The invisible endorser: Why brands have steered clear of Rohit Sharma

Sharma has only 5-6 active endorsement deals-Adidas, Hublot, CEAT, among the major brands. In contrast, Captain Virat Kohli has 24

Even if one cuts out the noise about disagreements between the captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, and his deputy Rohit Sharma, it is impossible to ignore that sharp lines that divide the two off the field. Kohli endorses around 25 brands, Sharma, on the other hand has just 5-6 active endorsement deals. Kohli is second on the Forbes Top 100 Indian Celebrity list for 2018, Sharma is at 23. Kohli is valued at Rs 228.09 crore on the list while Sharma gets Rs 31.49 crore. 

It is not just Kohli, but Sharma lags almost every other sports endorser in the market today. He is outranked by M S Dhoni, at Rank 5 on the Forbes list, Sachin Tendulkar (Rank 9), and shuttler P V Sindhu (Rank 20). So much so that Hardik Pandya, a fairly new face with far fewer years at the crease than Sharma, is close on his heels. Ranked 27, he is valued at Rs 28.46 crore. So what gives?

The answer say experts, lies not with the bat that Sharma wields quite skilfully, but with the face he presents to the world outside. He is also seen as someone cursed with being the right man at the wrong time—in an age where swashbuckling heroes bag the brands, Sharma is an awkward fit.

“There are two things mainly—he is picky about what he endorses and has a mellow personality,” says Indranil das Blah, co-CEO and partner at KWAN. By mellow das Blah implies that Sharma lacks aggression, “what you would call spunk” he adds. While this restricts Sharma’s choice of brands, he pares the list down even further by setting down a stringent set of requirements, Blah believes.

Ideally Sharma should have been the model for young or youthful brands that look to craft their narrative around an inspirational success story. But Harish Bijoor, founder of Bijoor Consults, says, “Ironically, most brands are looking at ‘aggression’ as a trait to relate to the youth, and Sharma’s temperament does not fit that mould. Even brands like health drinks, pretty counter-intuitively, go for a more aggressive tone in their communication, when you would expect them to go for a more mature and wholesome endorser.” 

It is not that Sharma has not endorsed brands in the past. He is in fact associated with some well-known labels, including tyre brand CEAT (a regular on the cricket endorsements circuit) and sports apparel and footwear brand Adidas. Other brands endorsed by him include Hublot (international watches), Sharp Television, Conekt Gadgets, and Relispray. In the past, he has also been associated with Maggi, Aristocrat Bags, and Restless (bottled energy drink).

However, in the manic rush for cricketing icons, from Chinese handset companies to white goods makers and e-commerce companies, Sharma has missed the bus. Some see this as a failing, as an inability to make the most of his crackling form on the field, something that his peers excel at. This could be, they say preferring to stay anonymous, because of his temperament. Sharma is similar to Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman, who like him never managed to translate the gains on the field into juicy endorsement deals. That may be unfair said das Blah. Sharma is an exciting player, and plays all formats of the game as as opposed to the two veterans.

What makes Sharma invisible to the brands then? Bijoor says, “He is caught between the layers of unfairness that come with cricketer endorsements.” Bijoor believes that Sharma has been getting the wrong end of stick because brands that turn to cricket to garner mass appeal follow the herd. As a result, the captain takes it all and the rest make do with leftovers. “Add to this the fact that brands who can’t get the captain, they want someone newer and cheaper. So there’s this small selection of brands that would play in the middle—wanting an experienced player and ready to shell out a somewhat substantial amount of money,” Bijoor explains.

All is not lost yet though, if Sharma the cricketer does want to swing the game around, said many who have watched his career closely. His discretion when it comes signing endorsement deals and doggedness on the field could turn out to be advantageous. As long as Sharma keeps up with the bat and stays non-controversial, das Blah says brands that want to pitch their stories around performance and stamina will gravitate towards him.