Brand endorsement rates of Sachin, Yuvraj and co likely to hit new highs
NEW DELHI: A multinational face grooming brand, which has used only Bollywood stars in its commercials, is willing to splurge up to Rs 6 crore a year to rope in a cricketer of its choice from Team India . Reason: it feels the popularity of Indian cricketers has shot up by leaps and bounds over the last one week, peaking on Super Saturday when MS Dhoni and his boys lifted the World Cup.
Brand endorsement rates of Indian team members-especially Dhoni, master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Man of the World Cup Yuvraj Singh-will hit new highs as several new categories like water purifiers, soaps and detergents, paint companies and even travel portals are scrambling to get Indian cricketers to endorse their brands, say celebrity managers.
Brand endorsement rates of Indian team members-especially Dhoni, master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Man of the World Cup Yuvraj Singh-will hit new highs as several new categories like water purifiers, soaps and detergents, paint companies and even travel portals are scrambling to get Indian cricketers to endorse their brands, say celebrity managers.
And money doesn't seem to be a problem at all. "We expect individual endorsement fees to go up by at least 30%, and categories interested in associating with cricketers to double," says Manish Porwal, MD of talent management firm Alchemist Talent Solutions, which is working on behalf of firms such as Future Group , Bharti Airtel and Max New York Life. As many as 10 non-conformist categories like personal grooming, homecare products, and even agarbattis want a piece of the cricket pie now, he says.
And the popular twenty20 tournament Indian Premier League (IPL), starting within a week, will ensure cricket and cricketers stay on people's mind. "The timing is ideal, firms are budgeting for the new financial year, and of course, the IPL is around the corner ," says Porwal. "This also dispels a school of thought that cricket fatigue could set in with two back-to-back tournaments." While Dhoni's brand valuation is set to go through the roof, Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh , Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh along with new blood Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are in big demand, say their managers.
