Virat has a message for you

Built over a career and as captivating as a stylish ton, Kohli Inc. is a business that cricket has never seen before.

Artwork by Fisher Classics

Since Virat Kohli walked off the field for the final time you’d find it hard to imagine he’s heading off into the wild blue yonder like the end of the Trueman Show. He’s stepped off one set into a new stage; one of the most lucrative post-playing careers in world sport, ever.

Pete and Gid spent an hour waxing on Virat the cricketer (take a look if you’ve not already). He’s also a marketing behemoth the likes of which are incredibly rare.

Kohli is a unique entity. He is not simply the movie star hero swagger cricketer that Miller and Compton were. He is not the pious deity of Tendulkar. He is not the braggadocio and gaucheness of Warne. He is somehow all of them and as bankable as any movie star. He’s got a governing hand in his own image, a type of superstar magnate we’ve not seen before.

Kohli’s brand is inexorably linked to his legendary focus. Almost every Kohli cricket obituary of his career mentions the death of his father while he was batting in a Ranji Trophy game. This terrible tragedy for a young man has become the cornerstone of his legend; he batted on for 90. This was his origin story. This was defiant grit. Later would come the glamour.

Virat was a three-format dominator who embodied modern Indian (and subsequently, World) Cricket. He was fierce, polished and a dream for the cameras and media. His intensity was magnetic. He brought a footballer’s fire to Indian cricket’s more reserved traditions. Home fans lapped it up. Opposing fans nodded begrudging respect. Media would look to him for a story. Brands reached over the top of each other to get a bit of it.

In 2023, Kohli’s personal brand was valued at $176.9 million USD, making him India’s most valuable celebrity for the sixth consecutive year. Kohli boasts over 370 million social media followers combined.

He has worked with Puma, Audi, MRF, PepsiCo, Google, Uber, Colgate, and Himalaya. The difference to his closest comparative predecessor, Sachin Tendulkar is that he actively has driven the campaigns. While Sachin would smilingly appear on billboards for companies in the mid 2000’s, Virat is walking and talking the brand story hand in glove.

Tendulkar’s humility and deference was a cornerstone of his aura. He was a pleasant but excellent star that was rarely heard from, quiet to the point of divine. Tendulkar sat atop the opening economy of India and touched brands as if to bless them (often direct competitors).