Abu Dhabi: India’s Tata Motors, maker of luxury cars such as Jaguar and Land Rover, has made a bold bid to accelerate its brand by signing football superstar Lionel Messi as its brand ambassador for the next two years.
The firm says the recruitment of the Argentina and Barcelona striker, who is currently out of action until the end of the month with a knee injury sustained at the end of September, is designed to raise its “cool quotient” globally.
Mayank Pareek, president of the passenger vehicle business unit at Mumbai-based Tata Motors, said the company said the coup would help the company “break from the clutter”.
He added that the partnership with the 28-year-old would help the company reclaim its lost position in the Indian market backed by a series of new products, innovative sales programmes and customer-reach initiatives.
Messi, a four-time winner of the best football player of the world award, the Ballon d’Or, said: “I am very excited about my first association with an Indian brand and am extremely thrilled to be a part of the Tata Motors family. I have always been fascinated by India and have heard such great things about this diverse country.”
Tata Motors unveiled its first campaign featuring the Argentine captain on Tuesday, which shows Messi saying ‘Namaste India’ with folded hands in a traditional manner of Indian greeting. It has been created with the social media hashtag #madeofgreat.
Market experts estimate the Messi deal to be between Rs120-150 million (Dh6.73-8.41 million), which is only slightly higher than that charged by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor and thought to be a lot less than Woods’ fee.
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