World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand: the 'Credible' brand ambassador

Vishwanathan Anand has served as a perfect fit to many commercial brands (Getty Images)

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has starred in at least four commercial advertising campaigns. His wife Aruna has been a part of two of these advertising films as well. ‘Vishy’ Anand has been a brand ambassador for NIIT (global IT services company) for 14 years now. Brands he has associated with include AMD India, Union Bank of India, Parle-G, Crocin, etc.

These brands have tried to leverage not only Anand’s intelligence quotient, but also his image of the “likeable, quiet powerhouse” champion and dependability. Anand epitomises determination, intelligence and resilience. His brand image in India is all about credibility.

NIIT’s 13-year long relationship with Anand has been built on the basis of the similarities between the game of chess and the brand personality of NIIT. Explaining the powerful synergy between the two, Prateek Chatterjee, Associate Vice President & Head- Corporate Communications, NIIT says, “Just as chess helps to develop the young mind and enhance lateral thinking skills; NIIT has also been shaping minds by bringing people and computers together.”

Among the various marketing campaigns with the chess master, the prominent ones include an NIIT mind champion’s academy, a joint initiative between Anand and NIIT with the objective of promoting chess among school students. Its direct connect based marketing strategy for this ten-year-old academy, that boasts of 15 lakh members, focuses on on-ground activities like mentoring, and lectures by Anand. Its latest campaign ‘Turning Point’ will also see similar interactive activities by Anand.

Most experts agree that NIIT has benefited tremendously from its association with Anand, who has a hard appeal which goes well with the brand’s intended positioning and career oriented outlook.

According to Dr Prashant Mishra, Associate Professor IIM Calcutta, besides NIIT, AMD’s association with Anand is also a correct fit since AMD talks of performance, stability, and technical intelligence; traits that perfectly match Anand’s personality.

Real estate developer TVH also took on World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand as brand ambassador late last year. N. Ravichandran, Chairman, TVH Group, said the company had created a niche by being a customer-centric real estate brand. “The credibility factor associated with Mr. Viswanathan Anand, as a result of his impressive track record, prompted us to have him as our brand ambassador. We wanted to bring in a Chennai boy into our fold,” he added.

Mr. Viswanathan Anand said he himself was a customer of TVH and that his experience was good. “We will do some interesting things together, including chess,” the chess champion said. The association with TVH would grow in strength in the years to come, he added.

Anand also represents Vidyasagar (formerly known as the Spastics Society of India) as its global ambassador, without charging a fee and hosts an annual fundraiser for Vidyasagar each year.

Here are five commercial advertising videos with World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand that you are sure to enjoy – particularly the first one which chess ‘wins’ for Vishy Anand in a cricket-crazy country!