Hero splurges Rs 250 cr for Tiger Woods: Can he swing it for the company globally?

Who says around of golf can’t help you net you a good deal? Tiger Woods may have lost the top billing he once enjoyed in the sportbut thegolfer’s decision to play a round in India in February this year seems to have paid rich dividends with the HeroGroup splurging Rs 250 crore ($40 million) to rope him in as a brandambassador for the company.

According to a report in the Times of India, India’s biggest two-wheeler has signed a four-year endorsement deal with Woods which will see the golfer endorse the brand across the world as the company expands its operations.

Vice chairman of the company Pawan Munjal, who announced the deal in the US, was quoted in the deal as saying that the brand had made the investment for the future and was in keeping with the company’s desire to be present in 50 countries by 2020.

Munjal told Forbes that they wanted to make the Hero brand recognisableglobally and they were sure they’d be able to do that with Woods and planned to use him to promote the company’s products across differentmediums.

Woods was last in India to play a round of golf with Munjal as his partner in February for which the Hero group chief was estimated to have shelled out $2.5 million (approximately Rs 1 crore) while select invitees like Vice Chairman of DLF Rajiv Singh, NDTV’s Prannoy Roy and Hero’s Colombia unit chief were called in to watch. The golfer’snow expected to turn up for the golf tournament sponsored by Hero thanks to the new deal.

The brand already has actors Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt endorsing its products.

For Woods, this is one of the better deals he’s managed to sign in recent times. As this Forbes report points out, he’s seen a lot of sponsors leave after his controversial divorce and its fallout, but he still remains one of the highest paid athletes in the world with $61.2 million in earnings. Hisdeal with sporting gear giant Nike is still one of the biggest ever in the world of sports.

Woods also isn’t exactly at the peak of his career, failing to make the cut for the PGA Championship in August and seeing his world ranking fall to 24 after starting the year at rank 1, the report points out.

The deal is one of the biggestsigned by an Indian company with an international celebrity, with most companies preferring to plump for either Indian celebrities or sportsmen. According to a recent report , top cricketers on an average get approximately Rs 8 crore per annum as endorsement fee while actors like Ranbir Kapoor can charge upwards of Rs 13 crore per endorsement.

There are expectedly questions over whether the golfer was the best pick for the two-wheeler giant given that he’s not a even known biker. However,Indian brands have shown they’reno longer averse to usingthe celebrity value associated withglobal brand ambassadors, as Micromax showed by roping in Hollywood actorHugh Jackman for endorsing a line of phones.

Herohas been facing a fair deal of competition in the Indian markets with erstwhile partner Honda taking it on in India, and the company has been pushing to expandinto markets in Asia, the Americas and Africa and is reportedly aiming to have 10 percent of itssales coming from outside Indiaby 2020. Hero and Munjal will be hoping Woods can swing the balance in their favour.