Athlete activism is going to only grow bigger: Udita Dutta

Is there a growing consciousness amongst celebrities with regards to what they wish to be associated with? In this episode of Mrigashira, a podcast for communicators, Charu Raizada speaks to Udita Dutta, an award winning journalist-turned-entrepreneur. Udita is the Founder Director at Artsmith Concepts & Visions, a specialised sports and e-sports agency.

Listen to the podcast here: https: https://open.spotify.com/episode/75vWj4OOWFc4woXBxOkxj6?si=2Fmjt8jcSmqnQyNz0kt2Hw&dl_branch=1

Brands make celebrity’s cult and those celebrities behave in a manner detrimental to brands at times. What’s your take on that?

There was a time when a brand would decide, okay, this is the person I need to associate with, get that guy on board and once you have them, then it’s an easy-peasy thing. But those times have gone. You may have the best guy with all the best interests and it may not work. It’s been a longstanding symbiotic relationship that brands and celebrities have had when it comes to endorsement. Remember, back in the days when you had a Steve McQueen and Ford, right, what an amazing combination, or a Marilyn Monroe and Chanel, or Muhammad Ali and Porsche. But then there was no social media. It was only about a certain clause that a brand would give to a celebrity and those do’s and don’ts were followed. What the Ronaldo – Coke incident did was not new. It just brought the entire thing out in the open – it is a white elephant sitting in the room,and it is not going to be quiet anymore and that, it is about athlete activism, which is what is critical.

Why is it so difficult for brands or anybody to understand that personal choices of a celebrity also need to be respected?

Coke, actually is one product that is heavily invested in sports, look at the Olympics, FIFA, UEFA, they are everywhere. That has been their strategic way of associating, because they associate themselves with happiness. You talk about sports, its happiness, and its passion. So, it’s kind of a brand integration, but you need to also understand as a brand, and it goes for every brand, athlete activism is something which is only going to go bigger, because now every athlete has a power and that’s the power of them themselves being a brand. Now you cannot just overshadow that, there has to be conversations and this doesn’t have an absolute black and white answer to it as it is a very evolving space. This, I think, is one of the incidents which should make brands go back to the drawing table and start discussing when the contracts are drawn. Athletes are human brands and they are investing a lot to make that, so they are not going to compromise.

With today’s consumer, and especially Gen Z, patronising purpose led brands, are celebrities under pressure to act even more responsibly?

They are conscious for sure. I would take an example of a famous Pakistani cricketer who used to come to India and he would go to parties and then next day there were headlines around how irresponsible he is. I don’t think anybody today would take that chance, because they know what kind of values they are riding on. We need to have agreements which are lot more conscious driven. The athletes are answerable to their fans now and to them you cannot lie.  You cannot have double standards anymore.

How big a threat are influencers for today’s celebrities?

For celebrities there was a time when brands would dictate and tell you not to talk on religion or politics. But today, if a celebrity is asked a question on the current scenario in the country and you don’t answer, you get trolled. So, this is the time when you need to have your stance. Now, not many athletes or celebrities want to do that, but I think it’s time they also understand that not commenting doesn’t help their cause. Eventually, you will need to talk. It may not be controversial, but you need to have your opinion, opinions are what will drive tomorrow’s brand narratives.

Look at what had happened to Tiger Woods – when the sex scandal came out and all the brands were disassociating themselves from him, Nike stood by him, whereas Gillette or Gatorade kind of withdrew. But then he came out clean, gave a great interview and fans were back supporting him, because, you know, it’s a time when even celebrities need to accept that they are vulnerable, they are prone to making mistakes, but when you own up, the fans will come back to you and they will support you like never before.

Coming back to the influencers, today it is not about just influencer versus celebrity when it comes to brand endorsement. Today, brands are not looking at just doing one national rollout, but also nano penetrations in a segment. So, you may not even need a top celebrity, you may need just a guy who has enough followers and who people in that country or that language or that locality follow and look up to. Or you just create one. Influencers are more penetrative and have more value on social media because that guy is one of the fans and not someone who is an outsider. So, the brand narratives are way more credible.

*Edited for length and clarity

(Mirgashira is a podcast for Indian PR and Communication professionals anchored by RadhaRadhakrishnan and Charu Raizada. To listen to all episodes visit https://www.mrigashirapodcast.com/)