Brands make a beeline for stars to cash in on their popularity, sign them up for long-term deals
Post-Tokyo 2020, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won India’s only individual Olympic gold after Abhinav Bindra, has been signed by Gillette and MuscleBlaze and has seen a 12x spike in endorsement fees; Image: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Sporting highs have often amped up the brand equity of athletes. Over the years, brands have feted Olympic medallists, and have roped them in to leverage their visibility and popular recall.
After Tokyo 2020, too, brands are making a beeline for star performers like Neeraj Chopra, Bajrang Punia, Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu, among others, and signing them up for long-term endorsement deals. According to a source from a renowned PR and media strategy company, these deals are expected to run till the 2024 Paris Olympics. Which is a pleasant shift from earlier paradigms when the glamour of Olympic athletes would start waning about three months after their glories.
Says brand-strategy expert Harish Bijoor: “The world of brand endorsements is a lot more secular to sport of every kind today than it was yesterday, when the value of an Olympic star would dip three months after. Yesterday it was a besottedness with cricket. Today there is a wee bit of an acceptance of more. Keeping this in mind, brands from every realm, be it FMCG, durables, startups, ecommerce, auto and more will show interest in our Olympic stars.”
In the past, Abhinav Bindra, the gold-medallist shooter in 2008, has endorsed brands like Samsung and Walther Rifles India, while bronze-medal winning pugilist Vijender Singh became the face of Pepsico, Bajaj Allianz etc. Post-Tokyo 2020, too, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won India’s only individual Olympic gold after Bindra, has been signed by Gillette and MuscleBlaze, while bronze-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia will now be the face of companies like Asics, Optimum Nutrition, Thums Up, and Moj. Oil company Exxon Mobil has also signed contracts with both.
What’s more, Chopra and Punia have also struck gold with their endorsement fees, which have recorded a 12x spike. “Before Tokyo 2020, their endorsement fees were in the range of Rs 20-30 lakh per annum. Now, they have jumped more than 1,000 percent”, says the source. Currently, all endorsement deals for these two athletes are being negotiated upwards of Rs 2.5 crore per annum.