HSBC India has just landed Virat Kohli as brand ambassador, while Dream11 has pulled out all the stops with Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, and Sharman Joshi as its “sab khelenge” campaign ambassadors. There’s also Havmor Ice Cream that has gone ahead and made Hardik Pandya its official brand ambassador. The list goes on and it’s all happening during the Indian Premier League (IPL), and brands are splashing big money, up to Rs 10 crore, for these celebrity endorsements. Everyone is clamoring for a piece of the action.
Turns out, brands have shelled out nearly Rs500 crore on celebrity ambassadors. From small businesses to industry giants, everyone seems to have joined the endorsement bandwagon, roping in celebrities from the worlds of cricket and cinema.
Virat Kohli, for instance, is omnipresent in ads, endorsing everything from fantasy sports to tiles to banking services. Several brands such as MPL, Hindware, Puma, toothsi, and HSBC have launched new campaigns with the cricketer this IPL season. Kohli is not the only one though. There’s also MS Dhoni, Amitabh Bachhan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Rohit Sharma, among others.
The big question is, is it all worth it?
Film trade analyst and expert Atul Mohan said investment in celebrities have gone up during the IPL because brands are looking for credible faces for their big campaigns and long term investments.
“The endorsement fees might sound staggering but they add a lot of value to the brand in terms of creating credibility, reach and recall. This is still something that influencers do not bring to the table,” he said.
While some may argue that the star power of these celebrities can attract consumers and drive sales, others point out that the cost of these endorsements may outweigh the benefits.
“Mostly the IPL rush is a FOMO effect, where brands’ fear of the missing out factor has a huge role to play. In rare cases, brands rush to IPL because they have a brand building campaign, or the opportunity is right,” said N. Chandramouli, CEO at consumer analytics and brand insights agency TRA Research.
‘The decision of whether the ROI on an IPL campaign is worth it, is a brand’s choice. However, brands must evaluate the value they get back in return. They must keenly measure whether the buying propensity, or keenness-to-buy, for the brand has risen,” he added.
Fees for top celeb endorsements
Celebrities from the worlds of cinema and cricket can command endorsement fees ranging from Rs1 crore to Rs10 crore, according to industry sources. Virat Kohli reportedly charges around Rs5-6 crore per day, and his fees can go up even further when he appears alongside his celebrity partner, Anushka Sharma, in ads for brands like Hero MotoCorp, toothsi, and Puma.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni’s fees can reach up to Rs8 crore, while Akshay Kumar is believed to charge around Rs1.5-2 crore per day. Amitabh Bachchan’s endorsement fees range from Rs1-1.5 crore per day, and Deepika Padukone’s fees are estimated at Rs12-15 crore per year. Ranveer Singh and Shah Rukh Khan are said to charge around Rs5-7 crore per day.
While there is no official confirmation of these fees, these numbers are generally accepted as being within the ballpark of what these celebrities command for their brand endorsements.
As for popularity, Kroll’s latest Celebrity Brand Valuation Study said Ranveer was the most valued celebrity of 2022 with a brand value of USD 181.7 million. Virat Kohli secured second position with a brand value of USD 176.9 million and Akshay Kumar stayed steady at the third position with a brand value of USD 153.6 million.
Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna feature on the top 25 list with brand values of USD 31.4 million and USD 25.3 million, making it the first time for a South Indian celebrity to be featured on the list. Other new additions included Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra who debuted with a brand value of USD 26.5 million at number 23.
What brands think?
Hindware Limited that just launched a new TVC starring Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Glenn Maxwell, Shikhar Dhawan, Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran had its sponsorship budget increased this year.
“Our decision to collaborate with Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore for this IPL season was driven by our strategy to increase brand visibility in key markets, and we are thrilled with the impact it has had so far and due to this collaboration,” said Sudhanshu Pokhriyal, CEO, bath and tiles, Hindware Limited.
“This season, we have increased our sponsorship budget compared to last year, we believe that the long-term benefits to our brand will be worth it. We measure the ROI of this campaign not just in terms of immediate sales or revenue, but also in terms of brand awareness, customer acquisition, and overall brand recall,” he added.
According to Pokhriyal, since this year’s IPL partnership with the Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore has been a success for them, they’d be continuing their long-term investment in the tournament to establish a stronger connection with millennial audiences.
For some, IPL is one of the most crucial marketing vehicles. These brands not only include related sectors like fantasy sport apps but also others that have nothing to do with cricket but have cricketers as their ambassadors who offer maximum visibility during the league.
“The IPL season is a huge part of makeO toothsi’s annual marketing calendar. As a category creator, makeO has foregone the conventional approach of healthcare marketing; instead focusing on its quirky brand tonality, topical marketing and strong connection with the game of cricket to position itself as a new-age, lifestyle brand,” said Shuchita Wadhwa, head of Marketing and founding member at makeO.
While last year, the brand tied up with Gujarat Titans as ‘The Great Smiles Partner” and ran ads with the team members, this year it leveraged existing media assets, bringing down overall spends.
The impact of IPL efforts as per Wadhwa are evaluated over six to nine months, with returns usually getting better after the initial month of high expenditure. She added, “We also consider the organic demand to see whether that percentage is going up.”