Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Star player Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to shine in the advertising world. Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Star player Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have retired from international cricket, but his shine remains intact in the advertising world. According to the data released by TAM Sports, a division of TAM India Research, Dhoni is currently associated with 16 brands. The industry estimates that Dhoni can earn between Rs 120 to 150 crores through advertisements in IPL alone. Mahendra Singh Dhoni currently has advertisements for many well-known companies including Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI), Khatabook, Dream11 and Pokerstars.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in August this year. Although he is still associated with IPL and is the captain of one of the most popular team Chennai Super Kings. BrandBuilding.com founder Ambi Parameswaram says Dhoni has the potential to show himself as an actor. He has a different personality to be seen in every advertisement. This is an inspiring thing for advertising companies.
more time for advertising
Experts agree that there are many reasons behind Dhoni choosing multiple brands. Usually what an advertiser sees before advertising to a popular person. He looks at athlete/actor availability, reluctance to endorse certain product categories, cost and brand activation window. Before the outbreak of the corona virus epidemic, Dhoni was not playing for India. So he got more time to shoot ad films.
Dhoni is a big brand
Ajit Ravindran, co-founder and MD of Meraki Sport and Entertainment, says that his popularity among cricket fans should add up. If we look at IPL specifically, Dhoni has always been the biggest brand as compared to Virat and this is the reason most of his advertisements are active during IPL.
Charges less than Virat Kohli
According to Bhairav Shanth, co-founder and MD, ITW Consulting Pvt Ltd, one of the reasons is that he charges 25-30 per cent less advertising fees than his colleague Virat Kohli. Dhoni charges between Rs 4-6 crore for the brand per day, depending on the advertisers. Interestingly, Dhoni has maintained these rates in this IPL despite announcing his retirement. This year it is estimated that Dhoni can earn Rs 250 crore from long term endorsement contracts.
Top of Season Brand Ambassador
According to Bhairav Shanth, many believe that the brand Dhoni will continue to be popular among the advertisers. Brands naturally want to bet on someone as long as it is relevant and discussed. But in Dhoni’s case, some deals last for more than a season. They have always been a top brand in the minds of cricket lovers. There may be some impact due to retirement but it seems that most of the brands have signed Dhoni because he is the perfect off-season brand ambassador.
(Story: Vainavi Mahendra)