Connect with us

MAM

The rise of brand Rohit Sharma

Published

on

MUMBAI: He is the only batsman in the world to score double century twice in limited overs, the maximum number of individual sixes (16) in an ODI match and the only captain to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) title thrice. The vice-captain of the Indian cricket team also leads Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL. We’re talking of none other than Rohit ‘Superman’ Sharma.

Sharma, who lived in a small suburb in Mumbai and didn’t change schools because of financial constraints, today lives in a high-end plush apartment in Worli that costs a whopping Rs 30 crore. But this is not the story about how he became a household name or a prominent player in the Indian cricket team. The hitman has also become a ‘hit’ among leading brands that are willing to splurge millions to sign him as the brand ambassador.

While he makes a pretty decent amount from his cricketing career where he receives an enormous annual salary of Rs 11.5 crore, Sharma draws in an average of over Rs 10 crore annually from brand endorsements. According to industry estimates, his net worth is projected to grow further by approximately 38 per cent by the end of year 2018.

In a career spanning 11 years, Sharma has endorsed brands such as Maggi, Fair and Lovely, Lays, Nissan, energy drink Restless, Nasivion nasal spray, Ceat Tyres, Swiss watches company Hublot, Aristocrat by VIP luggage, Adidas and Oppo mobiles.

While one may think that his brand choices haven’t really been wise and astute in the last few years, he gradually seems to be getting a hang of how the game of brand endorsement is played. Only in 2018, he became the brand ambassador for Relispray, Sharp television and recently the mobile accessories brand Conekt. The renowned tire company Ceat also pays him Rs 3 crore every year to put the brand’s sticker on his cricket bat.

Though the quality and level of brands he has been choosing in the last few years have gone up considerably, it is still a long way for him before he can become the favourite of every brand. Currently, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli seems to be every brand’s go-to person as his brand equity was valued higher than football star Lionel Messi in the Forbes top 10 list of global athletes of 2017 with an estimated value of $14.5 million.

Although the early glamour also pushed Kohli to advocate Pepsi and Fair & Lovely Men in 2011, he eventually decided to move away from these brands in 2017. He refused to renew the contract, saying at the time that he would not ask people to consume something that he himself does not. Kohli said, “Things that I’ve endorsed in the past – I won’t take names — but something that I feel that I don’t connect to anymore. If I myself won’t consume such things, I won’t urge others to consume it just because I’m getting money out of it.”

Following this move by the captain, Sharma too does not see himself selling or endorsing a product that he doesn’t believe in. He says that he is extremely cautious about the brands he endorses. In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Sharma said, “I am extremely cautious about the brands I associate myself with. I don’t want to be selling or getting involved with something that I don’t use myself. I genuinely believe in having a connection with a brand that you endorse and if that’s missing, there is no point in selling fake products/ideas to people. 

But how does he really decide on signing a brand or giving it a miss? Says the MI captain, “Whenever I choose to endorse a product, I want my fans and people to experience the product and enjoy it as well. A lot of brands that I have endorsed are used by me and if I don’t see any camaraderie between me and the brand, I don’t go ahead with the association.”

Lately, newcomer Hardik Pandya is also getting better acceptance in the market than the proven and seasoned Sharma. Pandya is increasingly getting brands despite being new as he is flamboyant, stylish and supports different looks and hairstyles.

The hitman still has a long road and career ahead and his star value is unlikely to dim anytime in the future.

MAM

Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement

Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted

Published

on

MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.

The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.

The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.

Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.

Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.

For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.

More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.

The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.

Continue Reading

Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

on

Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

Continue Reading

MAM

Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships

Published

on

SINGAPORE: Anuvrat Rao has taken charge as APAC  head of commerce and signals partnerships at Meta, steering monetisation deals across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from Singapore. The former Google executive, known for launching Google Assistant, PWAs, AMP and Firebase across Asia-Pacific, steps into the role after a high-growth stint as chief business officer at Locofy.ai.

At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.

Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.

Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2026 Indian Television Dot Com PVT LTD

×
×
×