“Perception wise there is a certain reduction in Sachin’s brand image. In real terms we haven’t faced any problems yet,” World Sport Group’s vice president - South Asia, Harish Krishnamachar told Financial Chronicle. The agency said Sachin Tendulkar was not available for comments.
The sports marketing agency has no say over the brands Tendulkar endorses as a part of Mumbai Indians or on the way he is portrayed in these advertisements. “When you see him endoring certain brands there is no brand-fit. A player of his stature has to associate with brands which can match up to his brand equity,” Krishnamachar added. Some of the brands, which Tendulkar endorses, have raised similar concerns, he said. He however did not mention the companies that would rather not have Tendulkar’s endorsement.
“Sachin has no say in the ads he would feature in as a part of Mumbai Indians. It is detrimental to him in the sense, he is not making any extra money out of it and if the television commercial is not well made then it ends up harming his brand value too,” said ad man, Prahlad Kakkar. He said that companies that might not be able to afford Sachin at a price of Rs 4 – 5 crore can get the whole team along with a name as big as Sachin to endorse their brand in less than half the price in IPL.
World Sport Group at its end is trying to ‘recalibrate’ Tendulkar’s image – the way he is portrayed in the commercial. The agency is trying to build his more serious image as a mentor and not as a teeny-bopper in the ads of brands he endorses like Boost, Aviva Life Insurance etc. Sponsors of Mumbai Indians, the team that Tendulkar is a part of, has sponsors like Idea, Zandu Balm, Royal Stag, Gitanjali gems and Jewellery and Luminous inverters, among others. “IPL has given a platform to brands like us to associate with a player like Sachin. He fits with our brand values of leadership, reliability and integrity,” said Luminous director, Sunil Bhalla. Luminous had first signed Navjot Singh Sidhu as its brand ambassador in 2005.
Boost, an energy drink brand from the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) stable, has been endorsed by Tendulkar since 1989. The three-year working contract with the cricketer is due for renewal in 2011-12. “The kind of brands that Sachin endorses obviously affects his own brand value. Our association with him is very old and it is certainly more powerful than any of his IPL endorsements,” said GSK’s general manager – marketing, Pawan Sud.
“The mentor sort of a role that is being shown befits his age. On our part it is an assertion of what he stands for as a brand in himself,” Krishnamachar said.
According to AdEx India research – a division of TAM for H1 2009, Tendulkar figured fourth in the list of endorsements by maximum advertisers with 10 endorsements. Ahead of him was Mahendra Singh Dhoni with 19 - the maximum number of endorsements. In 2007, Tendulkar had 17 advertisers and Dhoni 15, as per AdEx report.
0 comments:
Post a Comment