Indian track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra’s stellar performance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 earned him immense brand recognition and value, making him a household name in the country. Three years later at the Paris Olympics 2024, expectations are enormous for Chopra to recreate the magic of August 7, 2021 today as he faces off 32 athletes.
Brands started cashing in on his brand image, that too days before the match. The Founder of Atlys Mohak Nahta declared on Linkedin that he would give every Indian a free visa if Chopra brought home gold this year.
Samsung and Yes Bank even launched campaigns a few weeks ago to extend support for Chopra and other athletes. Omega also roped him in for being a brand ambassador at the Paris Olympics among other global athletes.
Post his Tokyo win, Chopra was also signed by top Indian brands like Noise, BPCL, Eveready, Visa, JSW Group and many more. Not only domestic but also international brands like Under Armour and Tommy Hilfiger have signed Chopra.
Experts suggest his brand value has been appreciating because he’s been winning most of his tournaments and associating with positive causes.
According to Kroll’s celebrity brand valuation report 2023, Chopra’s brand value stood at $29.6 million. His rank rose from 23 in 2022 to 21 in 2023, in a list where top Bollywood and sports celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Virat Kohli, and Amitabh Bachchan were named.
Aviral Jain, Managing Director, Valuation Advisory Services shared, “Neeraj’s brand value moved up by about 10% reaching close to $30mn by the end of 2023. He currently endorses about 15 brands across industry segments - apparel (Under Armour) to financial services (TATA AIA) to F&B (Country Delight), among others. Just ahead of the Paris Olympics, he added marquee brands like Eveready, Omega and Visa.”
Brand expert and business strategist, Lloyd Mathias also thinks that ever since Tokyo Olympics and India's first gold in athletics, his brand brand value has only gone up. Chopra has also done the right things, believes Mathias.
He further shared that Chopra’s endorsement fee in the last year, given that this year was leading up to the Olympics, has gone up by about 20-25%. And if he wins a gold today on August 6, it will go up more.
Presenting a different perspective, Dr Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director, Rediffusion expressed, “I laughed when I saw the Eveready outdoors with Neeraj Chopra, about power running the distance. The hoarding had Neeraj Chopra’s signature on the hoarding! Why? Because despite his Olympic gold and all the hype around him, I bet 9 out of 10 Indians don’t actually recognise him. That is the truth. So, to my mind, his brand value has always been overestimated.”
Goyal believes if he wins a gold again, yes there will be a queue to sign him up. But that is only blind betting. “Neeraj Chopra, despite his Olympian achievements, still falls short on both recognition and recall. Brands signing him may want to make haste slowly.”
He added, “Brand value is driven by the handlers. Some brands in their excitement bite, some others don’t.”
Mathias suggests this year in the Olympics, India has not had as much success as last year. So, the whole country's hopes are pinned on him. Whether he wins or not, his brand is only going to get appreciated.
