensee of Lotto.
Sania will be used by Lotto in print, outdoor and below-the-line advertising. "We are not sure about using her in a TV ad yet. We are in the process of finalising our advertising agency and then we will take a call on the creatives," said Taneja.
Anirban Das Blah, vice-president (sales and marketing), Globosport, the company managing Sania, said: "What worked in favour of Lotto was bringing in a lot of international attitude of Lotto to India. Sania will have a special signature line with Lotto that not many international tennis stars have."
Lotto will use Sania in on-ground promotion of tennis as she matches-up to the company's slogan "Passion To Perform".
The company plans to capture 10 per cent of the sports footwear and apparel market in India within next three years. Currently, the market size of this segment in to the tune of Rs. 750 crore. Besides Lotto, Sania will be signing up two more endorsement deals, the next one being in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Post the Australian Open Grand Slam tournament, advertisers have gone berserk and at one point Globosport was negotiating with 18 such offers worth over Rs. 7 crore.