Brand ambassadors are an important piece in the marketing puzzle. All over the world, companies shell out a good amount of money to benefit from the popularity of celebrities. Before the advent of the internet, brand ambassadors were mostly picked from the film or sports industry. Over the years television screens in India have seen prominent actors such as Shah Rukh Khan advertise everything from luxury watches to pots of noodles. With the internet playing such an important role in society, some brands have decided to go down the influencer route to tap into the popularity of rising Tik Tok or Instagram stars. Now one looks at the strength of the ambassador by taking into account how many followers they have on Instagram and the number of likes they are getting per post. Whether you are a cricketer or a local comedian, one must take into account the social media metrics when hiring a brand ambassador.
It seems that Hyundai Motors India is not taking a chance with just one influencer and have instead decided to enter a partnership with the country’s four prominent women cricketers. The four cricketers, Smriti Mandhana, Jemima Rodrigues, Taniya Bhatia and Shafali Verma, signed the MoU at the carmaker’s headquarters in Gurugram.
This is a defining moment for India and yet another milestone for a country that is looking to embrace equality between the two genders. Through this partnership, Hyundai will promote not only cricket in India but specifically the contribution that is being made by women in this field. The game which is akin to religion in the sub-continent is mainly followed by the male audience who in turn watch matches being played by men. The men’s national team is a lot more famous than the women’s team and the male cricketers are treated as superstars whereas the women cricketers are hidden in obscurity.
The South Korean car maker has launched the ‘Drive Within’ campaign which is aimed at encouraging women to participate in sports. The campaign will focus on the many achievements of these women and will be using digital films to display them. One of the ambassadors also happens to be the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team, Smriti Mandhana. Another ambassador, Taniya Bhatia is the number two ranked batswoman in t20 cricket whereas Shafali Verma is the youngest cricketer to play all three cricket formats.
It seems that even international stars are looking to get a piece of the Indian market. Chris Gayle aka Universe Boss has recently signed a contract with 10Cric. 10Cric is one of the bigger cricket betting sites in India who are known for providing the best odds-on cricket matches. They cover everything from the World Cup to the Champions Trophy to the Indian Premier League. They are well known so much so that logging into their registration form, 10Cric Login is one of the most searched terms in Google.
Similarly, you can also see other celebrities serving as brand ambassadors for other gaming brands. Brett Lee is busy promoting Sportbet.io whereas Kevin Pietersen and Nargis Fakhri can be seen pushing Betway.
All of these examples above are great brand ambassadors for India. For one they have a connection with the company they are looking to promote and under the guidance of the right marketing team, both the ambassador and company can benefit immensely.
What will be interesting to note is how the demand for these big celebrities changes as social media becomes even more prominent in our lives. Will we ultimately see King Khan being dethroned from billboards and replaced by someone who has become famous for lip syncing on Tik Tok? Only time will tell!
