Leadership Talk

With the glorious finish of the London 2012 Games, one thing that our country has been proud of is the 7 medals our champs brought in, (both for the Olympics as well as the Paralympics); and what has been celebrated since, has not only been their success, but also their haul of hearts.

In India, a land where the people are mostly captured by their passion and imagination for only a few sports, this is the one time where people focus on sports other than cricket and other such niche sports. People are taking notice of sports such as boxing, badminton, and shooting amongst others—and the good news is that their interest is on the rise.

For us at IOS, this translates as an emotional high, and one pregnant with opportunity as well! Brand experts agree, saying that this could be the ideal time to make the proverbial hay on the endorsement circuit, since the Olympians’ image is set to see a record high.

Sports people engaged in sports that already were popular (such as badminton or boxing) will be able to achieve much more at this spike in interest according to industry experts, because they have had huge fan base already in existence, compared to sports like shooting or squash which are still in the process of garnering more supporters and amateur players.

Yogeshwar Dutt and Mary Kom have received a number of engagements-- Mary Kom is a known face and an Indian superwoman, and we have received a number of enquiries about her. IOS expects to be signing her with about 4-5 brands over a 2-week period.

People who watch the advertisements and events that these intrepid sportspeople attend, recognize their potential and extend their support to the athletes as well as their sports, so it’s a win-win situation for us. This way, even if our window of opportunity closes, the golden circle of support for the athletes and sport is gleaming. That’s our aim—to get to the place of letting that circle of support to work, hence encouraging more sports talent in this country.

Today is the day for dauntless champions, and we hope that in its eve, our champions would have multiplied and would strive to add to our country’s splendor.