MUMBAI: Global client advisory Duff & Phelps Thursday announced findings from the fourth edition of its Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2018: ‘The Bold, the Beautiful and the Brilliant.’
The report provides a ranking of India’s most powerful celebrity brands based on brand values derived from their endorsement contracts.
Team India captain Virat Kohli retained his top position in the ranking for a second year running, being the primary choice of product brands to engage and attract consumers. He is the most valuable celebrity brand of India with brand value of $171 million, up 19% in 2018.
According to the report, the number of product brands endorsed by the Indian captain as of November 2018 was 24, ahead of Hindi film stars Akshay Kumar (ranking 3, brands endorsed 22) and Deepika Padukone (ranking 2, brands endorsed 21) respectively.
As per the findings of the study, the total brand value of the top 20 celebrities in India is $877 million, which represented a 13% increase as compared to last year.
Commenting on the rise of the endorsement market in India, Varun Gupta, managing director and Asia Pacific leader for Valuation Services, Duff & Phelps said: “The celebrity endorsement market in India has matured from vanilla endorsement deals to full-fledged partnerships through innovative routes such as equity deals and strategic partnerships. On the other hand, rising internet penetration, varied formats of content consumption and a burgeoning middle class with increasing disposable incomes are boosting media spends on traditional and digital advertisements through celebrities. Millennial celebrities continue to be the first choice for brand endorsements as companies want to have a greater focus on the youth segment fuelled by demand in sectors such as e-commerce, retail, FMCG and smartphones, among others.”
Three other sports personalities have made it to Duff & Phelps’ Top 20 list. They are Mahendra Singh Dhoni (brand value $26.9m, ranking 12); Sachin Tendulkar (brand value $21.7m, ranking 14) and PV Sindhu (brand value $21.6m, ranking 15).
Aviral Jain, managing director, Duff & Phelps, noted: “While Bollywood celebrities dominate the rankings of the top 20 celebrities, sportspersons provide tough competition. Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and PV Sindhu collectively contributed almost $241 million, which is over 27% of the cumulative brand value of the top 20 celebrities pegged at $877 million.”
Post Retirement Stints of Sports Celebrities
Be it Michael Jordan in the West or Sachin Tendulkar in the East, their earnings have seen a positive slope even after the final whistle has blown on their careers.
Mrinmoy Mukherjee, CEO of the Master Blaster’s SRT Sports Management Company, opined: “Sachin Tendulkar’s digital footprint doubled in the last 2 years to 70 million and the revenues have increased by 2.3x between 2013 and 2018. During this period per brand revenue has gone up by 4 times, a clear indication that despite retirement, his brand value still stands solid and that his aura will always be embossed in the minds of the consumers.”
Brands endorsed by sportspersons in their second innings
Sachin Tendulkar:
IDBI Federal, BMW, DBS Bank, Apollo Tyres, Luminous Power Technologies, Unicef, Quaker Oats + Milk, Rorito, Liv Pure, Oxigen Wallet, Mumbai Indians, Mumbai T20 League, *Smaaash, *True Blue, *Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy, *Smartron, *USPL
(Note: *Sachin has ownership stake/partnership/joint venture with these companies)
Rahul Dravid:
Google Pixel, Aptech Learning, Centria, Philips Air Purifier, Sanspreil, Greenlands
Saurav Ganguly:
StayHappi, Essilor lens, Complan, DTDC
Trevor Birch, managing director, Duff & Phelps, Ex Chelsea FC and Everton FC CEO, averred: “True sporting legends have enjoyed enduring popularity with an ability to attract annuity endorsements beyond their playing days. Starting in the 1960s with the great golfing triumvirate of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus and assisted by their sports agent, the legendary Mark McCormick, they paved the way for sports stars to monetise their popularity. As they have grown older their fans have remained loyal and hence their earnings in some cases exceeded what they generated in their playing days. Other sports have seen the same effect, notably boxing with Muhammed Ali, football with Pele, Maradona, David Beckham and tennis with Fred Perry, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg (not to mention Roger Federer who, with such an iconic image, is likely to surpass all post-career earnings in the future.)”
