Shreyas Kulkarni
Advertising

How will the Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor couple fare as a celebrity brand endorser?

The Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Report 2021 pegs Bhatt at $68.1 mn brand value and Kapoor at $26.7 mn. As a couple, they might charge INR 5-8 crore per ad.

Nobody enjoys a love story more than Bollywood and when two of its biggest names decide to tie the knot, the ‘Ishq Wala Love’ feeling runs amok in most of the Bollywood junta and its millions of fans.

We’re of course referring to the marriage of Alia Bhat and Ranbir Kapoor urf Ralia. The entire event will go on from 13th April to 15th April 2022 as per media reports. Yesterday, some reports claimed the date was postponed to the 20th of April and soon enough, many people refuted the claim.

Bhatt and Kapoor are two of the most popular actors of this era, they’ve starred in some of the most popular movies in the last decade, and command an enviable fan following and brand portfolio.

As per the Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation Report, 2021, Alia Bhatt, with a brand value of $68.1 mn, is the country’s fourth-most valuable celebrity brand, up two spots from last year. She is the only female celebrity in the top five comprising of Virat Kohli, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, and MS Dhoni.

The only other female celebrity in the top 10 is Deepika Padukone at number seven with a brand value of $51.6 mn. Ranbir Kapoor comes in at number 17 with a brand value of $26.7 mn.

Bhatt counts PhonePe, MakeMyTrip, JSW Paints, Manyavar Mohey, Sunfeast Dark Fantasy, Nokia, and Frooti among others in her portfolio. Kapoor, on the other hand, promotes Coca-Cola, OPPO, Asian Paints Royale, and Tata AIG to name a few.

Together, Ralia has only featured in ads for Flipkart and Lay’s, and endorsed two brands within the Hero family; Hero Pleasure for Bhatt and Hero Maestro for Kapoor.

Industry sources tell us Bhatt charges around Rs 5-7 crore per endorsement deal and Kapoor’s rate for the same is Rs 6-8 crore.

Would the duo charge the same for endorsing a brand as a couple? Yes, they might charge 10-20 per cent extra but if they wish to enter a new category and make their mark in it, the couple could charge less for the first two to three deals and then increase their rates when contracts are redrawn.

Ralia is less exposed compared to Saifeena (Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor) who’ve endorsed several brands together such as Lux Soap, Tata Play, VIP bags, Airbnb, Vectus Pipes and Tanks, Pepperfry, LG OLED TV.

The closest competition to Ralia is Deepveer (Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh) and the latter has endorsed Jio and Lloyd ACs together, the same number as Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor. Ads from Virushka (Virat and Anushka Sharma) haven’t appeared on our screens for a while and VicKat (Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif) have not signed any brands as of now.

Alia and Ranbir are not seeing any stringent competition from rivals or unsuspecting couples but will they make an impact on a brand? Does a couple have a real increased visible impact compared to an individual endorser?

Aviral Jain, MD, Duff & Phelps feels brands will naturally show an interest and encash the opportunity considering the massive media hype and people's interest in the couple. He spoke about the actors’ social media presence and their fans; “Bhatt has followers in the millions and Kapoor, who is not social media, has more traditional followers who may not be too social media friendly...” Brands will be able to reach both these audience sets with the couple as an endorser.

On the other hand, Lloyd Mathias, angel investor and business strategist, feels a couple will “not necessarily” have a greater impact on a brand than an individual endorser. However, he says “for certain categories using a power couple for the brand may make sense”.

New brands for the newlyweds?

Post the marriage, a slew of different kinds of brands will want to associate with the couple but will the change be a huge one? Yes says Sandeep Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion and chief mentor of the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB). “They can together be hired for many more categories that benefit from togetherness. From holidays to hotels, airlines to food - home appliances, homes / real estate, cars and many more at the premium end,” says Kapoor.

Jain feels it is new-age companies that will show an interest in the couple and nods his head to consumer goods as a highly likely choice for the newly married couple and give us the examples of VIP Bags for Saifeena and Lloyd ACs for Deepveer.

However, he points out the fact that Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor individually endorse brands that compete against each other. JSW Paints for Bhatt and Asian Paints for Kapoor. She has Samsung Mobiles and he has OPPO.

Mathias echoes a similar sentiment: “When each partner in the couple endorses directly competing brands, this may be an issue. But others wise brands selecting them individually should not change.”

A change in rates

When you see your brand equity rise, you’re bound to recalculate your rates. Why should Ralia be any different? Surely, the couple will look at their rates, as a couple and as individuals, once they see brands approach them for endorsements.

Goyal feels that while “charging rates is their ask, extracting a premium together is difficult. Virushka, Deepveer, Katvick, and even Saifeena, come together in far fewer ads than they should. The couple brand rates tend to be very expensive and are a deterrent for many brands. Also, there is no conclusive evidence that two celebrities in the ad deliver more than one.”

Conclusive evidence or not, many people have gone on to like and remember ads featuring such couples. Goyal tells us the best couple endorsement is by Shyam Steel with Virushka. “They have done well in their Manyavar ad too. Deepveer has been good for Lloyd and Saifeena for Tata Cliq.”

For Mathias, Manyavar was one great example that is largely remembered because of the Virat-Anushka association. “I also liked Ranveer & Deepika in the Jio commercials that were big during IPL 2020. Also, Flipkart's usage of Ranbir and Alia is another good example”

Ek se bhale doh, will Ralia prove better a better endorser than Ranbir and Alia?

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