Cornerstone to represent Umesh Yadav

The agency will be working on Yadav's image projection and will look for suitable brand endorsement deals and partnerships

Going off the beaten track, Bunty Sajdeh-led Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment, a sports and celebrity management company, has signed up right arm fast bowler Umesh Yadav. The agency, which also handles Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, will be working on Yadav's image projection and will look for suitable brand endorsement deals and partnerships.

Sajdeh, founder and CEO of Cornerstone, concedes that this is something new that the agency is trying since bowlers are rarely picked up as brand endorsers.

"It's definitely unchartered territory for us. I will be honest about that. But then, someone has to make a start. So far, we have not explored this aspect of brand endorsement. Being a batting obsessed country, it always tough to build big brands out of bowlers. Like I said, someone had to make a start at tackling the challenge, and here we are," he explains.

Sajdeh reveals that while Yadav currently does not have any individual endorsement deals (neither do any of the other leading bowlers). The problem, he and other sports managers feel, is that nobody has looked seriously at this category of player until now. The first step will thus be to familiarise brands with the players and get their image projected in the public psyche. Only then, will brand see the potential they hold and the options they open up.

Traditionally, India has seen a handful of bowlers who have emerged as potential brand forces, but none has made it to the level that their contemporaries to the batting end have. Part of the reason, feel experts, is the country's obsession with batsmen, and part of it has been lack of consistency on the part of selectors and bowlers themselves.

As Tuhin Mishra, MD and co-founder of Baseline, another sports management company, puts it: "Legendary Kapil Dev had once said bastmen in India are (considered) officer class, while bowlers are worker class. In the last three years, India has tried close to 15-17 fast/medium pace bowlers alone. Except Ashwin, even among the spinners there is no consistency of them featuring on a regular basis. So, for sponsors the most important aspect will always be whether their brand ambassador will feature regularly in the Indian team."

Currently, the brand endorsement pack is led by Team India one-day international captain MS Dhoni with close to 20 brand endorsements at Rs 10 ro 12 crore a year. Following him is his on-field deputy Virat Kohli (who has also captained the test matches since Dhoni announced retirement from the format) with around 10 endorsement at Rs nine to 10 crore a year per brand. The rates then take a steep dip with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma bringing up the number three and four at around Rs 1 to 1.5 crore a year. This is why both Sharma and Sajdeh feel that it's high time the eco-system explores bowlers as brand endorsers.

"There are close to 60-70 brands that can or want to use cricketers. However, not all of them can afford a Dhoni or Virat and in fact, some of them don't necessarily need to use them or spend so much money. For them, creating a campaign around a Yadav or Ashwin or Shami is a good idea. The cost is brought down significantly, and the appeal of cricket is still there," says Sajdeh.

Mishra adds: "Taking a popular batsman doesn't ensure ROIs (return on investments) for the brand. Brands have to look beyond just having a face for their brand, if they are looking at ROIs. One can easily get three-four bowlers for less than half the price that is being paid to any popular batsman. It all depends on how well the bowlers are utilised in the marketing mix by any potential sponsor."

Analysts agree that the change will not happen overnight and it is still a while before bowlers will be seen shouldering individual endorsements. The ideal way ahead would be to first build an image and presence in the public eye. This can be done through social media say experts and through participation and appearance in BTL (below-the-line) activities. The next step could be regional brands and finally the bigger national brands. All in all, it will be a matter of slow and steady wins the race concludes Sajdeh.