A few weeks ago, on a not so normal Saturday morning, Sachin Tendulkar bid adieu to the 22 yards that have been his favourite piece of real estate for over the last 24 years. The entire nation stopped in its tracks to hear what the little champion had to say. It was an emotion-laden moment as India celebrated the life and times of one of its true post-liberalisation legends.

Sachin has been a synonym for excellence in the new era. His talent, achievements, sheer hunger for the game and mammoth powers of concentration have lit a shining example of what one can do if one puts his mind to it. In fact, there is a lot that even the branding world can borrow from the career and exploits of one of the all-time great sporting brands. Here is a look at a few pointers.

Entering the fray early on At a mere 16 years, Sachin was the youngest Indian test debutant ever. Credit has to be given to the powers that be for not only spotting this precocious talent but also for having the vision to expose him to the rigours of test cricket. Surely he was still a work in progress then, but rather than deciding to wait for the finished product, the BCCI gambled on letting ‘live’ conditions shape him. It is conceivable that Sachin could have cracked under those circumstances. But he only grew magnificently to meet that challenge. That brave decision has been more than vindicated over the last few decades.

Often marketers are reluctant to introduce a brand which they do not consider to be ‘fully complete’. While this might have made sense in a less competitive era, today’s times are such that one needs to review old marketing conventions. Introducing a nearly complete offering also has the advantage that market conditions and feedback can allow for the last round of tinkering and finalisation, both in terms of product development and eventual marketing approach. Interestingly, cell phone brands seem to be adopting this tenet, albeit rather inadvertently. Because every new cell phone model seems to be a small step in a continuous process of evolution towards the perfect product. Needless to say, perhaps this is a call which other categories need to take as well.

Few viewers will ever forget how Sachin conducted himself during his first series in Pakistan. Hit by a fiery Waqar Younis bouncer, he refused to go off the field, only to smash the same bowler for a couple of glorious boundaries in the same over. A few days later, in an exhibition game, the young Tendulkar took on the famous leg spinner Abdul Qadir, and smote him all over the park. It was exhilarating to watch an Indian cricketer take the game to the opposition in foreign conditions, in such an unabashedly aggressive fashion. By the end of this series itself, everyone seemed to concur that here was a player destined for greatness.

Many new brands are intimidated by the giants already in the marketplace. They avoid direct conflict in the fear that they might be swept aside. But the future might belong to those brands which decide to challenge the stalwarts head on. This not only puts them in the same bracket of reckoning as the more established players, but also ensures the veterans suddenly reevaluate their own functioning. There is nothing like a new challenger brand, cockily redefining the rules of the game. The recent success of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) at the Delhi polls is a great example of how a challenger brand went toe to toe with the political heavyweights, at all times taking them on directly. As Sachin showed us at that tour, making such a statement of intent does wonders for one’s salience.

Leveraging a strong foundation Sachin Tendulkar’s career is littered with a dazzling array of big strokes. But prominent in all his long stints at the crease is the presence of the dead straight bat, especially at the outset of his innings. This accent on strong technique, in terms of completely getting behind the line of the delivery, playing in the ‘V’, leaving the good ball alone, and the preference to keep his strokes on the ground, served him immensely. It enabled him not only to conquer test cricket, but also excel at the limited over versions. Sachin was a true master of the batting art, so renditions on different canvases were never a problem.

When a brand begins to acquire great expertise in a certain field, it not only stands it in good stead for the long run, but also has the happy side effect of throwing up interesting other possibilities. This expertise, sometimes also called ‘core competence’, could be in the area of either a specific technological edge, or a strong equity with a certain audience base. For instance, Apple has been able to exploit both product design superiority and a fanatical fan following amongst people who see themselves as rebels, to come up with a slew of highly successful offerings. As in cricket, once a strong foundation has been laid, it is easy to chalk up the big hits.

Adapting to situations Sachin’s two great heroes while growing up represented distinctly contrasting philosophies to batting. On one hand there was the solidly compact defence of Sunil Gavaskar. On the other there was the attacking flamboyance of Vivian Richards. It is discernible that throughout his career, Sachin fluctuated between these two modes, depending on the match situation. He had the capacity of becoming a completely different player, in the very next over. And this is why he was perhaps the first Indian batsman to embrace both test and limited overs cricket with equal aplomb.

Iconic brands do display the versatility of meaning different things to different people, or taking on altered roles to deepen engagement with the audience. In these times of diverse consumer segments, dissimilar markets, varied needs and evolving imagery, having such flexibility built into the brand DNA is one of the primary challenges for brand teams. To be fair, many categories are trying to walk that path – from clothing brands which promise to bridge the gap between work and play to automotive ones which always seek newer roads for the brand to drive on. In an era where adaptability is soon becoming a much sought after virtue, the example of how the Big B managed to give his career a second lease of life, by moving away from his angry young man persona to a more in-touch-with-the-times suave television host shows us that to succeed brands must be willing to cast for different roles.

Letting the numbers speak The adage ‘actions speak louder than words’, probably gets amended to ‘statistics tell their own story’ in the cricketing world. Here Sachin has set truly epochal milestones for the trailing pack. He has chalked up 100 international hundreds. He also possesses the record for the most number of centuries, and the highest aggregate runs in both test and one day cricket. And this is just scratching the surface; actually the list is rather endless. Numbers usually carry the weight and rational support for swaying any argument in one’s favour. Everyone clearly knows what they are gunning for if they are to better Sachin Tendulkar’s impact on the game. On that count alone, Sachin’s credentials probably tip the scales at over a hundred tons.

These days, brands usually shy away from the quantitative pitch, preferring an emotional narrative. But if it can be pulled off, quoting a relevant number has few parallels in terms of making the brand stand apart. Indians have anyway culturally had a bias for the numeric standpoint, right from mythological tales to our present fixation with academic marks and numerology. Which is why Maggi was able to enter many plates (and palates), when it laid down a challenging ‘2-minute’ marker for all snacks competing for the same mouth. Domino’s Pizza also caused the toppings to fall off their competitors crusts, post their ‘30-minute’ delivery promise. Thus the process of working out ‘differentiated figures’ might just give one’s brand an attractive makeover.

Staying humble Sachin’s farewell speech was typical of the man. It was modest and unassuming. He typically shared the credit with everyone else, much like several of his man-of-the-match interviews over the years. Consider this, from a person regularly called ‘the God of cricket’. What has also been consistent about his demeanour is that he has always remained a humble servant of the game. His feet have permanently remained on the ground, even if his cricketing aspirations have frequently soared skywards.

This is perhaps the final lasting lesson which the branding world must cull out from this rousing saga. Many a times these days, brands make emotional claims that are far beyond the scope of their offering. And the tone of voice, which they use to communicate often makes the concept of hyperbole seem a meek one. Brands are getting into the dangerous rut of both over-promising and under-delivering, especially at an emotional level. It is time they consciously borrowed a leaf from the as yet unwritten coaching manual, about how to conduct yourself, authored by a person who carried the expectations of a nation with sublime grace, for the last 24 years.

(Vinay Kanchan is a creative thinking trainer and an independent brand consultant).

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