India is a country of cricketers and Bollywood stars. This is one of the reasons that most advertisements feature the demigods from both industries. Post the World Cup win, the average value of every Indian cricketer has gone up by leaps and bounds.
The winners are now more trustworthy and have gained the status of heroes. This is what has raised their brand value by about a fifth of what they would get prior to the World Cup.
As has been the general trend MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar top the list marketers and are the highest paid cricketers in the country. With the performances of Yuvraj, Zaheer, Gambhir and Kohli especially in the finals has brought them under the limelight as well.
Joshua Upputuru, a producer with Nomad films said, “After the World Cup, I have been trying to work with a couple of cricketers for some ads but none of them is available. All their dates are chock-a-block. Almost like a dog fight is happening among clients, trying to get even a couple of hours from each one of them. This is the situation.”
Most importantly the beginning of the IPL just after the World Cup has left the players with absolutely no time to spare for shooting for ad-films. India has been playing continuous cricket for the past 8 to 10 months with hardly a week in between each of the series. The only breather for the players was perhaps the twenty day break prior to the first Warm up match in the World Cup.
With the players’ image ripe, perhaps the media houses and ad-makers would be vying to pay extra dough to the cricketers to get whatever little time they can.
The CEO of Dentsu Media in an interview said, that the players could be worth anywhere between 7 to 10 crore rupees per annum per brand.
He further says that the IPL might be helpful in bettering the image of players if they can continue with their good form.
There is hardly any doubt in the fact that faith in the players especially in players of the stature of Sachin Tendulkar can help you win the hearts of mass. On being asked how much a brand advertised by cricketers meant to him , a cricket fan said “I love Sachin and after the World Cup, I will support everything he does, definitely if he endorses a particular brand, it will affect me and I will use it for sure. He is God.”
This shows the power of cricketers in the advertising industry and their craze. No wonder they are getting richer by the day, aren’t they?
Tags: Brand Value, Cricket, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Indian Cricketers, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, World Cup