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Monday, April 11, 2011

India Vs Sri Lanka: Dhoni stumps Bollywood stars and Sachin Tendulkar in ad space and time

MUMBAI: M S Dhoni has crafted a spectacular rise. The skipper has pipped movie stars and teammate Sachin Tendulkar with appearances in a third of the total duration of advertisements on TV in the first two weeks of the World Cup, according to a survey.

Dhoni's on-screen presence in TV commercials equalled the combined share of Bollywood stars Shahrukh Khan (13%), Kareena Kapoor (9%) and Hrithik Roshan (9%), and was six times that of teammates Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who had 5% each, according to TAM Sports' Adex survey, which measured the advertisements by volume or duration a celebrity was on screen through advertisements.
The cricketer from Ranchi, who rose through the ranks in the Indian team, had come in at the tenth spot last year with just 2.6% share in the overall ad volume, despite endorsing over 28 brands.
"Dhoni has been performing consistently over the years. It's no surprise that he topped the chart by a distance," Nandini Dias, COO of Lodestar Universal, a media buying house that has done work for Tata Docomo, Nano and Coca-Cola. The skipper also endorses more than half a dozen key brands that have been aggressively advertising during the matches, she added.
However, Tendulkar's over-18 endorsement contracts did not translate into a higher on-screen share as most of the brands, except Castrol and Luminous, did not advertise aggressively during the World Cup. His other endorsement deals are with ITC, Aviva, Canon, Reynolds and RBS, which stayed away from the event.
"We don't feel missed out by not advertising with Sachin during the World Cup as there was always a risk of India not reaching the final stages. We would rather spread our ad spend throughout the year across media channels than put most of it in a single event," Chitranjan Dar, CEO of ITC Foods said.
Among marketers, Sony's Bravia high-definition television dominated screen presence with over 23% share, followed by Pepsi with 13%. While Sony has scored big despite not being an official sponsor, Pepsi and Hero Honda have trailed even after spending hundreds of crores for the rights. Both Sony and Pepsi have Dhoni as the endorser. Airtel and Hero Honda share the third spot with 9% each.
However, experts feel there is a downside to Dhoni's big screen presence. "While Dhoni is still the most bankable celebrity for advertisers, an overdose could confuse audience about the brand he is endorsing, defeating the advertiser's aim of breaking the clutter," Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands, said. Desai, however, points out that a bigger risk lurks in the form of India losing the finals, as people have a tendency to associate match losers with the brand they endorse.
Media experts say Dhoni's popularity could continue into the forthcoming IPL season. "Dhoni will still be the most sought after celebrity even in IPL, but the only question is will he be used just as a wallpaper, or will there be an effective and smart communication strategy of the brand he will endorse?" R Gowthaman, leader, Mindshare-South Asia, India's largest media buying agency, said.

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