MUMBAI: This week, Kidambi Srikanth, newly anointed number two in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, is likely to be unveiled as brand ambassador of a multinational company.
Baseline Ventures, the company that has been managing India’s ace male shuttler since 2015, is in a sweet spot currently. 24-year-old Srikanth has become the only Indian, and the fourth player ever, to win four Super Series titles in a calendar year and there has been an understandable surge in brands vying for his attention.
Brand Srikanth, riding on the success of his successive wins and apparently unbeatable streak, could well command a price at least 50 per cent higher than just a year ago. But Baseline’s cofounder and managing director Tuhin Mishra insists the agency is being prudent in the kind of brands the self-effacing shuttler should endorse or be seen with.
“Within a couple of months, he could have three more brands to his credit, but we are not selling basis his current win. We don’t want to get into the numbers game, as the rankings keep on changing. Considering his busy schedule, we would rather have good brands on board, where he has to dedicate fewer number of days,” says Mishra.
Baseline knows it has another winner on its hands, after P V Sindhu, who has broken the glass ceiling in terms of the fees a female player can command in India, ranked as she is second only to Virat Kohli in terms of brand value. But Srikanth is a completely different mix altogether.
Sports industry analysts point out that the Guntur boy is perceived as a quiet athlete, hardworking but hardly flamboyant. He has shown single minded focus on his game and improving himself, but his offline presence has not been noteworthy till recently. While a Sindhu has over 1.34 million followers on Twitter and almost as many on Facebook, Srikanth’s Twitter following has surged only in the last couple of months – from 86000 in June to 243k in November. His official Facebook page too has seen a spike from 70000 followers in June to over 81000 in November. Sindhu now reportedly commands Rs 10 – 12.5 million a day in endorsements compared to Kohli’s Rs 20 million a day. Before her silver medal-winning exploits, Sindhu was reportedly making Rs 1.5 – 2 million a day.
Srikanth’s brand value numbers are nowhere close yet. But his numbers on the field speak for themselves.
Baseline is likely to work on these very strengths in the coming days. “His cool, calm demeanour and controlled aggression are what sets him apart. He is one of the most aggressive players on the court and yet very composed and grounded. Nor does he get flustered by defeats,” points out Mishra.
Traits that Bank of Baroda obviously spotted even before Srikanth left for the Rio Olympics last year. The Indian banking major had come on board before Srikanth and Sindhu left for the Olympics, but the deals had not been formalised. Sindhu went on to get a silver at the Olympics but Srikanth lost in the quarters. But the brand kept the faith in him and the signings happened after they returned. “Even after that, he was out of competition for six months due to an injury. Obviously, Bank of Baroda is reaping the rewards now with the branding and exposure now that is huge,” smiles Mishra.
Srikanth has been collecting laurels for the last couple of years but has not gained significantly mileage out of brand endorsements yet. He was the first Indian male player to win a Gold medal at the Swiss Open Grand Prix in 2015, but his past successes did not trigger as much of an interest among advertisers. His wins since June have generated significant interest among brands.
There have been talks of a major FMCG company, a tyre major and a digital giant all wanting Srikanth on board, but the deals that were estimated at a total of Rs 5 crore, have not fructified yet. Now may be the time for the young shuttler to strike gold.
But as industry analysts point out, he may need to work on his off screen persona, just as he has polished his court presence in the last year. As Melroy D’Souza, chief operating officer at PMG, remarks, “Srikanth plays very attacking badminton and has a strong youth connect. Indians are now looking at heroes beyond cricket. So there is a lot of opportunity where he can fill the vacuum.”
D’Souza concurs that there could definitely be a surge in Srikanth’s brand value now, but says that the player will have to focus on creating a profile for himself that goes beyond just being the best badminton player of the country. “There are multiple factors that affect the brand value of a sportsperson, and the top endorsers are not necessarily the best sports people,” he points out.
Observers say Srikanth could well command fees of up to Rs 10 million a year for an endorsement deal now.
But for the brands to reap their returns on investment, Srikanth needs to be more socially active, and invest in a better offline presence by marking attendance at more launches and appearing on magazine covers. As Mishra too points out, “With a Virat, you don’t need a sales team. It’s just a matter of negotiations.”
But Mishra feels it is Srikanth’s unique personality traits and the qualities he stands for that the agency will bank on while driving deals. He quotes Rahul Dravid’s recent statement that matches can be won even by players who don’t sport tattoos on their sleeves, an obvious reference to flamboyant cricketers.
Srikanth also has a good shot at attracting brands that may have hitherto turned to cricket or male-dominated sports for lack of an appropriate endorser. Being the only male star in the non cricketing space at present may also add to his appeal.
While industry observers say that inherent qualities do matter, brands nowadays are extremely sharp and always looking for the next big thing. Needless to say, flamboyance, aggression, presentation skills, physical appeal, interactions with fans, all come into play when a brand looks for the right sports marketing partnership. “What he has going for him is that badminton today has taken a huge surge in the country, Saina and Sindhu have already set the tone,” says D’Souza.
“He is an emerging star, but a badminton players’s lifespan on an average is very limited. It’s also a very competitive sport, and not a very visible one in India yet,” he adds.
Ultimately then, it could well be coach P Gopichand’s words of advice for his court performance that could hold true for Srikanth’s brand journey too. “He needs to develop more patience… Hanging in there during sticky situations — that’s going to be a real test of his fitness and maturity,” he told a publication recently.
It will be interesting to see how Srikanth uses his persona to build his brand image in the coming days.
