Fresh from his daughter's assembly, Kevin Pietersen sat with Manifest to discuss how he approaches endorsements, his love for wildlife, how he hasn't been able to monetise his social media following to his linking, and more...

Which was the first brand you endorsed? Could you share some memories from the shoot?

(Thinks hard) Oh wow. When I started, I was endorsing Red Bull, and Woodworm (bats). I was also the ‘Brylcreem boy’ for a couple of years. Then I did Pepsi in India – the Alti Palti switch hit ad. I can’t recollect which was the first one though.

I remember doing magazine shoots. I did a shoot for the News Of The World, a newspaper in the UK. I was a columnist for it and so I had to do a photo shoot. I had never done something like this before. However, doing  interviews about the game was normal. When I had to jump in front of the bright lights, there was a lot associated with it. It was like an occupation alongside my professional job. The first couple of times I did it they were intimidating but as it went along it became normal.

You talk about it being intimidating but when you made your debut for England – you had the coloured hair, the tattoos and the aggression. You were considered as one of the cooler players. Do you think that helped in establishing your brand and it led to endorsements?

Absolutely. Even to this day, people speak about the hair. I suppose style did help. It was quite an early indicator of how my career would go. There would be some good stuff, some bad stuff, some colourful stuff too. I believe that’s what happens when a brand is being built too.

You have to be authentic. I have never diverted away from who I was as a person. If I wanted to get blue hair – I would get it. I was impulsive and impatient. I’m 43 now. Now, I’m a lot more patient and structured and I guess that also happens when you have children. During my playing days – at my job which was cricket, I was structured and incredibly professional.

I sort of matched my brand with my on-field antics which was the key to building a brand. You can’t talk the talk and not walk the walk.

How do you pick brand associations? Are there any categories that you wouldn’t want to associate with?

I’ve always gone for longevity. I believe you have to have some sort of connection for some time so that people think the collaboration is one of trust and authenticity. I don’t like smash-and-grabs. The longer partnerships help me understand the brand and for the brand team to understand what my brand is. That helps build on stepping stones and the commercial value associated helps benefit both sides.

You’re very passionate about wildlife and in particular endangered species. Has that passion developed into commercial agreements?

I don’t have many commercial agreements. I’m a global brand ambassador for Hublot. Hublot and my social enterprise – SORAI (Save Our Rhinos in Africa and India) have a partnership going which is very important in my next journey.

I think while being a star in a certain sporting sphere, I have a responsibility and duty to be able to use that profile for good. That’s what I’ve tried to do with something I’m incredibly passionate about. I’m so passionate about Africa and adore India. With SORAI, my immediate focus is on South Africa because there’s a lot of stuff happening there currently which isn’t good for endangered species. India is incredible and I shot a documentary for National Geographic in Kaziranga a few years ago.

The population of wildlife is thriving because there’s a different dynamic in how India protects its animals compared to South Africa. So I’m focussing on South Africa and trying to save the last white and black herd of rhinos at the Kruger National Park. I’m not the kind of guy who just goes and does charity for a photo opportunity. I’m using a lot of my own money.

I’ve got two of my lodges in South Africa.So I’m invested in the conservation space and not just a talker. I’m a doer. I’ve just got an email from the lady who takes care of Care for Wild in South Africa. She informed me about the birth of a rhino and was also happy to share that the Care for Wild team climbed one of the tallest mountains in the Reserve to install a new tower. Repeaters have been installed on the tower to give a larger network area for AI and tracking. They thanked me and the team for helping us facilitate this venture. That shows we are fully committed to what we’re doing. That’s what I love doing and protecting these beautiful pieces is a passion of mine.

You mentioned how Hublot has supported it. Have any other brands also come forward?

There have been conversations. I would love to get some big Indian partners to jump into this. I come along with it – so there’s a bonus of having millions and millions of followers on social media. We have runs on the board and not just starting.

I was in Lucknow recently and there was a picture of a rhino and a steel company and another one with a cement company. There are some huge organisations there and all we need to do is join forces to bring out the message.

We are launching a programme in the next month which is subscription-driven. The subscription will be INR 100 (a pound a month) and that’s not even money to many in India given there’s a middle class of 400 million people.

Over the last 10 years of being in this space, I’ve had conversations with people who have said that they can’t get to South Africa but they have seen what I’m doing and want to help.

For approximately INR 100 per month, a subscription driven ‘Human Fence’ has been created. It is where everyone around the world can join in. The mail I was referring to will go out in the form of a newsletter to the partners so that they can know they were a part of a rhino being born. Going to South Africa and in particular on a safari can be very expensive. But these people still want to help. And it’s cheaper than a Starbucks coffee.

If you have to define what brand Kevin Pietersen is, how would you do so?

A brand that’s a household name, that has history, authenticity, and transcends boundaries because it’s fairly global.

In India, when a player fails, people usually jump onto the bandwagon and claim that he is more interested in advertising which is affecting his performance. Did you face that in England too? What are your thoughts on the same?

It doesn’t happen in the UK because they don’t have the same number of brand associations as the Indian players do. I think Virat Kohli must be endorsing about 25-30 brands. Here in the UK, the players will have two or three.

Fans need to understand that ads are a part of life for these players. I’d tell the players - just make hay while the sun shines. Don’t listen to people – they talk nonsense. When you’re retired you’ll understand that those doors that are open now will close. No matter how good you were during your playing career you won’t have people knocking at your door after your career is over.

You have shot commercials in India, which include the Pepsi campaign for the 2011 World Cup that you spoke about. Could you share your experience of the difference in shooting campaigns in India and the UK?

There are a lot less people in the UK on the set compared to India. Other than that there’s no difference. The directors and photographers are incredibly professional and do some amazing work. If you have a look at what’s shot in India, it’s fairly global now. Some of the stuff being shot in India is quality.

The one thing you like about advertising and the one thing you don’t?

In advertising, I’ve been lucky to deal with big brands across my career. I’ve not got into bed with a brand that’s taken the piss. It’s very clear what’s identified in a contract and I’ll fulfil those obligations wholly. There’s no room to manoeuvre and it’s even more so now that I own my brand SORAI.

The more mature you are, you understand what advertising does and how important it is. You’ve to put your professional mind to it. My agent also looked long-term. The first question we asked brands was not about money – it was about the value and achieving things together. It’s not quite advertising, but I would say sportspeople hate headlines. I understand that the headline draws attention to certain articles but they can be misleading.

No pressure on me then for this one in finding the right headline...

It doesn’t matter as much when you’ve finished your playing career. You’re in the spotlight during your playing days and somebody writes a headline - you read it and tell the person who has written it that you didn’t really say that.

And then they say read the article. But people have seen the headline and jumped on to the next story.

Any categories you wouldn’t endorse?

When it comes to conversation and SORAI, we’ll talk to anyone. When it comes to me, I’m conscious of who I associate myself with. I can’t associate myself with some brand that people don’t think fits my image.

You are quite active on social media. While you’ve batted for causes like wildlife, you’ve also taken on the likes of Qantas, and British Airways. What’s your take on social media? Do you also engage in banter with fans?

Sometimes I do. Now, I don’t have much time to deal with social media and the banter. I have fun on social media and end up posting what I like.

But I suppose what I want to do is monetise it better. My wife told me recently that her band member with a tenth of my following gets so much out of it. I’ve never done that with my social media. There have been people telling me that I should be making so much more money from it and that’s something that I actively want to pursue now.

I think it’s easy to do because you don’t need to fly in and out or spend too much time filming content. I want to get five to ten of those away in a year.

Do you have a dream brand to work with?

(Thinks for a while) No. I’m not a dreamy kind of person when it comes to brand associations. I treat everybody the same. I don’t treat a big brand differently to a startup that’s doing well for itself. I know how hard it is and how much work it demands for a startup to get somewhere.

The big conglomerates have done all the hard work and it’s great, but the ones who have recently done the great work are the startups. I like that authentic and trusted engagement and partnership.

This article first appeared in the June print issue of Manifest. Subscribe to Manifest here.