Sportspersons have become brands in their own right: Ajay Gupte

The e4m & GroupM Lets Play-Sports marketing summit witnessed an insightful discussion on ‘Athletes Wishlist for Corporate India’. Chaired by KC Vijaya Kumar, Sports Editor - The Hindu, the others on the panel were Ajay Gupte, CEO, Wavemaker, South Asia, former world championship medallist Anju Bobby George and former Olympic Bronze medallist Vijender Singh. They touched upon multiple topics revolving about the role of corporates in supporting sports athletes. They also discussed in-depth about how corporates today play a key role in developing the sports ecosystem in India.

Describing how sports has evolved in India, Anju recounted the struggles for athletes earlier and said, “We cannot imagine and compare our days with the current generation. I have struggled a lot and there was no one except my family as a support system. But after winning the medal I got a lot of opportunities. But now younger generations are getting lot of support from the federations, government and corporates. They just need to focus on performance and perform well at international sporting events.”

Talking on the same lines, Vijender described his journey as a professional boxer, “It is true that it was only after winning the medal that I received a great response. A lot of brands now associate with boxing. Now being a professional boxer, it is easier to talk with brands directly and negotiate with them in terms of endorsement.”

Ajay Gupte, CEO, Wavemaker, while responding to KC Vijaya Kumar’s question on whether brands endorse sportspersons basis their victories, said, “Investment or spends by brands are made on the basis to achieve certain objectives. Typically brands look at sports athletes in perspective to break the clutter. By using a sportsperson, the brand stands out and gets noticed in the midst of other commercials.”

He further said, “The other reason is that the brand tries to associate values that it has with the sports person. It is a beautiful mix that the brand can achieve though such associations. The brand always looks for sportsmen who can add value to the communication that the brand wants to bring out and enhance it. Sportspersons are always admired and are valued in the society.  An important aspect is that today sportspersons have evolved in India and they have become brands in their own right.”

IPL has become a major IP for advertisers to invest in cricketing events, including the upcoming women’s IPL. Asked if it is a challenge that a sizeable chunk of advertising money is spent on cricket rather than on other sports in India, Anju said, “From my point of view, everybody in India is watching cricket and for athletes like us we are struggling to collect funds for training and running an academy. My initial struggle was to collect funds for infrastructure. Most of the CSR funds are dedicated to athletes and for running gears, but without infrastructure we cannot run an academy.”

She further said, “Cricket gets the majority of funds while we are receiving less funds. But after Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic medal victory lot of people have started watching and following athletics. People have started watching and enjoying other sporting games now.”

Vijender Singh affirmed that cricket gets the majority of sporting funds. “Cricket is not a sport it is a business. They have built a brand, if one sees a newspaper there are a majority of reports on cricket. While we do not receive much news coverage. Media gives cricketers a lot of priority and do not provide us much exposure in terms of media coverage,” he pointed out.