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Celebrity Brands: Meet Harmanpreet Kaur - the captain of the Advertising & Marketing world

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Shamita Islur
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Harmanpreet Kaur

After witnessing good innings in the first season of WPL, Harmanpreet Kaur has won over more fans, while brands too line up. We speak to branding experts, deep diving into Harmanpreet Kaur’s social media strategy.

As women’s sports in India, especially cricket, garners more attention following the  Women’s Premier League (WPL), women in cricket are emerging as household names. The maiden tournament of WPL itself saw sponsorships from brands like TATA Group, JSW Paints, Hero Vida, Max Life Insurance and more. 

Tie these endorsements with the well-rounded talent of the sports personalities and it adds to the brand's credibility. One such personality in Indian cricket is the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team - Harmanpreet Kaur. A fierce leader with a resilient personality, her brand equity stands up to her name—on and off the field. 

The skipper has an estimated net worth of US $3 million according to Sportskeeda. Adding her captaincy with the winning WPL team Mumbai Indians, she was one of the most visible players during the league and on social media. During the initial auction of IPL teams, Mumbai Indians team bagged Harmanpreet for INR 1.8 crore. As Mumbai Indians were later crowned to be the first WPL champions under her leadership, it further gave a push to her brand value. 

We deep dive into Harmanpreet Kaur’s social media strategy and see how she stands out with her storytelling and champions for causes through her brand deals.

Social Media Themes & Trends

On social media, Harmanpreet can be seen spending most of her time on Instagram, followed by Twitter. Overall, she has a social media following of 2 million on Instagram and 499.3k followers on Twitter. 

While both platforms see a range of content from cricket, animals, travel, family and friends, and the multiple initiatives she supports, there’s a clear separation between work and leisure.

Judging her on the basis of her social media influence and how it has added to her clout, Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea said that, “Harmanpreet’s performance on the field and her achievements have significantly contributed to building her brand equity. In addition to this, gender equality, though late, is rightfully getting its due, therefore throwing light on elevating the torch bearers, and Harmanpreet is definitely one among them.”

Her passion for cricket is reflected on her Twitter feed, where she strongly advocates for women in sports, posts about her team, appreciates her fans, retweets support provided by other cricketers (men and women) and stands up for causes and against injustice in society. 

She actively supports the Indian Blind Women's Cricket Team, and sheds light on the cruelty against animals and more through her page.

The Instagram account carries a similar sentiment but with an added casual attitude where she alternates between posting about her life beyond cricket. She loves the outdoors, dogs, and fitness. While she highlights her brand endorsements on Instagram as well, it mostly reflects what she desires out of life - which is furriness, a walk through nature, and her support system (family and friends). 

She has also been featured on many other media platforms like Radio Mirchi’s What Women Want and more, where she talks about the initiatives she cares about. 

Even when her team loses, all hope is not lost, this can be translated into her efforts to keep the teams' morale high.

This collected, warm energy falls into place with the numerous brands she has associated with over the years. An analysis by iCubesWire shows that Harmanpreet’s social following alone helps engage the audience. 

“With over 2M followers on Instagram alone, Harmanpreet Kaur has a significant following across social media platforms. Her engagement rate is quite promising, given her strong social media presence and follower base. Brands can capitalize on the captain’s social media presence to connect with sports and fitness enthusiasts. Her social media reach suggests that her followers are more likely to engage with her posts.” said Sahil Chopra, Founder and CEO, iCubesWire.

Also Read: How Tim Cook-ed up organic coverage for the Apple flagship store launch in India

Brand Associations

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As Harmanpreet once shared on social media - ‘The right muse will inspire truths over imagination’, it stands true with her brand associations. Her endorsements represent what she stands for. 

A brand palette ranging from athleisure, personal care, finance and e-gaming, her branding porfolio features a mix of industries. Harmeenpreet tends to share stories from her past and the lessons learnt to push for the initiatives the brands are trying to channel. 

If she sees anyone talking about the cause, the ace cricketer actively chooses to join in with her thoughts. 

Harmanpreet's partnership with Puma India has encouraged her to vocalise women’s space in sports. Shreya Sachdev, Head of Marketing at Puma India said that the brand chose the sports star while keeping her inspiring journey in mind. 

Harmanpreet’s unapologetic bravery comes from her humble childhood. She comes from a small village where women were not allowed to play any sport and was fortunate to have a father and a brother who actually encouraged her to pick up the sport.

Sachdev continued, “For us, it was very clear that Harmanpreet is quite literally the perfect embodiment of who we would want on our roster. And actually have her help the brand to encourage more women to pick up sport, and encourage more people to watch more women in sport fits in perfectly with how we as a brand want to talk to Indians today and to the young consumer.”

Apart from Puma, she has associated with BeNatural, UPI Chalega, My Master11, Tata Motors, Hapipola, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Boost, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, ICICI Bank, ZEE5, to name a few. 

Puma India

BeNatural

UPI Chalega

My Master11

Tata Motors

Hapipola

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Boost India

Brand Harmanpreet

Brands want to be associated with someone with a fighting spirit and according to N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research and Harmanpreet embodies it. 

He continued, “As a leader of the MI team, she also represents calm leadership, another admirable quality that brands will seek to associate for.” He believes that if her agency works diligently, the categories that she can represent are limitless and will not only be limited to women-oriented brands. 

Angel Investor and Business Strategist, Lloyd Matthias observes that people in sports normally play in a very wide range of endorsements—from consumer durables to consumer goods.

He believes that newer emerging categories like e-commerce, sports gaming are quite popular and there are many categories that cater to the female audience that would work well for a female sportsperson like Harmanpreet.

“India's female sports stars have brought pride to the country across table tennis, badminton, boxing, cricket, and even hockey. The time has come to see a lot more brands working with female sports persons which also brings a nice dimension for brands, especially since a lot of them partnered with movie stars. With female sportspersons coming into their own, it will be a definitive move.”

Following WPL, Harmanpreet for her part mentioned that the domestic cricketers will definitely reap the benefits of the league in the next few years. 

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