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Tag: Virat Kohli

  • Twitter gets 800 million impressions during World Cup

    Twitter gets 800 million impressions during World Cup

    MUMBAI: In the group stages of the World Cup 2015, Twitter registered 800 million impressions for all the games. Indian captain MS Dhoni (@msdhoni) finished the group stage in style for India against Zimbabwe hitting a six and taking team India to the quarterfinals against Bangladesh. He also became the most mentioned Indian player on Twitter during the group stages of the #CWC15. He is followed by Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) and Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) in the list.

     

    Most mentioned Indian players in the group stages:

     

    Players ranked by number of mentions during #CWC15 Pool B matches

     

    1) MS Dhoni (@msdhoni)

     

    2) Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25)

     

    3) Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45)

     

    4) Virat Kohli (@imVkohli)

     

    5) Ravichandran Ashwin (@ashwinravi99)

     

    6) Suresh Raina (@ImRaina)

     

    While Dhoni rules as the most mentioned player among the Indian players, Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum is the most mentioned among the international bunch. Pakistani captain Misbah ul-Haq and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara have more mentions than Dhoni.

     

    PM Modi ranks highest in the most retweeted list.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    On the other hand, the #INDvPAK match sweeps in the most impressions list among any other match played at the #CWC15.

     

    1. India (@BCCI) v Pakistan (@Official_PCB) on 15 February

     

    2. South Africa (@OfficialCSA)  v India (@BCCI) on 22 February

     

    3. West Indies (@westindies) v India (@BCCI) on 6 March

     

    4. England (@ECB_cricket) v Bangladesh (@BCBtigers) on 9 March

     

    5. South Africa (@OfficialCSA) v Pakistan (@Cricket_PCB) on 7 March

     

    Moreover, India’s opening win in the sequence of the six so far against Pakistan, also ranks top amongst the top Tweet moments per minute.

  • Chatter around India-SA match 30% lower than India/Pak match: MEC report

    Chatter around India-SA match 30% lower than India/Pak match: MEC report

    MUMBAI: Team India so far has been on a winning spree at the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The winning moments on field have also been translated on social media where fans have expressed their excitement on various platforms. 

     

    On 22 February when India won against South Africa the chatter around the match was 30 per cent lower than that of the much talked about India vs Pakistan match, according to a report prepared by MEC.

     

    The report states that the hashtag #IndvsSA garnered only 0.2 million mentions as compared to the hashtag #IndvsPak at 0.3 million mentions. Further another hashtag, #cwc15, garnered 0.1 million mentions for both the matches. 

     

    Shikhar Dhawan was the most talked about player during the India vs South Africa match, but received almost half the mentions as compared to Virat Kohli during India’s clash against Pakistan.

     

    Sports brand Nike’s “#bleedblue” campaign continued to be the most talked about brand mention, but received only 40 per cent mentions compared to that during India and Pakistan’s match. Official broadcaster Star Sports campaign #Maukamauka gained talk value during India vs South Africa with their new TVCs says the report.

     

    In its concluding remarks the report states that it is clear that no match generates as much excitement and engagement as an India vs Pakistan match.

  • Social media: An alternate playground for World Cup 2015

    Social media: An alternate playground for World Cup 2015

     MUMBAI: While Australia and New Zealand are the epicentre of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook too are planning to make the most of the event by not only introducing a host of innovations but also seeing a number of mentions on these platforms.

     

    Since sports is the ultimate real-time experience, fans on Twitter are getting live updates from their favourite teams, players, coaches, writers, celebrities and fellow fans.

     

    For these reasons, the micro blogging site has created a special Cricket World Cup 2015 timeline called as #CWC15 timeline. According to twitter the most followed players from each of the 14 countries are Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan, Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, Virat Kohli of India, Ross Taylor of New Zealand, Michael Clarke of Australia, Kyle Coetzer of Scotland and Stuart Broad of England. From team Ireland Kevin O’Brien is the most followed from the country and from team South Africa AB De Villiers is the most followed on twitter.

     

    Kumar Sangakara is the most followed cricketer from the island country while Shahid Afridi has made it to the list from neighbouring Pakistan. Chris Gayle is the most followed from West Indies while Brendan Taylor is the most followed from Zimbabwe. 

     

    The micro blogging site has also come up with a twitter dream team. This dream team is composed of the most-mentioned players on the site over the past 12 months, forming a first XI. Those who made to the coveted list are Ahmed Shehzad of Pakistan, Virat Kohli of India, Younis Khan of Pakistan, M S Dhoni from India, Mitchell Johnson from Australia, James Anderson and Stuart Broad from England, Shahid Afridi from Pakistan, Moeen Ali from England, Michael Clarke from Australia and Rohit Sharma from India.

     

    With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Twitter partnering for the World Cup, the cricket body’s account provides access to the players, and it’s where they will be posting photos, videos and breaking news from inside the camp of the Men in Blue. 

     

    Speaking about the same, Twitter India and Southeast Asia market director Rishi Jaitly says, “In India, Twitter is focused on reaching every person with a mobile phone and this product is in service of that goal. We applaud the BCCI for taking the initiative to make it even more accessible for fans to stay in touch with the latest on Indian cricket.”

     

    Twitter has also introduced digital innovations for the coveted tournament. For instance it has come up with a daily recap video on the native video player. If one has missed any of the live action, ICC will send a native video tweet at the end of every match day. This is exclusive to people following the account and will have some of the best action from the game and expert views. The five minute show will go out each evening showcasing each key element of that day’s match.

     

    Meanwhile digital service provider  ‘TO THE NEW’ has come up with some trends it picked up during India’s clash against Pakistan, where the neighbouring country were thrashed bitterly by the Men in Blue. According to the report, the most number of tweets came from India (74.5 per cent), Pakistan ( 5.8 per cent ), Saudi Arabia (4.4 per cent), USA (4.3 per cent) and UK (2.8 per cent) while that of the other countries put together stood at 8.1 per cent.

     

    The report further states that 79 per cent of the tweets were by males while females made up for 21 per cent of the tweets during the match.

     

    According to Twitter India, there were a total of 118.3 million live tweet impressions during the clash of the titans. The top three tweets per minute were when India became victorious by 76 runs (9,987 tweets per minute ). Two, when Virat Kohli scored a top notch century (7,159 tweets per minute) and when Kohli was dismissed by 107 runs (6,916 tweets per minute).

     

    The report also states that the most mentioned players from India were Virat Kohli, M S Dhoni, and Suresh Raina. From Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, and Sohail Khan made it to the list.

     

    Facebook too has become an alternate stadium for the World Cup. Globally nine million people had 25 million interactions about India’s victory over Pakistan. One can join the conversation by posting about the match one is watching by tapping the smiley icon before one shares a post, select the option “watching” and choose the specific match.

     

    Through a “Weekly Corner with Cricket Legends,” it has come up with a six part video Q&A series with some of the world’s leading cricketers. For this one will hav e to keep an eye on the ICC Cricket World Cup page each Monday to see interviews with Shane Warne, Yuvraj Singh, and more. Fans can also find in match highlights on the Star Sports’ Facebook page.

     

    The Facebook blog post can be accessed here: http://media.fb.com/2015/02/16/the-cricket-world-cup-on-facebook/ 

     

    Cricket on Facebook

    Indian Cricket Team

    Star Sports India

    ICC Cricket World Cup page

    ESPN Cricinfo

    Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, India Today

    CNN-IBN, IBN7

    SKY Sport NZ

    FOX Sports Australia

    Liv your fame

    Being Indian Channel

    BigFM Radio

  • Star Sports launches new World Cup campaign

    Star Sports launches new World Cup campaign

    MUMBAI: With the ICC Cricket World 2015 a few days away, Star Sports in association with Lowe Lintas + Partners unveiled a youth-centric campaign titled, #wontgiveitback, for the upcoming tourney. The campaign, the second in a series to promote the ICC Cricket World Cup, will set the stage for a marketing blitz that will be unleashed by Star Sports for the biggest ever sporting spectacle in the country.

     

    The campaign reflects the sentiment among the young India cricket fans and perfectly captures their mood as the Men in Blue prepare to fend off 13 other teams and defend their title with the war cry – ‘Won’t Give It Back’. It’s the fans’ rallying call to support Team India in their quest to give it their all Down Under in Australia and New Zealand.  

     
    The film features the young Team India connecting with their fans on the World Cup. The fans expect them to “give it back” and answer all the challenges head on… the pressure, the aggression… but not the Cup… ”won’t give it back”!  

     
    A Star India spokesperson said, “The passion for cricket in this country is second to none and we at Star, are committed to make the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup bigger and better than ever. We have a series of path-breaking initiatives in the pipeline ready to be launched in the build-up to the World Cup, across multiple platforms. #wontgiveitback sets the ball rolling and portrays the attitude of this new, young and bold Team India. The campaign connects with the youth in their language, reflecting their attitude and will get the young cricket fans excited about cricket’s biggest and grandest extravaganza.”

     
    Commenting on the creative execution for the campaign, Lowe Lintas + Partners’ national creative director Arun Iyer said, “We wanted to capture the aggressive attitude of the new Indian cricket team. They are team that gives it back. And given the fact that we are defending champions we felt won’t give it back was an interesting way to capture this attitude.”

     
    The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be broadcast on Star Sports network. India kicks off its title defense on 15 February, when they face-off against arch-rivals Pakistan. The tournament will be broadcast in six languages (Hindi, English, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali). The games will be streamed on allowing viewers to “carry the cup” and watch it on their own personal screen.

     

    The campaign will be unleashed by a multi-media campaign across the Star network supported by digital, print, radio and outdoor. The campaign will be supported by digital amplification and an extensive trophy-tour – with fans across the country sending their message “won’t give it back”.

  • “ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will attract TV audience of 1 billion”: Andrew Robb

    “ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will attract TV audience of 1 billion”: Andrew Robb

    MUMBAI: The countdown to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has already begun with fans gearing up to watch the matches either on television or at the stadiums. Buoyant about the event, Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb is of the opinion that it will engage one fifth of the world’s population. Robb said, “India and Australia are both blessed with the love for cricket. The upcoming World Cup will attract a TV audience of one billion!”

     

    Robb was speaking at the ‘Match Australia’ programme, which is part of the ongoing Australia Business Week being held in India. He had great admiration for the ‘God’ of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, who sadly will be missed at this year’s World Cup. “Tendulkar is not the God of Cricket just in India but also Australia,” he added.

     

    Post his revelations, a panel discussion brainstormed and analysed on the current form of the Indian and Australian cricket teams slated to participate for the World Cup. Joining the panel were cricket expert and commentator Harsha Bhogle, former cricketer and current Cricket Australia board member Michael Kasprowicz and former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. The session was moderated by sports columnist Ayaz Memon.

     

    Posing a question to Kasprowicz, Memon said, “Michael Clarke, who is recovering from a series of hamstring injuries, will be leading the Australian squad. From a fitness point of view, is it a wise decision?” In his reply, Kasprowicz said, “While that could be a concern, one needs to look at it at an overall point of view. It is a great, experienced and in my opinion a very balanced squad.” Manjrekar interjected saying that he found the overall game scenario in Australia changing, from a team that was earlier precise in decision making to today not being able to take a concrete call as in Clarke’s case. Kasprowicz didn’t differ with him as he agreed that the current scenario in Australian cricket was changing but only a bit, not more.

     

    Memon with his insights of the game took to another parallel of the game by asking, “With Dhoni announcing his retirement from test cricket, is the state of mind of the current squad going to be crucial? Will the decision and the World Cup redefine the role for MS Dhoni ahead?” Manjrekar was all praise for ‘captain cool’ by speaking about his prowess for the game. He found Dhoni to possess a unique character wherein he, with his decision-making and on-field abilities, was able to make up for half of the overall team. “Dhoni is not someone who is concerned about the history of the game. In fact he will not be able to name even five captains of the Indian cricket teams from the past, if questioned.” Not stopping there, he went on to mouth his own version of the famous ‘Mere Paas Ma Hai’ dialogue from Bollywood movie ‘Deewaar’ by looking at Kasprowicz teasingly and saying, “If you guys have Steve Smith and Mitchell Johnson, we have Mahendra Singh Dhoni.” While the audience cackled, Kasprowicz, not surprisingly, was unable to comprehend the humour.

     

    Memon then quizzed Bhogle about his biggest concern with regards to India’s squad for the upcoming event. The expert lamented, “India’s bowling skills are weakening a bit. If the bowling skills improve, we will have a great game. You don’t need to take many wickets but just bowl well.”

     

    The panel then moved to discussing whether India’s celebrity cricketer Virat Kohli could become the biggest pivot at the World Cup this year? Manjrekar said it was a treat to watch both Kohli and Steven Smith bat at the last India versus Australia test series. “Kohli will be a great contributor at the World Cup after Dhoni,” he expressed.

     

    The statement led to Memon asking the panel if India’s squad had the right balance of experienced as well as young players? Bhogle was the first to reply, saying, “With Tendulkar and most of the well known bowlers from the previous squad now gone, it looks very much younger but I know from the talent that was available to us, the best were picked.” Manjrekar added that one important feature of the World Cup was holding up one’s nerves even during the most testing times. He therefore was of the opinion that India’s squad had a balanced mix of young players as well as those who were not only experienced but also temperamentally strong.

     

    While the panel picked up their home teams as favourites to win for the World Cup, Kasprowicz concluded by saying, “I wish to see the finals being played between India and Australia at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) stadium with both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot in attendance.”

     

    Prior to the discussion Bhogle was honored with the ‘Friends of Australia’ award for his contribution to the game and helping foster better relations between the two countries. As part of the ‘Match Australia Programme,’ the gentlemen’s game will be used as an opportunity for investors to visit Australia, enjoy the game and also help boost commerce with a three day weekend programme. As part of the initiative, businessmen can attend investment roundtables on Fridays, followed by sight-seeing tours on Saturdays and by watching cricket matches at the stadium on Sundays.

     

  • IPL teams keep their ‘core’ intact

    IPL teams keep their ‘core’ intact

     MUMBAI: A total of 123 cricketers including players were retained by the franchises for the 2015 Pepsi Indian Premier season. Five Indian cricketers including Unmukt Chand and Vinay Kumar have been traded during the window for player trade this year. 

    The window for the franchises to extend the player contracts on existing terms for Pepsi IPL season closed on 15 December 2014. 

     

    The released players now have an option to register for the auction from where they can be picked by any interested club.

    IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal commented, “Teams have the right, at their sole election, to extend player contracts for another season. This allows for teams to make any course corrections to their squads as a way to strengthen their team ahead of the next season. It is a way to balance the need for continuity whilst allowing for churn which is very important from the league’s perspective. The released players will have the option to put their names up for the player auction for the 2015 season.”

    Teams have a total salary purse of Rs 63 crore for the 2015 season (5 per cent increase over the 2014 season purse). The salaries of the players retained will be deducted from this amount. 

    Here are the details of the retained and released players for 2015 season:

     

    CSK (Retained Players): MS Dhoni, Ashish Nehra, Baba Aparajith, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ishwar Chandra Pandey, Matt Henry, Mithun Manhas, Mohit Sharma, Pawan Negi, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Samuel Badree, Suresh Raina, Ronit More. 

     

    CSK (Released Players): Ben Hilfenhaus, John Hastings, Vijay Shankar, David Hussey.

     

    DD (Retained Players): Jean-Paul Duminy, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammad Shami, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton De Kock, Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Agarwal, Imran Tahir, Jayant Yadav.

     

    DD (Released Players): Dinesh Karthik, HS Sharath, James Neesham, Jaydev Unadkat, Kevin Pietersen, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Milind Kumar, Murali Vijay, Rahul Sharma, Rahul Shukla, Ross Taylor, Siddarth Kaul, Wayne Parnell.

     

    KXIP (Retained Players): Axar Patel, Anureet Singh, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karanveer Singh, Manan Vora, Mandeep Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Parvinder Awana, Rishi Dhawan, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Shaun Marsh, Shivam Sharma, Thisara Perera, Virender Sehwag, Wriddhiman Saha.

     

    KXIP (Released Players): Cheteshwar Pujara, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Murali Kartik. 

     

    KKR (Retained Players): Gautam Gambhir, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Morne Morkel, Patrick Cummins, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Ryan ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Veer Pratap Singh, Yusuf Pathan.

     

    KKR (Released Players): Debabrata Das, Sayan Sekhar Mandal, Jacques Kallis.

     

    MI (Retained Players): Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Ambati Rayudu, Corey Anderson, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, Keiron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Marchant de Lange, Pawan Suyal, Shreyas Gopal, Lendl Simmons, Unmukt Chand, R Vinay Kumar.

     

    MI (Released Players): Michael Hussey, Praveen Kumar, Ben Dunk, Pragyan Ojha, Jalaj Saxena, Krismar Santokie, Sushant Marathe, Apoorv Wankhade, Zaheer Khan, C.M. Gautam.

     

    RR (Retained Players): Shane Watson, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ankit Nagendra Sharma, Ben Cutting, Deepak Hooda, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dishant Yagnik, James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Karun Nair, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Tewatia, Rajat Bhatia, Sanju Samson, Steven Smith, Stuart Binny, Tim Southee, Vikramjeet Malik.

     

    RR (Released Players): Amit Mishra, Ankush Bains, Brad Hodge.

     

    RCB (Retained Players): Virat Kohli, AB deVillers, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal, Rilee Rossouw, Vijay Zol, Yogesh Takawale, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Ashoke Dinda, Sandeep Warrier, Manvinder Bisla

     

    RCB (Released Players): Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul, Sachin Rana, Shadab Jakati, Tanmay Mishra, Yuvraj Singh.

     

    SRH (Retained Players): Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chama Milind, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Ishant Sharma, Karn Sharma, KL Rahul, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha, Parveez Rasool, Ricky Bhui.

     

    SRH (Released Players): Aaron Finch, Amit Mishra, Amit Paunikar, Brendan Taylor, Darren Sammy, Irfan Pathan, Jason Holder, Manprit Juneja, Prasanth Parameswaran, Srikkanth Anirudha, Venugopal Rao.

  • Salman dethrones SRK in Forbes list

    Salman dethrones SRK in Forbes list

    MUMBAI: The Forbes 2014 India celebrity list is out. And this time, it has a new leader.

     

    After enjoying the top rank in the list for three consecutive years, Shah Rukh Khan has been replaced by Salman Khan. The reason behind SRK going down from the coveted spot to number 3 position is lack of any film release (except a cameo) between 1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014.

     

    Meanwhile, Salman topped the charts, both in terms of revenues and fame.

     

    At number two place, it’s Amitabh Bachchan, who has moved up by three positions in 2014. Big B’s charisma was enhanced by his nearly 12 million Twitter following.

     

    The top 10 celebs and the money made by them:

     

    1. Salman Khan: Rs 244.50 crore

    2. Amitabh Bachchan: Rs 196.75 crore

    3. Shah Rukh Khan: Rs 202.40 crore

    4. MS Dhoni: Rs 141.80 crore

    5. Akshay Kumar: Rs 172.00 crore

    6. Virat Kohli: Rs 58.43 crore

    7. Aamir Khan: Rs 80.47 crore

    8. Deepika Padukone: Rs 67.20 crore

    9. Hrithik Roshan: Rs 85.00 crore

    10. Sachin Tendulkar: Rs 59.54 crore

  • Narendra Modi triumphs again, this time on twitter

    Narendra Modi triumphs again, this time on twitter

    MUMBAI: Twitter as a global social platform, has always allowed netizens to express themselves in 140 characters, during moments of celebration, protest, mourning and joy. The micro blogging site receives more than 500 million tweets per day. And we Indian’s are not far away.

    Politicians, actors, cricketers, opinion leaders and citizens have taken to the platform quite well this year. But for the year 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t just steal the show during the elections, but also on twitter.

    The Golden tweet aka .the most-retweeted tweet for India in 2014 was Modi’s election-winning tweet. It received more than 70,000 RTs as it became the most retweeted tweet ever in India. The tweet read, “India has won. Bharat Ki Vijai. Aache Din Aane Wale Hain.”

    Globally, the golden tweet went to the Ellen Show’s starry photo from the Oscars telecast, which gave rise to the selfie phenomenon world over. It received more than 33,67,817 RTs.

    Meanwhile, India’s list of power tweeters is dominated by Bollywood stars, apart from Modi. In the top 10, Amitabh Bachchan leads with 1,18,18,056 followers, followed by Shah Rukh Khan at 1,02,46,755. Cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli too make their entry but at number 15 and 16, respectively. Author Chetan Bhagat adds variety to the list, rounding off the top 20 for India.

    Rohit Sharma’s smashing the world record for the highest individual ODI cricket score of 264, on 13 November was the top peak moment for twitter. In fact, of the top 10 moments, three are related to cricket including the Indian Premier League. The second largest peak in twitter conversation for the year was Rajinikanth’s arrival on twitter. With over 2,00,000 followers in the first 24 hours and now over 1.1 million in total, it’s clear that he has many loyal fans both off and on twitter. Hardly surprising, two of the top five peaks in conversations were about Modi.  With 8.5 million followers, he is currently the second most followed political leader in the world (after President Barack Obama) and continues to grow his followers at a rapid pace.

    The fastest rising Twitter hashtag trends in India saw a mixture of sports, disasters and political campaigns. Conversations around the 2014 FIFA World Cup lead the trend, followed by the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight, MH370. Meanwhile, Mufflerman, a campaign led by the fans of the Aam Aadmi Party in support of leader Arvind Kejriwal, gathered momentum towards the end of the year.

     

  • ICC announces line-up of ambassadors for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

    ICC announces line-up of ambassadors for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the appointment of its ambassadors for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The ambassadors include Australian fast-bowler Mitchell Johnson, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, India’s Virat Kohli, Sri Lanka’s former captain Kumar Sangakkara and Australia’s Shane Watson.

    The ICC Ambassadors will add their support and considerable profile in the build-up to and during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015; including involvement in the ICC’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme and event promotions.

    Mitchell Johnson who was delighted to be a part of the group said “I look forward to helping promote what is set to be a fascinating tournament with some outstanding teams gearing up to claim cricket’s most coveted prize.”

    Kohli, a star for India in their victorious 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign, commented, “It is a matter of pride to be selected as the ambassador of ICC.  As a cricketer, I wish to spread the passion of cricket to grassroots levels and I look at this as an opportunity to unify global initiatives for cricket throughout the world.”

    Black Caps captain McCullum, who has featured in the past three World Cups added, “With the World Cup just months away, no doubt all countries will be actively plotting and planning their campaigns. In 1992 our sport captivated the nations of both New Zealand and Australia, and I have no doubt the 2015 edition will do just the same.”

    Former Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara, who featured in the 2007 and 2011 finals in the West Indies and India, said he was honoured to have been appointed an ambassador for the forthcoming World Cup in Australia alongside some great players.

    Watson, one of the world’s leading all-rounders who tasted World Cup glory in 2007, commented, “Having played in the 2007 and 2011 World Cup campaigns, it truly is a special occasion and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a World Cup at home against the best teams in the world. To be part of a transition phase that now has us playing quality cricket is fantastic and we are looking forward to the challenge of playing against the best players in World Cricket”

     

  • Who is the most valuable celebrity brand in India?

    Who is the most valuable celebrity brand in India?

    MUMBAI: A flip through various channels and one can see film stars and cricketers selling chocolates to balms to the consumers.
    There is no doubt that celebrity brand endorsements have come a long way in the country over the past three decades. As television spread to the masses and Doordarshan found its way into several homes in the country, companies and advertisers were quick to tap the new medium, giving several memorable advertisements to consumers, that some would say did more for the stars than they did for the brands.

    Over the last decade, the celebrity endorsement space has evolved significantly. Not only have new mediums of advertising sprung up (internet, digital media and social networks), but also “celebritydom” is no longer limited to just Bollywood stars and cricketers. The Indian Premier League, Pro-Kabaddi League and Indian Badminton League have given several new sports stars in addition to our Olympians, Asian and Commonwealth Games medal winners and World Champions.

    American Appraisal, an independent global firm providing valuation and related advisory services for business, financial, legal and tax purposes, has  launched the first edition of ‘Waiting for the Encore’, a concise report on India’s most valuable celebrity brands.

    The report tries to answer a few questions. Who is the most valuable celebrity brand in India? More importantly, how can one assess the value of a particular celebrity’s brand?

    The baadshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, tops the brand chart and is valued at $164.9 million, leaving behind the legend, Amitabh Bachchan. The shenshah stands at number 13 with $28.4 million while Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni ranks higher than other Khans at number 3 and valued at $71.9 million.

    “While the youth brigade of Indian celebritydom ranks high on the popularity scale, brand values remain highest for celebrities who have stood the test of time. Brand Shah Rukh, valued at over $160 million, is here to stay,” says American Appraisal vice president Kapil Bellubi.

    The report goes on to highlight that the top 15 celebrities generated over Rs 11 billion in endorsement fees in 2013-14 alone. Celebrities themselves are no longer just using brand endorsements as something to bridge an income gap between films and games. A significant proportion of a celebrity’s annual income, close to 50 per cent to 75 per cent, is generated through brand endorsements.

    It goes on to report that celebrities understand that being affiliated with brands like Coke or Pepsi means that their images and likenesses may be associated with Coke or Pepsi whose reach even to the remotest part of the country can be more valuable to the celebrity than the fee that they hope to receive. Similarly, youth-centric iconic brands like Levis, Guess and luxury brands like Rado, Tissot or Louis Vuitton command immense brand presence and celebrities are normally happy to be associated as brand ambassadors for even a fraction of their normal fees. Alcohol and tobacco brands provide the best compensation, though A-Listers tend to steer clear of promoting these brands mainly on account of the potential for negative publicity.

    The report states that viewers have higher recall for celebrity endorsed brands and associated credibility were the most compelling reasons for running a celebrity campaign.