Asics Expands Into India With Pace Endorsements

Japanese challenger brand Asics is aiming to triple its revenue to US$31m in India over the next three years, which include scaling up retail presence and increasing sourcing and manufacturing efforts in the country…Having national team cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on board would certainly ramp up brand awareness in a saturated market space.

According to the ASN Index, Asics is ranked 8^th (1.7% share, ~US$23.5m) for the sports brand category in the Asian sponsorship market since Q415 and unsurprisingly the bulk (70.7%) of its investment is in Japan…India takes up a mere 0.7% of the brand’s spend with the Mumbai Marathon sponsorship sticking out there, prior to its recent dive into cricket. With wrestling’s growing popularity in India, it would be no wonder if Asics plunges into a first-mover advantage by backing the sport soon.

Following the announcement, Bumrah said, “Being an Asics athlete gives me the pleasure of working with a brand that I have been a fan of since my early years. I want to make the most of our association where we inspire and motivate people to ‘move’ and be a part of the larger movement started by Asics.”

Bumrah has made a brilliant comeback to the Indian Test team after with a five-wicket haul in the Trent Bridge Test. He has been out of the T-20, ODI series and first two Tests with an injury. Bhuvneswar, meanwhile, is still nursing an injury sustained on the England tour.