Asian Games 2023 success not an endorsement magnet, say brand experts

How many brand endorsements are Asian Games winners likely to secure after delivering India’s best-ever haul of 28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze medals?

If we rely on the estimates of brand experts, the figure may well be in single digits.

The stellar performance at the just-concluded 19th Asiad in Hangzhou, China, provides further proof of India’s steady rise as a sporting nation and the emergence of stars from non-cricketing fields.

However, brand experts suggest that a majority of the medallists might fail to gain long-term visibility and recognition.

Sandeep Goyal, managing director (MD) at Rediffusion, explains that visibility is one of the basic principles of advertising. Audience viewership for most disciplines remains low, he says, adding that the athletes might not feature in another major sporting event for months, risking anonymity among the public.

“Visibility and recognisability are important for brand value,” Goyal says. Aside from prominent figures like men’s javelin world champion and Asian Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, “the chances of brands choosing Asian Games winners are very low,” according to Goyal. “I would put it in the single digits. Local brands at the state level may show some interest, but mainstream brands are unlikely to.”

Hari Krishnan, MD and head of Publicis Content, the content vertical of Publicis Groupe India, points out that brands typically choose from two kinds of sports celebrities.

One is cricket, which boasts familiar names and a huge fanbase, creating the greatest demand among athletes.

Two, there are medal winners from the non-cricket world who are largely discovered at sports events such as the Asian Games.

More than a decade ago, a trend emerged of brands opting for athletes outside of cricket, with the likes of boxers M C Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, and shooter Abhinav Bindra, he says.

“Brands typically prefer to leverage the success of non-cricket athletes after victories at global events,” Krishnan says, adding that these athletes tend to have a shorter shelf life in terms of a sports career, as tournaments of such scale are not frequent, giving them few opportunities to perform and hog the limelight.

“Brands consider the return on investment when it comes to deciding on sports celebrities to represent them. So the popularity of a sport, career span, social media presence, fan following, and the ability to be seen throughout the year are critical factors,” he explains.

Samit Sinha, founder and managing partner at Alchemist Brand Consulting, says that historically, companies in India have been reliant on cricketers and film stars as brand ambassadors. These categories are followed, with a yawning gap between them, by sports like badminton and tennis and the rest.

“The only exception has been Neeraj Chopra. He is an Olympic gold medallist, which puts him in a league apart from any of his peers. Secondly, he’s young, good-looking, and camera-friendly, so he serves as a role model for the young. But outside of cricket, most sports don’t have a very big following in India, and they also don’t get a television audience, which makes it less exciting for advertisers and brands,” he says.

N Chandramouli, chief executive officer of brand insights firm TRA Research, differs on the prospects of Asian Games winners finding interest among corporate houses.

According to him, disciplines such as archery — in which India had a dream run in Hangzhou — that are not crowd-pullers may slip under the branding radar. But he feels sporting events like athletics (another area in which India shone) and badminton offer winners a better scope for signing up for endorsements.

He reasons that athletics — which saw multiple medallists from India in long-distance events at the Asiad — can be easily linked with qualities like endurance that resonate with health care brands. The choice of sports stars depends to a great extent on the ethos of a company, adding that many prefer to scout for young talents, as investing in them and supporting their journey to the top is also more economical than signing up when an athlete has been transformed into a star.

As an example from athletics, Chandramouli mentioned the sprinter Hima Das, the women’s 400m national record holder who won medals at the 2018 Asian Games. Das has become a recognisable face and has had corporate sponsors from segments such as sportswear and finance.

Aviral Jain, MD of the financial and risk advisory firm Kroll, which publishes a celebrity valuation report annually, is optimistic about the prospects of Asian Games medallists.

“With India’s stellar performance, underrepresented athletes will now be in the limelight of the endorsement industry,” he says. Jain points out that after the Tokyo Olympics (2020), marquee brands pursued top medallists — such as Neeraj Chopra signing up with Cred; P V Sindhu with Naturals; Mirabai Chanu with Amway; and Bajrang Punia with Ruchi Soya.

“We expect a similar reaction after the Asian Games given the short run-up to the Paris Olympics next year,” he adds.

Besides the obvious pick, Chopra, Jain expects the likes of Avinash Sable (men’s 3,000m steeplechase winner), Deepak Punia (men's freestyle 86 kg silver medallist), and Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75 kg boxing silver) to secure new endorsements.

Sable and Punia have been associated with the sports nutrition brand Fast&Up, while Borgohain was recently signed as the brand ambassador of Adidas and Bisleri.

If brand endorsements remain only a fraction of the 100-plus medals that India won last week, how could athletes find a better fate?
 

Sinha of Alchemist Brand Consulting isn’t optimistic about a quick reversal.

“It will require a lot of interest from the private sector, and particularly from the corporate social responsibility wing. If you’re driven by profit motives, then you only rely on return and investments.”

- With inputs from Sharleen D’Souza