Olympic medal lifts Mirabai Chanu's brand value

“You brought the dreams of a billion+ Indians to life and we couldn’t be happier to treat you to free Domino’s pizza for life.” This timely tweet from the quick service restaurant brand came after Mirabai Chanu – who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics — said in a TV interview that one of the first few things she wanted to do following the podium finish was to eat a pizza.
Chanu’s performance has set a flurry of brands wanting to associate with the 26-year-old weightlifter ever since she made history on Saturday.

Nearly a dozen brands have sent feelers to Chanu’s management company IOS Sports & Entertainment over the weekend, said Neerav Tomar, its managing director. “We are getting queries from not only nutrition and sports-related brands, but also personal care, beverage and regional brands. These are for endorsements, appearances or digital associations,” Tomar said. “Her medal has changed things overnight.”

IOS plans to formalise two-three deals in the coming weeks once the champion in the women’s 49-kg weightlifting category returns. So far, Chanu has had endorsement deals with Adidas and Mobil oil. Now, her endorsement fee is expected to double, albeit from a very low base.

Over the last couple of days, brands such as Domino’s, Britannia, Thums Up, Swiggy, Amul and VLCC have been making a beeline to associate with her win.

Need for ‘Longer-term associations’
"Even as we prepare to give #MirabaiChanu a hero’s welcome and let her eat pizzas to her heart’s content, our Imphal team went to her house to congratulate her family," Pratik Pota, chief executive at Jubilant FoodWorks, said in a tweet. Jubilant operates Domino’s Pizza in India.

The Twitter post from Domino’s official handle tagging Chanu went viral and generated a string of comments, including by some consumers who said they would only buy Domino's Pizza from now on.

Coca-Cola-owned Thums Up, which has a worldwide partnership with the Olympic Games, linked her win to its ad tagline ‘PalatDe’ across its social media messages.

It is the longer-term associations, not momentary tie-ups, that will benefit both brands and the athlete, industry observers said.

"Brands look at any opportunity to stay relevant and, in a country traditionally starved of sports beyond cricket, anyone who wins becomes a star overnight," said Lloyd Mathias, an angel investor and business strategist. "So, it's a fairly positive thing to do, as long as the brand can find ways to associate for a slightly longer term instead of just that moment."

Dairy brand Amul, which is supporting the Indian Olympic Association, has also felicitated Chanu’s family, chairman RS Sodhi said. "We encourage sports persons and celebrate moments of national pride like this," he said.

Industry experts said it would be difficult to bridge the wide gap between non-cricket athletes and cricketers for brand associations and that comparisons may not be fair.

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, for example, is learnt to charge ₹4.5-5 crore a day for brand-related promotions – be it for the filming of TV commercials, appearances, or for meeting fans.

In comparison, non-cricketing athletes charge anywhere between ₹30 lakh and ₹1.5 crore, depending on their popularity and visibility.