The opinion in the industry is that both have little to lose as consumers are far away from the boardroom drama and a strong brand will continue to grow After weeks of high-voltage controversies around his behaviour with a bank employee followed by news of financial irregularities at BharatPe, which eventually led to the sacking of Head of Controls and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, Ashneer Grover resigned from the fintech firm on Tuesday. His move, reportedly, came after he received the agenda for an upcoming board meeting that included submission of the PWC report regarding his conduct and considering actions based on it. As controversies pile up around Grover and BharatPe, exchange4media spoke to industry leaders to get a sense of the impact that these incidents might have on the brand equities of both the company and its founder.

According to Rediffusion MD Sandeep Goyal, most users of BharatPe wouldn't know who the promoters are and if they have been involved in any kind of trouble or controversy. “The entire Ashneer/Madhuri saga is more pink paper stuff. White-collar controversies or crimes rarely impact the company brand unless the promoters actively feature in the brand advertising or such. The trade, one can be reasonably sure, would be both unaware and unaffected by the controversy. Corporate brands continue to live on. Such hiccups are part of the journey. These are temporary diversions, no more.” As for Samsika Marketing Consultant Jagdeep Kapoor, the longevity of brand equity is far higher than the life of a person. “There have been enough cases in the past too wherein promoters and founders have left the company but if a brand is strong, it doesn’t impact its equity or perceived value. The brand personality of BharatPe is quite strong and it will only continue to grow.” Brand-nomics MD Viren Razdan further said, “From a consumer point of view, there is going to be hardly any impact as they are far removed from the ‘boardroom dirt’, but overall from the governance point of view, it’s been sullied quite a bit as a lot of dirty linen came into the public domain. There could be some short-term implications for the brand – but it depends on how the brand powers itself and washes all the mud that comes along with this controversy; especially as it ballooned from  Ashneer Grover to  Bharat Pe company.” ‘Brand Ashneer Grover to stay strong’ Ashneer Grover’s personal brand equity, which would have pumped up post his appearance on the reality show Shark Tank India, too has little to lose with the surmounting controversy, opines the industry. Kapoor points out, “If I talk about the personality brand that is Ashneer Grover, people might form some positive or negative opinions about him, but his brand equity will hardly be impacted. What works more in favour of both brand personality and brand personality, in this case, is their dissociation. Had they continued together, one plus one would have turned eleven. But separately, they have nothing to lose in terms if popularity or equity.” Razdan shares similar views as he says, “Shark Tank brought these whizkids into the public limelight and gave them an opportunity to build a personal brand beyond their businesses and pink pages. This was Act 1 for them, their personas were introduced and positive-negative impressions were made -  fair enough, as personal brands cannot be polite and proper. Grover’s case, where his rudeness on Shark Tank blew into a horror show in reality, as his conversations leaked out and then the skeletons emerged and kind of buried him for some time. But these are boys who have the capability to rise back from the ashes so, in the long run, the shark could perhaps show a dolphin touch in the future.” However, Goyal has some contrasting views, “Shark Tank was as much a real Ashneer, and a reel Ashneer. Much of what happens on the screen is also a put-on persona. In his case, he came across as particularly offensive and combative. I don't if the producers of the program used the emerging controversy to instigate that persona of his or he inadvertently fell into the trap, but Shark Tank further destroyed Ashneer's public image.”