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Sports is giving Bollywood a run for its money when it comes to endorsements and sponsorships.

Arun Pandey, CMD, Rhiti Sports Management (P) Ltd, in the Digital Acceleration 2.0 report by Duff &amp; Phelps says the emergence of D2C brands is leading to marketers looking at associations with celebrity brands for targeted outreach of their products. And it is not just about Bollywood anymore.

He says cricketers, sportspersons and other social media influencers are being roped in as brand ambassadors where the strategy is to associate with the endorser who can ensure better and higher engagement with the product’s potential consumers.

Live sports pushing the envelope for the genre

“Linear TV and Live sports as a category is on an all-time high with emerging sports adding on to the fanfare that only cricket has enjoyed for the longest time. While cricket still leads the pack, other sports and sports stars have started to become a big part of brands and marketing in the present times,” says N. Chandramouli, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mumbai-based brand intelligence and advisory firm TRA Research.

According to him the success of a movie is a shared reward and is a major factor that builds the brand value of the celebrity but in sports the sports stars are on their own. Their individual performance makes and breaks the game for them when it comes to bagging endorsement deals.

Moreover, the segment also grew multifold in the last two years in terms of reach through their live content. A recent FICCI report says that the Indian sports segment grew 62 percent in 2021, exceeding pre COVID-19 levels, and television garnered 84 percent of media spends on sports. Live sports programming also increased to 21 percent of total programming hours leading to marketers cashing in on the reach and access.

Why are marketers focusing on sports more than entertainment stars?

Explaining what marketers are looking for exactly when they opt for sports stars over entertainment personalities Aviral Jain, Managing Director at proprietary data, technology and insights company Kroll says, “Today, a large section of the Indian population consists of millennials and Gen Z, and brands look to tap into this budding consumer pool through relevant celebrity partnerships and focused marketing strategies.”

Sports celebrities according to him are typically able to establish a strong emotional connect with the youth today with a sense of ownership and loyalty, enabling brands to successfully correlate their product to these qualities. “They also provide new aspirational figures for the youth to continuously relate to,” he says.

Emerging brand assets in sports

Talking of new aspirational figures, after the Tokyo Olympics, names like Bajrang Punia, Devendra Jhajharia, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu came to the forefront as they added major endorsement deals to their brand portfolio.

Brands across sectors ditched popular Bollywood names to add rising sports stars to their marketing communications for enhanced targeted reach and engagement.

Some of these new deals included Bridgestone and APIS Himalaya Honey signing on P.V. Sindhu, Mobil India getting Bajrang Punia on board, Citibank onboarding Devendra Jhajharia (from Paralympic javelin throw) followed by several others like TATA AIA Life Insurance, Cred and Country Delight Naturals who got Neeraj Chopra as their ambassador, Amrutanjan Healthcare that for Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and SmartValue Health Care products that got Ravi Kumar Dahiya.

The medalists from the Tokyo Olympics 2020 brought more to the table than any Bollywood celebrity in the year gone by, with the high engagement rates that came from the enormous growth in their social media following.

According to a recent Duff &amp; Phelps report, Neeraj Chopra who had a 133K follower base on social platforms saw a 2682 percent growth, followed by Saikhom Mirabai Chanu who saw a 853.3 percent growth post the Olympics. Others like P.V. Sindhu, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Lovlina Borgohain, Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh also saw a growth in the follower base anywhere between 45 percent and 600 percent.

Jain says the growing followership and consistent engagement across digital media enables fans to connect with sportspersons off the field as well, making these celebrities more relatable and approachable.

“These insights into the lives of sports celebrities strengthen the emotional connect, which when amplified by the usage of social media makes it more rewarding for a brand engagement,” he said.

No wonder new-age brands especially those targeting the millennial crowd who are targeted mostly on digital platforms made a beeline for sports stars.

However, this doesn’t throw cricket stars out of the scene. According to the same celebrity valuation report, Virat Kohli consistently tops the charts for the fifth time in a row as the country’s most valued celebrity with a brand value of USD 185.7 million.

Like most other brands that work with Kohli, MPL too picked up the cricketer for his consumer connect. Brands say they share the same set of values with the former India captain.

“Virat has the same traits as MPL does—young, bold, competitive, and hence he was a perfect brand fit for us as we looked to scale rapidly from a young brand to a household name in the country,” says Manish Shrivastava, VP - Marketing, MPL

M.S. Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, K.L. Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar are also the evergreen brand favourites across sectors.

Striking a balance between Bollywood and Sports

For some brands though it’s all about balance. Like Amit Bhardwaj, CMO and Founder at fantasy platform, Fantasy Akhada says, “There is a good mix of sports persons and actors when it comes to brands taking a pick for the right face for their brand. This clearly shows similar brand value for both categories of professionals. However, I feel that the opportunities to showcase a brand are much more when it comes to live sports; and it has only increased with the Indian Premier League becoming a perfect platform for brands across industries to launch/showcase their products.”

According to Bhardwaj, one of the other reasons for live sports being a sought after marketing opportunity, is the kind of companies spending heavy marketing bucks today. It provides brands from SportsTech, E-Commerce, EdTech, etc. to address the right TG.

Bhardwaj chose his endorsers carefully. They worked with Harsha Bhogle and Ali Fazal for their campaign where Bhogle represented the more urban cricket loving population while Fazal gave them access to the hinterland of India where their Hindi-speaking TG is.

Note to readers: Storyboard18’s new Month In Focus initiative spotlights themes and topics that are pushing marketers to reshape and rethink how brands interact with today’s customers. Our first theme is Just Sports, a special spotlight on sports marketing presented by Sports18. We bring to you stories of how marketers are harnessing the power of technology, innovation and creativity in sports to create powerful storytelling in campaigns that increase affinity and loyalty with audiences. From traditional sports platforms around cricket to emerging games and the rise of esports, we get leading voices from the marketing and sports worlds to give us sharp and fast insights into future-facing marketing practices. Also, tune in for analyses which will surface ideas and strategies that are helping brands to level up experiences and storytelling with authentic collaborations. So watch this space for Just Sports.

Is Sports pushing Bollywood out of the marketing spotlight?

It was a gloomy Tuesday morning in central London.

I was in the heart of Mayfair walking up to The London Sporting Club where I was joining two very profound sportsmen from England, who also happen to be managed by my company, and a well-known British sports journalist, for a breakfast interview.

After exchanging some pleasantries and sipping our black coffee, we got down to business. The questions came in one after the other and I seem to have hit them out of the park quite easily…..until this one.

“During my last trip to India it appeared to me that most Indians are dealing with ‘hurry sickness’. I mean they seem to be running all the time (haha!) which makes me wonder how come you guys have not produced any (Usain) Bolts and (Sir Mo) Farahs so far, 1 eh?” (mocked the journalist)

After a momentary pause, I sipped my coffee and reciprocated, “Well mate, aren’t you just happy with our globally renowned cricketers?”

A dull silence followed. I think the journalist understood I didn’t have an answer to his question so he smiled and graciously moved on. But the question was stuck in my head for a very long time.

India is the second most populous country in the world with the worst Olympic record in terms of medals per head. In 2012 we bagged six medals which was one for every 200 million people. None in track and field. In 2016 Rio we bagged two, that’s one for every 600 million. None in track and field. And in 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we bagged seven in total. One out of them was in athletics (track and field) won by Neeraj Chopra and more interestingly it was India’s first medal in athletics in 72 years. Yes, the first.

Let’s face it: India’s performance in track and field has been dismal and the picture is far more grim and grey when it comes to “running”. The question asked by the journalist to me at The London Sporting Club is a question we should be asking ourselves.

Why haven’t we produced good runners? How come Kenya produces them in hordes which is a sixth in size, and much less privileged and scientifically advanced than India? (with all due respect)

If the film Paan Singh Tomar has taught us one thing, it’s the desperate need to recognise and groom home-grown talent. I once heard a government official say it with a grin, “What is the need for producing runners when we have our cricketers who can hit fours and sixes and make others run to get back the ball?”

We suffer from what I call the ‘comfort-zone syndrome’. Cricket works, so all things sports in India become about the bat and ball.

The problem lies in our mentality.

See, the babus sitting in sporting authorities couldn’t care less, but the fact is neither do most of you reading this right now. All you want to know is the score in an ongoing cricket match, because that is where the buck stops. `

I don’t believe that our inability to produce runners is due to the lack of talent available in India. On the contrary, it is the lack of willingness and a vision to find them, train them and get them ready to become globally competitive.

When are we going to learn new names outside of PT Usha and Milkha Singh? How many more decades do we have to wait for the next Dutee Chand to come into the limelight? Why do we not have a Hima Das sprinting out from every state today? Do you know who Avinash Sable is? Of course you don’t. But FYI, he is a steeplechase runner from India who recently smashed the 30-year-old men's 5000m national record in the US.

Well, till we put a stop to considering “running” as a fitness entertainment and start seeing it as a professional sport; nothing will change.

Yes, Milind Soman may have managed to keep conversations about running alive on Page 3 but that has not helped us identify new talent to represent India. Brands like Airtel, TATA and Standard Chartered may sponsor marathons across the country but that is just one day in a year when we see hashtag (#) running trending on social media in India.

How many brands except Bournvita have invested their dollars towards creating running based ad films? How many of them have used our Indian runners as their brand endorsers? When was the last time you read an article about running or runners in India?

Unless the sports ecosystem joins hands with the media to make running popular, runners popular and give enough prominence to athletics as a career choice, we will never produce enough Olympic medal winners, definitely not in running.

Although I strongly believe we can actually produce more globally competitive runners than any country in the world - because we not only have the population to justify it but also the advanced infrastructure today to get them ready for the big races.

It’s actually not that difficult to find these talents from across the length and breadth of our country. Perhaps, all we may need to do is run a talent hunt like the Indian Idol. I am sure we will find India’s fastest runners in no time! And once we do, we must give them the highest and most sophisticated platform to be trained by the best trainers and coaches from around the world.

At the same time brands and corporations must step in with investments commitments and the media must start writing and talking more about running than they ever did before.

Now that I think about it, maybe my own company can start this hunt in India and create an exclusive IP that churns our runners every season. While we are on it, let me run out and make some quick calls to my team. But hey, whether we do it or someone else does, please lend your support to help them reach the finishing line.

Note to readers: Storyboard18’s new Month In Focus initiative spotlights themes and topics that are pushing marketers to reshape and rethink how brands interact with today’s customers. Our first theme is Just Sports, a special spotlight on sports marketing presented by Sports18. We bring to you stories of how marketers are harnessing the power of technology, innovation and creativity in sports to create powerful storytelling in campaigns that increase affinity and loyalty with audiences. From traditional sports platforms around cricket to emerging games and the rise of esports, we get leading voices from the marketing and sports worlds to give us sharp and fast insights into future-facing marketing practices. Also, tune in for analyses which will surface ideas and strategies that are helping brands to level up experiences and storytelling with authentic collaborations. So watch this space for Just Sports.

TOKYO OLYMPICS