Why even former superstars hold on to their brand value in world of sport

Tendulkar endorses Apollo Tyres, Gillette, Livpure and Rario while Dhoni appears for SBI, Mastercard, Indigo Paints and Homelane, among others

As anyone who watched the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the ongoing T20 World Cup can confirm, it is almost as if Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are still playing. Their latest ad campaign for the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI), which also features Rohit Sharma, is a hit among viewers with content creators sharing clips of the ad film on their social media handles.

MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar are still prized by brands and often find more takers than the current crop of stars. (Getty Images)

Sameet Ali Soni, executive creative director at VML, the agency behind the ad, said they have been using Dhoni and Tendulkar in AMFI ads, but it’s the first time that the three cricketers have come together for a campaign. “It is a slice-of-life film that doesn’t look like an ad. It is a light-hearted take on a serious subject like retirement planning. Tendulkar is already retired and Dhoni is on the threshold of retirement,” Soni said.

To be sure, AMFI isn’t the only campaign featuring either Tendulkar or Dhoni, the former captain of the Indian cricket team captain as well as the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.

The two batters are still prized by brands, with Sachin Tendulkar endorsing Apollo Tyres, Gillette, Livpure and Rario while Dhoni appears for State Bank of India, Mastercard, Indigo Paints and Homelane, among others.

There are other retired cricketers who do appear in ads, of course, but Tendulkar and Dhoni are different, jostling with (and often ahead of) today’s stars.

Their rankings in the latest edition (for 2023) of Kroll’s annual list of most valuable celebrity brands released last week proves their enduring appeal. Among the top 25 film and sports celebrities by brand value, in 2023 Sachin Tendulkar held on to his number 8 position of 2022 though Dhoni dropped a notch from number 6 in 2022 to 7 in 2023. However, between 2022 and 2023, Tendulkar’s brand value rose from $73.6 million to $91.3 million and from $ 80.3 million to $ 95.8 million for Dhoni. This means they have added new brands to their portfolio and have seen an increase in their endorsement fee.

“For 2023, we noticed an at least 6-7% jump in the endorsement fee of the top 10 celebrity brand ambassadors over 2022. This was flat in 2022 over the previous year,” said Aviral Jain, managing director, valuation advisory services at Kroll. Celebrity brand value is based on the earnings from their endorsement portfolios. For filmstars, it also takes into account their box office earnings and for sports celebrities, their on-field performance.

In Kroll’s 2023 report, Virat Kohli has returned to number one position after being displaced by actor Ranveer Singh in 2022. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are the only other cricketers in the top 25 – at 18 and 19 respectively.

Jain said Tendulkar endorses fewer brands but that his endorsement fee is high. He is choosy, works closely with brands and prefers longer term deals, he added. Lloyd Mathias, angel investor, business strategist and former marketer at PepsiCo, said Sachin Tendulkar’s association with Pepsi lasted more than 15 years.

Tendulkar has 15 full-fledged brand endorsements in his portfolio and another 2-3 social media promotions totalling about 18 brand deals, Kroll’s Jain said. “However, his fee is just a tad lower than that of Virat Kohli at ₹10-11 crore per brand, given his position in the market,” said Jain. In recent years, Tendulkar has added JioCinema, Savlon and Tanishq to his brand portfolio.

Dhoni endorses 35 brands and including the digital deals, the total number would be 45, Jain said. But his fee is lower than Sachin’s at ₹5.5-6 crore per brand. Currently, these cricketers are seen in ads for categories such as food and beverages, personal care products, banking and financial services and consumer durables.

But what makes MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar tick among brand owners?

“In terms of longevity and relevance, what works for them is their superstardom,” said Lloyd Mathias. “Pepsi was the first mega brand to sign up a very young Sachin even before Mark Mascarenhas’ WorldTel started representing him,” he said.

Tendulkar – who broke many records – became a global superstar and Dhoni towered above others when he won the ICC World Cup for India in 2011.

What endears them to brands is the fact that both have been relatively neutral and controversy free, Mathias said. “Despite their huge popularity, they haven’t got into any kind of scandals. Though Sachin was a Rajya Sabha MP for six years, Dhoni has remained free from politics and created a youth brand franchise with his association with CSK,” Mathias said.

Tendulkar has kept himself relevant through his involvement with the cricket administration and being a mentor to IPL team Mumbai Indians. “His accomplishments are such that clients gravitate towards him,” said VML’s Soni.

Not just that, he is affable on social media putting out interesting content that GenZ can relate to, Soni said, adding that young people are familiar with him since his cricket records are a point of discussion during matches. Kroll’s Jain said cricketers like Dhoni and Tendulkar have been increasing their social media followers by 5-10% every year.

Rajdeepak Das, chief creative officer, Publicis Groupe South Asia and chairman, Leo Burnett India, believes that their agency has done some of the best work with M S Dhoni for Mondelez brand Oreo and for Frito Lay’s. The agency got Dhoni to re-launch Oreo in 2022 to coincide with the World Cup. “What we implied was that Oreo was launched in 2011 when India won the World Cup under Dhoni’s captaincy. So, we launch Oreo again and bring the World Cup back in 2022,” Das said.

The ad was an important milestone for Oreo as the brand moved from being one for households with children to all cricket households. “It was a big shift,” Das said, adding that the agency had earlier created Oreo ad films with brand ambassador Dhoni and his daughter Ziva.

Das’ agency has worked with Tendulkar for DBS Bank. He said both cricketers are fit and still in demand.

But do any of the younger cricketers enjoy similar brand equity? IPL has democratised cricket and players like Surya Kumar Yadav and Shubhman Gill are household names today, said Das. Brands talking to GenZ will be interested in the younger cricketers, “but legends are not created overnight,” he said.

The younger crop of cricketers is yet to prove itself, agreed Mathias. None has achieved significant success just yet, he added.

Kroll’s Aviral Jain said Shubhman Gill is knocking on the door to get into the top 25 list of most valued celebs. With 17-18 brands under his belt, his endorsement portfolio has become meaty even though his performance has been a bit erratic, he said.

Rishabh Pant, too, is back with a bang, after his accident. But brands may wait to see if he can perform without injury for the next one or two years, said Jain.

The current Kroll list has Virat Kohli on top as the most valued celebrity. Mathias said Kohli has metamorphosed from a brash young cricketer to a mature one. “He is politically correct, doesn’t endorse colas anymore and is a health icon. There is a good chance that his popularity could extend beyond his cricketing years. It will be interesting to see him 5-10 years from now.”

Thanks to Dhoni and Tendulkar, he has a ready template to follow.