Mascarenhas' earlier five-year contract with the new star of Indian cricket was for Rs 30 crore, by far the most lucrative one for a cricketer.
When the Rs 100-crore deal was flaunted, the consensus was he would go bust. But Mascarenhas was not shy of taking risks. The Bangalore-educated Mascarenhas, who cut his teeth in sports broadcasting in the US, staked his money on the newly liberalized Indian economy.
He'd say: "Wait till more credit card, mobile, finance, automobile and consumer companies flock to India. Cricket will be their only bet to reach out to the market. Sachin is the biggest star. Anybody who is serious about the Indian market must ride on him."
Mascarenhas did not live to see his prophesy come true. In 2002, he died in a road accident near Nagpur. The company he'd founded, WorldTel, slowly disappeared from the public eye. However, they had a gem in Sachin Tendulkar and a tremendous young employee in Vinod Naidu.
Vinod, also Bangalore-based, was Mascarenhas' most trusted lieutenant. He'd handled telecast deals in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Sharjah and the US; was up to speed on the logistics of telecasting, advertising and sponsorship; managed the magazine 'Cricket Talk' and, importantly, was someone Tendulkar trusted.
This allowed the maestro to concentrate on his cricket and leave the business end of endorsements to Vinod. The principal and the agent understood each other perfectly: no shoots or assignments during the season and the sort of products that could be endorsed or kept off limits.
Vinod moved to World Sports Group with Tendulkar and continued to maximize Brand Sachin. His involvement was right from conceptualization to the end product. This consumed all his time and energy to the extent that Sachin, in his farewell speech, thanked Vinod's family.
"Sachin was brilliant on and off the field. He excelled in what he was good at, and left it to his support staff to shine in what they were good at," says Vinod.
Talking of managing Brand Sachin, he points out that "Sachin was an inspiration to multiple generations. For instance, my father loved to watch him play; I grew up adoring him, and my son looked forward to watching him bat. Very few sportsmen have had that sort of an impact across generations."
Naidu believes that Brand Sachin had come to symbolize protection, reliability, strength, power, high energy, performance and happiness. "Many of the brands associated with Sachin are endorsed along one or more of these lines and thus have a longer life," he says.
"There are private labels (a Sachin line) with some brands, and these will continue for quite a long time. We are looking at content in the animation field and also his philanthropy with foundations, NGOs and charitable organizations. Importantly, though, Sachin will first make up for lost time with his family," says Vinod.
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