Brand Rivalry Between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni

Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoy a strong friendship, but very often they are put against each other. They are made to look like competitors, and this trend is not just restricted to the cricketing world. Even the advertising industry realizes that these two sports legends of India have a strong face value, and so, these two men have many rival brands in their personal endorsements lists. Take a look!

Shyam Steel vs. SRMB Steel
Virat has been endorsing Shyam Steel since 2016. Towards the end of 2018, his wife, Anushka Sharma, also joined him as the company’s brand ambassador. Meanwhile, Dhoni began his association with Shyam Steel with Kapil Dev on his side, but now he alone advertises for the brand.

Amaze inverters and batteries vs. LivFast
In 2018, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were roped in by rival brands – Amaze India and LivFast to respectively promote the inverter batteries manufactured by them.

Puma vs. Reebok
Virat is one of the top ambassadors of Puma. In 2017, he struck a massive 100-crore deal with the global sportswear maker. Dhoni, on the other hand, belongs to team Reebok and has a bat sponsorship deal with the brand.

Hero MotoCorp vs. TVS
Virat is the chief endorser of Hero MotoCorp in India and Dhoni has been riding and promoting TVS motorcycles since 2009.

Tissot vs. Panerai
While Virat is an ambassador of Tissot watches, Dhoni is associated with Panerai. A few years ago, Dhoni was the face of Sonata watches.

MuveAcoustics vs. Sound Logic
Muve Acoustics and Sound Logic are sound equipment brands that Virat and Dhoni respectively advertise for. In fact, Virat is also the owner of MuveAcoustics.

Wrogn vs. Seven
Wrogn, a sportswear clothing brand, is owned and advertised by Virat Kohli. Dhoni too owns a similar brand called Seven.

Valvoline vs. Gulf Oil India
Virat Kohli is the main face of Lubricants and automotive services brand, Valvoline while Dhoni is the brand ambassador of Gulf Oil.

Staff

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View Comments

Shyam Steel says:

February 8, 2019 at 7:44 pm

Shyam Steel has always been the “one to watch” as far as advertising is concerned, and to have Virushka on board which are the most talked about power couple to represent the brand says a lot about the marketing strategy of the company. Rival brand in the TMT bar category also have roped in eminent cricketers on board but that does not mean the respective cricketers have any rivalry since both play for the same team and for one nation. Advertising strategy of brands necessitate fellow sports personalities to stand against each other on screen but on field their chemistry as one unit is very well seen.

In our recent campaign, we have shown the couple talk about the Purity in Love and value of Experience in their respective fields of work. The series of advertisements highlights the key aspects of the brand and also correlates with the power couple’s personal lifestyle.

We can also see that all the brands supported by Virat Kohli are much bigger and popular than Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s.

Thanks.