Celebrity and athlete endorsements
ITW Universe signs cricketers, athletes and actors for brand campaigns, then builds the content and media around them. Its work includes MS Dhoni for Citroën and EMotorad, Chris Gayle for Zomato, Mrunal Thakur for HMD, Sachin Tendulkar for Unacademy and Rahul Dravid for CRED.
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From brief to signed talent
Match the talent to the brief
Talent is chosen for fit with the audience. Chris Gayle was picked for Zomato for his personality and pan-India appeal through the IPL; Mrunal Thakur for HMD for her relatability and a 10.8 million Instagram following reaching Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Onboard and clear the rights
ITW Universe onboards the talent and handles the paperwork. For Unacademy it licensed Sachin Tendulkar clips through 9 cricket boards and gave legal advice through the process.
Time it to the moment
Campaigns are tied to big cricket moments: Citroën's "Team Dhoni" launched ahead of the T20 World Cup, and Zomato's Chris Gayle ad ran during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
Build the content
Concepts are built to travel. EMotorad recreated a viral meme with an MS Dhoni lookalike; CRED's "Indiranagar ka Gunda" showed an unexpected side of Rahul Dravid.
Amplify
ITW Universe amplified CRED's Dravid ad with an influencer campaign including Ravichandran Ashwin and Suryakumar Yadav.
Measure
Each case study reports views and engagement, from 3.6 million reel viewers for HMD to over 100 million views for Zomato and for Unacademy.
What the campaigns delivered
11M+ views in 10 days
The Citroën Team Dhoni video passed 11 million YouTube views in 10 days. Read the case study
7M+ YouTube views
EMotorad's first major campaign passed 7 million YouTube views and trended on Twitter. Read the case study
100M+ views
Over 100 million views across YouTube and Instagram, with nearly 500k likes. Read the case study
8% engagement
Two reels reached over 3.6 million viewers at an 8% engagement rate. Read the case study
100M+ YouTube views
"The Greatest Lesson" passed 100 million YouTube views, plus 8.1 million views on Twitter. Read the case study
Gold, Foxglove Awards
Over 3 million social views in under a day; a Gold at Shutterstock's Foxglove Awards for influencer use in content marketing. Read the case study
Proof of work
Common questions
Does ITW Universe sign celebrities and athletes for brand campaigns?
Yes. ITW Universe has onboarded MS Dhoni for Citroën and EMotorad, Chris Gayle for Zomato, Mrunal Thakur for HMD and Rahul Dravid for CRED.
How is the right talent chosen?
By fit with the brand's audience and goals. For HMD, Mrunal Thakur's Instagram following matched the Tier 2 and Tier 3 audience; for Zomato, Chris Gayle's IPL appeal and chemistry with Ranveer Singh suited the campaign.
Can ITW Universe license archive footage of a sports star?
Yes. For Unacademy, ITW Universe licensed Sachin Tendulkar clips with 9 cricket boards and gave legal advice through the process.
Does ITW Universe also produce and promote the campaign?
Yes. For CRED it handled end-to-end coordination and execution of the Rahul Dravid ad and ran an influencer campaign to amplify it.
What results have endorsement campaigns delivered?
Results include over 100 million views for Zomato × Chris Gayle and Unacademy × Sachin Tendulkar, and 11 million views in 10 days for Citroën × MS Dhoni.
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