Indian Institute of Human Brands unveils research on power couples

The Mumbai-based Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) unveiled its study on power couples in India (The Sparklers Report) with a comprehensive study of Virat-Anushka, Deepika-Ranveer, Ranbir-Alia, Akshay-Twinkle, Abhi-Ash and Saif-Kareena - the hottest, and commercially-most-in-demand couples in the country. “Power couples are the new phenomenon in the brand endorsement business with many brands trying to sell aspirational and experiential products to millennial couples who are starting families, using famous couples as the ones to emulate. But there is no empirical research so far on what these power couples actually represent or how they are seen by potential audiences. At IIHB we decided to track each one of these trail-blazing couples over a set of 24 important brand attributes,” says Sandeep Goyal, Chief Mentor of IIHB. “There is also an interesting throw-back study on romantic couples of Bollywood since Partition, something which has not been researched before.”

Who are Power Couples?

According to the report, a power couple is a couple who is famous and accomplished; and together seen to be successful and influential in society. More importantly, each of them is individually successful and influential. Together they are the epitome of what anyone would desire or want in a relationship.

Where did the term Power Couples come from?

The report informs that it was during the FIFA World Cup 2006 that David Beckham and Victoria Caroline Adams (also known as Posh Spice from her singing days as part of The Spice Girls band) were a toast of the celebrity circuit. With media coverage of the World Cup including the wives and girlfriends (WAGS, as they are called) of the stars, David and Victoria Beckham became the original power couple for Indian celebrities to take a cue from.

Why did it take so long for India to have its own Power Couples?

The power couples report gives interesting perspectives on how Bollywood and cricket could’ve given us these aspirational sparkler couples much earlier but a long list of famous celebrity couples … Dilip-Saira, Sunil Dutt-Nargis, Rajesh Khanna-Dimple, Amitabh-Jaya, Nawab Pataudi-Sharmila, Dharmendra-Hema, Rishi-Neetu, Gavaskar-Marshneil, Dhoni-Sakshi, Sachin-Anjali, Azhar-Bijlani … somehow fell short of the ‘famous-together’ threshold despite being well-known.

The IIHB Report earlier this year researched current ‘Sparklers’ and the six listed above – Virat-Anushka, Deepika-Ranveer, Ranbir-Alia, Akshay-Twinkle, Abhi-Ash and Saif-Kareena – were shortlisted for a more detailed study. Kajol-Ajay Devgn, Shahrukh-Gauri, Madhuri-Dr. Nene and Priyanka-Nick were also researched but their score together remained below acceptable threshold.

What are the key attributes to Power Couples?

Trustworthy, Respected, Fun, Distinctive, Charming, Different, Stylish, Progressive, and MFEO (Made-For-Each-Other) are some of the key Image, Human and Personality brand attributes that add value to Sparklers. The IIHB study covers 24 such attributes.

Virushka and DeepVeer top score across most attributes, with AksTwink a respectable third despite being much older. Ranbir-Alia despite not being married (the only unmarried couple in the Top 6) do well too, especially on being seen as ‘different’. Saifeena are ‘stylish’ (after all he is a Nawab and she is true-blue Bollywood royalty) but Abhi-Ash who trail on most attributes are seen to be ‘traditional’.

“So far very few power couple ads have been exceptional … the best, without doubt being the Maanyavar ad of Virushka. But most others including DeepVeer (Lloyd’s), RanbirAlia (Lay’s) and Saifeena (AirBnB) don’t really sparkle on creatives. Advertisers and their agencies need to carefully match brand attributes to those of the celebrity couple and maximize what the duo best stand for”, says Goyal.

Read the full report below