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SPORTS MANAGEMENT Is He India's Most Valuable Brand? The world's best batsman is no longer a celebrity endorser, claims his agent.He is now a mega brand in his own right. By Brian Carvalho
July 1995: Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri calls on Mark V. Mascarenhas, President of the Westport, Connecticut-based WorldTel Inc., who's bagged the television rights for the 1996 World Cup, and who's now in Bangalore. Amongst other things, Shastri asks Mascarenhas if he would be interested in representing Sachin Tendulkar's ''commercial interests.'' The WorldTel chief, an all-out Sachin fan, is interested. October 1995: Mascarenhas is back in Bangalore, giving the final touches to the World Cup telecast. He also has Sachin on his mind. Shastri is in the city, commentating on the first Test match between India and New Zealand. Mascarenhas requests a meeting. Shastri meets up with him at the Taj Residency's Jockey Bar, Mascarenhas throws up a figure. ''I told Ravi that I promise to guarantee Sachin so much, is it enough?'' he recalls. Ravi jumps at the deal. The ''so much'' in question? $2.5 million, or Rs 7.5 crore at that time, for five years. The next day, Shastri arranges for Sachin, his brother Ajit, and their financial advisor to come to Bangalore. By dusk the deal is signed. ''I did tell Sachin then that he was worth a lot more,'' grins Mascarenhas. Five years later, the WorldTel president is out to prove that Sachin is indeed worth a lot more-almost seven times what he was in 1995. By renewing the contract of the world's best batsman for another five years, for $17.5 million (not quite the Rs 100 crore reported, but Mascarenhas says that ''we will easily get there''), Mascarenhas has raised the stakes. The $2.5 million deal of 1995 may appear paltry in today's context, but looked pretty obscene five years ago, when Sachin was doing endorsements for Rs 1 and Rs 2 lakh (remember the one for Action shoes?). To be sure, Mascarenhas has done well for Sachin (and, in the process, for himself too). Over the past five years, say industry sources, Sachin would have notched up close to Rs 30 crore via the seven endorsement contracts he has signed-MRF, Adidas, Boost, Britannia, Visa, Pepsi, and Home Trade. ''Mark and I have a great relationship. He understands my needs,'' says the batting maestro. ''Sachin Tendulkar is a phenomenon in India,'' points out Tarun Kunzru, Managing Director, Adidas India Trading. ''One has to give credit to Mascarenhas for having recognised this potential and given a comfortable commercial cushion to Sachin so that he can pursue what he is best at-playing cricket.'' Sachin's sponsors clearly see it as money well spent. Kunzru points out that Adidas has grown by over 200 per cent (albeit on a small base) after signing on Sachin in 1998. ''Growth has been significant, and one reason could be the association between Adidas and Sachin.'' So what does a champion who, as Kunzru puts it, cuts across socio-economic barriers, and single-handedly carries the expectations of an entire nation, do now? Well, to borrow from one of his commercials, he asks for ''more''. If Mascarenhas was to cling on to Sachin for five more years, he had to offer him a sweet deal. Mark McCormack's IMG too was in the race for the little master, but its bid was nowhere near that of WorldTel.
But you have to wonder: has Mascarenhas stretched himself too much? His competitors in the business sure feel so. ''WorldTel has put up a huge figure. It's now going to be a huge challenge to meet it. Already Sachin's doing six brand endorsements. He only has so much time. They have to think of other revenue streams,'' explains Ravi Krishnan, Joint Managing Director, IMG/TWI South Asia. Adds Sanjay Lal, CEO of celebrity marketer Percept D'Mark: ''Rs 100 crore is a lot of money. It's not going to be easy to achieve that target only via endorsements.'' Mascarenhas points out that new sponsors are on the anvil, as are renewals from the existing lot. ''It is possible that WorldTel may ask for more,'' says Adidas' Kunzru, although he isn't thinking about it right now as Sachin's contract comes up for renewal only in 2004. Says Hiren Gada, Senior Vice-President of finance portal Home Trade: ''Nothing connects with the Indian masses better than films and cricket...Home Trade has received a positive response to its advertising and has established high levels of brand awareness.'' But industry analysts question Mascarenhas' quest for more endorsements. Not only will Tendulkar have to find the time (already he's playing 121 days a year, and travelling for another 30), he will also run the risk of overexposure. And, lest we forget, he also has to keep performing, something his fans (and perhaps some sponsors) tend to take for granted. Sachin could well take a leaf out of Tiger Woods' book. Rather than go overboard with endorsement contracts, Tiger has consciously followed the ''less is more'' dictum: he's focused on just a few plum contracts-like Nike, American Express, gm's Buick, Rolex watches, Titleist golf clubs, and Asahi Breweries' iced coffee. The strategy is simple: tie up with a few companies, and command a premium for the association, rather than spreading oneself too thin, thereby running the risks of fan-fatigue and diluting the value of endorsement. If Mascarenhas has to follow this strategy, he'd better have some good reasons for demanding a premium from the current bunch of endorsers once the contracts come up for renewal. And Sachin, for his part, has to continue blasting the ball to all corners of the park. Lal feels that Sachin can't rely too much on contract renewals. ''After all, by how much can they escalate? Surely not by 100 per cent, which is what they will need to do if they have to recover the Rs 100 crore-odd.'' What's more, he points out that most of the sponsorships come up for renewal in 2003, which means that for the first two years of the new five-year contract, Sachin will have to be content with the old terms. That means that he will continue to earn at the same rate as before during that period-not exactly the best way to go about the Rs 100 crore target. A New Gameplan But Mascarenhas has another ace up his sleeve-he's now shifting Sachin into higher gear. ''Sachin's value today isn't any more in enhancing brands like Pepsi and Britannia. Today he's become a brand himself, and that's what we now plan to capitalise on,'' explains Mascarenhas. That's how Project Tendulkar-a foray into the fast-food business, which WorldTel has been plotting since 1998-was conceived. It's still very much at the drawing board stage, and Mascarenhas lets on that the plan is to start a chain of eateries, not just in India, but in other cricket-playing countries, either via the franchise route or the owned route, and by investing all of Rs 100 crore. ''The market for fast food is growing at over 100 per cent in India. We want to start these outlets where one can relax, be entertained, and of course eat. After all, Sachin is a great connoisseur of food-be it Konkani, Thai or Chinese,'' winks Mascarenhas. So would you eat at Tendulkar's (that's the proposed name for the joint)? ''Sachin is a cricketer, not a chef or a huge name in the F&B business,'' says Percept's Lal. Not just that, he adds, it's not good enough for Sachin to tag his name along with the business. ''He has to be there.'' Mascarenhas' plan is clearly to go the way of the West, where Michael Jordan, and a motley bunch of Hollywood heroes and models have invested in theme cafés. But at many of these outlets, the cash registers aren't exactly ringing. Despite such names as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone sponsoring Planet Hollywood-which even went public five years ago-the 80 restaurant chain decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999. Fashion Café, launched by super-models Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle Macpherson too was hit by financial strife. According to analysts, the promoters forgot people come to restaurants to eat. Having star merchandise all over the place is fine, but if the food is bad, customers won't come back. Sachin says he understands the risks involved in lending his name. And industry analysts say they won't be surprised if the restaurant venture is shelved. What makes more sense is lending Sachin's name to merchandise his fans can relate to-sneakers, leisure-and sports-wear. Mascarenhas has that in mind, too. Clearly, Mascarenhas' game plan of focusing on Brand Sachin makes immense sense (although he would do well to go slow on the endorsements). The danger, though, lies in being lured by wide-eyed marketers keen to have the master's name on their products, relevance be damned. But Mascarenhas could find the temptation tough to resist: after all, he does have to rustle up Rs 100 crore over the next five years. 1 2 |
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