Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
United Sprits Ltd has signed actress Shilpa Shetty as the brand ambassador for its vodka brand, Romanov. Though the Romanov brand has donned three avatars since 1977, this is for the first time that the brand is being completely revamped.

Sami Lala, President, United Sprits, said, "United Spirits is committed to achieving a leadership position in the Indian and international vodka markets. As part of our brand building initiative, we have Shilpa Shetty as the brand ambassador for Romanov. Her innate style, energy and attitude highlight the core attributes of the brand. We will use her mass appeal to herald an enhanced customer experience."

USL's diet portfolio is seen as part of the product innovations the company plans to uncork in the future. Its diet whisky, arguably the world's first, is not a low-alcohol, low calorie offering, but has ingredients - like ancient Indian herb Garcenia - that lead to enhanced metabolism. The move to launch diet vodka could be interesting as vodka mainly has a young consumer base.

USL riding on the back of brands like Romanov, White Mischief and Alcazar currently dominates the domestic vodka market with 80/85% share of the consumption estimated at 3 million cases annually.

The diet products, especially in the soft drinks category, which peaked in the western markets almost two years ago, has been slowly gaining ground in the local market. The cola giants Coca Cola and Pepsi have began supporting its diet portfolio in a substantially big way eventhough they account for only one percent their overall volume. USL ended the last financial year with 59.4 million cases in depletions in an overall IMFL market pegged at 134/138 million cases.