He is normally seen on his company motorcycles but this time Pawan Munjal is taking a speed boat across the Pointe Tibet lake in Orlando for a special evening. James Bond is not his usual style but his moves of late have made him a hero in Florida, America's golf capital.
"We are signing up Tiger Woods for the global endorsement of our brand as we enter more international markets," he says getting off the jetty for special evening at golfer Daniel Chopra's (Swede born Indian with PGA wins to credit) home in the wealthy Isleworth neighbourhood in Orlando. The area is home to most of the world's top golfers and Tiger lived a few streets down before he moved to Jupiter Island into a private villa after the fallout with his wife.
It's only an appropriate venue to announce Tiger as their new brand ambassador and we are meeting in this setting. "I have goosebumps as I announce this," says Munjal excited about this deal. It's a coup and he knows it. Not just for Tiger but also for Hero.
"Having spread our footprints across Asia, South and Central America and Africa over the past two years, we are now poised to make a quantum jump in our global foray, aiming to be in as many as 50 countries by 2020," he says. His ambitions are big, big enough to get the word around in the vicinity urging golf legend Arnold Palmer to drop by to say hello. "We need people like you to change golf's future, especially the connect you bring for India and the new markets. We have just launched our India office for design as well," shares Palmer. We get back to talking some numbers. "By the year 2020, Hero aims to be present in 50 countries with an annual combined sales volume of 12 million units. By that year, Hero also aims to surpass the cumulative sales of 100 million two-wheelers," he shares the new brand thinking.
Munjal doesn't shy away from the obvious question around Tiger's scandals involving women, and the possible impact on brand messaging. "We evaluated everything. We believe that's all behind him now," he asserts. "He is a phenomenon – a symbol of humility in victory and grace in adversity."
The deal wasn't signed up after a round of golf between Munjal and Tiger as one would have though. It all started in a locker room seven years ago when Munjal friend Daniel Chopra introduced the two.
Ever since then, Tiger visited India and played in a private tournament with Munjal and enthralled the crowds here. Tiger may not come to play the Indian Open 2015 edition but he will surely get his foundation to do more work with children and students in India. For golf as a sport such an association can only inspire more and more children to pick up the game and excel at it.
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