India’s cricket team strength lies in their Ad endorsements
Cricket and endorsement of brands is inseparable. But unlike cricketers, most celebrities lead a rich life that fades with age. Indian cricketers never seem to be falling out of favour with corporates, who have bet anything between Rs 250- 300 crore on old warhorses Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, for their advertising campaigns.
The present circumstances reveal the trio may not make it to the next World Cup, but ad makers feel that their vacillating performance would not affect long term endorsements.
“It will be a very immediate reaction to say a brand like Tendulkar has eroded.
If a brand like him was event specific and if one bad performance was to erode his value, then the entire concept of celebrity endorsements will be falicious,” Canon India vice-president Alok Bharadwaj.Â
Otherwise, advertisers have little choice on whom to pick for brand endorsements. If cricketers are also taken away, (sportsmen in Indian advertising are few), it will leaves only movie stars in the horizon.
Earlier this year, Canon had signed a three-year contract with Tendulkar, who is reported to command an estimated Rs6-7 crore annual fee per endorsement and has about a dozen such contracts with various brands.
“We’ve shared a healthy relationship with him (Tendulkar) and see ourselves continuing to do so in future,” PepsiCo India Executive Vice President (Marketing) Vipul Prakash said.
Considering the non-performance of Tendulkar that has invited lot of criticism, the company would renew his contract if it were to expire now, he said, “Pepsi will not make decisions toward its associations that are based on winning or losing of a match or series.”