Virat Kohli, the captain of Indian cricket team, is a very big brand in terms of marketing value and the deal that he has signed with Puma, the sports apparel brand, says a lot about his high value.
Yes, that’s right! The Indian skipper has signed a deal with Puma earlier this year for USD 110 million after which he has become the first Indian sportsperson to sign a deal which is over Rs. 100 crore with one brand.
Here’s what Virat Kohli has to say in this connection,
“Well the Puma deal happened alongside MRF deal and my brand value should be somewhere in the region of USD 120 million. But these are just numbers for me and this is something that my management informs me about. It is not something that I strive for. It is just a by-product of something that I do in my professional career and the focus always remains that. But yes, these things are an important facet of your life as well and I have a strong management team who are doing a good job.”
As per the Indian skipper, he signs a deal only when a brand or a product appeals to him. In his words,
“I am part of every deal and no deal is blindly signed. And my management also doesn’t bring anything to the table that doesn’t connect to me. But still, it is subject to something that I like or not. A brand may be very big but the campaign that they are willing to do or the creative freedom might not be there.”
Kohli implies that he won’t be promoting anything that is not good for fitness. At the same time, he also accepted that he earlier endorsed some brands which he didn’t feel connected to; however, it seems that he is determined not to repeat those mistakes again. In fact, he goes on to say that from now on, he will promote only those products which will be used by him. Here’s what he said,
“When I started my fitness turnaround it was more of a lifestyle thing initially but now I think that it has become so important to the sport and everybody is taking up it in such a big way that it has become a part of my thinking pattern. So if something goes away from that, I would not want to be part of that. Few brands that I have endorsed in the past, now I feel that I don’t connect well with them anymore. If I don’t consume those things then I won’t want to promote it for others to consume just because I am getting money out of it. If I am endorsing a brand I would want to do it in the right way.”
Very well said Virat Kohli! It shows that he is getting aware of his social responsibilities too as so many youngsters follow him and his actions.
