John Abraham signs Rs 100-cr deal with Madison’s MATES

MATES, Madison World’s entertainment unit, has signed a Rs 100 crore deal with actor John Abraham for exclusive management of his endorsements, appearances, events, licensing, television tie-ups and marketing representation for three years, making it the highest value deal any Bollywood celebrity has entered into with an agency for his/ her representation.

Commenting on the development, Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, said, “I am a great believer in exploiting the power of Bollywood in building brands. Given the buoyant economy and John’s brand image and personality, many brands can benefit from an association with him. John is uniquely placed in the film world and has done a good job of shaping his career until now. He has come a long way from the time when he was a media planner! am sure MATES will be able to take him to the next level.”

Before his tie-up with MATES, Abraham has not had any company represent him for a long time and was handling his work himself. He said, “I have great regard for Madison as a group and how it has consolidated its position slowly and steadily to become a dominant player, which matches with my mindset. Also, I was looking for a representation which had the potential to think long term, rather than just brokering a few deals for me. I always wanted my work to be handled by a company which represents me in the true sense, that is, with complete clarity and transparency, along with a vision.”

MATES, in addition to operating in the field of in film advertising and co-promotions, has been operating in the celebrity and talent management business for the last four years, and during this period has successfully handled more than 50 brand assignments in the Bollywood and celebrity space.

According to Darshana Bhalla, CEO, MATES, “Talent management and brand associations is a huge field and a lot remains to be achieved. We in India have not touched the tip of the iceberg as compared to Hollywood. We need to go beyond mere endorsements to handling and steering their entire careers. With John, we are hoping to achieve this. John not only is a wonderful person to work with, but also shares the same sense of vision that we do when it comes to talent management and we are extremely happy to have him on board.”

MATES is part of Madison World, a diversified communication group, which also has specialist units in Advertising, Media, Out-of-Home, PR, Mobile, Rural, Retail, Sports and Entertainment; employing over 800 communication professionals across India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.