Brands and Celebrities
Well, we all have seen this many times in the past that brands chase the rising stars like anything. Every time a new celebrity face shines on and does something grand, we see a gamut of brands wanting to sign the person. And two kinds of celebrities, film stars, and cricket players have a special connect both with the brands and the audience because of the film and cricket popularity in our country.
From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahindra Singh Dhoni to the current heartthrob Virat Kohli, cricketers have ruled the advertising scene like anything. And this seems no different for Prithvi Shaw, he is the man of the moment.
The Drooling Brands
With his superlative performance against West Indies in Rajkot, with a century in his maiden match, he has taken the world by storm. Twitter was flooded with congratulatory posts for the man and 2 of those messages got brands in legal trouble too. Swiggy and FreeCharge were sent legal notices by Baseline Ventures, the marketing firm that handles Prithvi Shaw, for using his name without authorizations. While these brands are sorting their issues the legal way, two other brands were very quick to sign on Prithvi for their advertising campaigns. Protinex, from the house of Danone India and MRF Tyres. While Danone has signed in Prithvi for 5 years, MRF tyres have seen a similar history with Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, and Steve Waugh too.
So is Prithvi all set to become the next Virat Kohli
Expert Speaks
Ramakrishnan R, Founder, Baseline Ventures says “Prithvi has always been a hope and promise ever since he was 14. When we work with brands to sign athletes, we always tell them to be a part of his or her growth story. This establishes an emotional connection and is more long-term with him being more loyal to them. The same was with Sindhu when we signed her back in 2013. Shaw had two brands backing him even before his recent stint, which speaks for itself. If he performs consistently, brands will bet on him.”
Indranil Das Blah, Founding Partner and Co-CEO Kwan Entertainment, is of an opinion that Shaw’s brand value will take time to increase. “He will need to be consistent and regularly perform on the international level. It is when he does well in tough conditions like our next series in Australia, that his brand can truly evolve. He’s likable and relatable, and brands should use those attributes when signing him on,” he says. Blah shares that mass brands which use cricket as a medium to reach out to smaller towns and cities will be the brands which might rope him in.
Brand expert Gaurav Gulati is optimistic that the sports star’s brand value is definitely going to shoot up. “Prithvi Shaw is the most trending personal brand at the moment. Brands have always experienced it; an athlete’s image creates a great connection between a brand and consumer and this why contemporary brands consider this key to success. For marketers, digital trending and buzz have a financial value, and it becomes more precious when it happens organically. Keeping this in mind, undoubtedly Shaw’s brand value is going to shoot up,” asserts Gulati.
Prithvi Shaw was also one of the big earners of the IPL auction. He was signed at a whopping Rs 1.2 crores, 6 times of his base price of Rs 20 Lakh, by Delhi. This shows that brands have always believed in his potential. Now if he remains consistent with his performance, he will surely have a plethora of brands wanting to sign him. We wish Prithvi all the best.
