On Sunday evening, after losing the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), players of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) decided to do a lap of honour to thank the fans at Chepauk for their support. The crowd went berserk as a limping MS Dhoni (MSD) with his left knee heavily strapped with an icepack joined the team. The doting fans couldn’t care less that CSK lost the match – to them, MSD was their ‘Thala’ (leader in Tamil).
The scene is repeated wherever MSD has played in this season of Indian Premier League (IPL). During the first CSK-KKR match at the latter’s home ground Eden Gardens a fortnight ago, the entire stadium was dressed in yellow, which is the colour of the CSK uniform. A KKR official had then said this is just for MSD, things will be back to normal next match onwards. The same is the story in all other cricket venues.
He is 41 and has retired from national cricketing duties three years ago. Yet, his popularity graph is soaring. It is not just stamina and determination that have got the cricketer with a net worth upwards of Rs 1,000 crore to where he is today. The essence of MSD’s appeal is that he is so obviously himself: gutsy, straight-shooting and authentic, say experts.
That also makes him the brand marketers’ favourite celebrity. If one is looking for trust and consistency, MSD is the first port of call. So he has been endorsing products of all hues – from the everyday Colgate, Oppo and Oreo to the more serious Kauvery Group of Hospitals, Bharat Matrimony and the youthful Jio Cinema, Unacademy and Winzo.
“MSD’s choice of brand endorsements and involvement in different brands makes him a role model that people aspire to emulate. His brand transcends the idea that he is just a cricketer; it extends beyond his exploits on the field,” says Ranga Jagannath, senior director, growth, Agora, and an avid sports fan.
The thing is, celebrities contribute to sustaining a brand’s aura by drawing on their positive associations and transferring them to the promoted product. So what are these “positive associations” that MSD – who charges between Rs 4-6 crore per endorsement — brings to the table?
It starts with his consistency. “Customers look for consistency in the quality of a product and in messaging,” says Konark Gaur, CMO, Pilgrim. “In fact, legendary brands are made when they stick to their core messaging, even when they are in a tight spot.”
Adds Vineet Recriwal, COO, Jajabor Brand Consultancy, “The MSD brand stands as a testament to the fact that enduring brands are not built overnight but require decades of a consistent confluence of talent, dedication, and a deep understanding of the target audience.”
That understanding of his audience has helped MSD forge an emotional bond with audiences over the years that goes beyond transactional relationships – with the initial style of sporting long hair, defining the moniker of Captain Cool, to staying resilient under pressure, and coming out unscathed in times of adversity and now by keeping the audience intrigued and engaged with conversations before and after every IPL match as if this is his last.
Next, his enormous success as a leader and team player. “The victories have made a vast population believe in their own abilities and have played a huge part in breaking down the myth that success comes only to a privileged few,” says Jagannath of Agora.
Then take MSD’s varied interests — his fascination for bikes and his association with the Armed Forces make him a multi-dimensional personality and that resonates with people across age groups and genders. This also infuses immense confidence among brands.
Interestingly, despite his visibility, MSD has maintained and cultivated reclusiveness which adds to the mystery and aura of Brand Dhoni. As Jagannath puts it, “People also deeply associate and relate with the few failures that MSD might have had on the cricket field as a sign that he is, after all, as human as anyone else.”
So what lessons can marketers learn from Brand Dhoni? “One key lesson is that a endorsers’ entire life comes under public glare once they reach a high status. And, like MSD, it is important to play life with a straight bat, as he does on the field. It does not take much digression from a straight life for the love to turn to derision of fans,” says Chandramouli Nilakantan, CEO of TRA Research.
The other thing is, brands must inculcate the ability to reinvent themselves to extend their shelf life. “For a brand that is so potent that it transcends generations in terms of its ability to resonate with people through emotional bond and storytelling, the takeaways for brands is that they must reinvent and strengthen their engagement by crafting a narrative that resonates with the aspirations and dreams of millions over time,” sums up Recriwal of Jajabor.