NEW DELHI :
Actor Shah Rukh Khan, caught in the eye of the storm over his son Aryan’s arrest in a drug probe by the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau), may see some repercussions on his work with brand endorsement deals being called off, ads being suspended and film projects being delayed. Most brand strategy consultants Mint spoke to, however, said the impact will be short-lived.
Khan, who endorses a dozen brands including Dubai Tourism, home furnishings company D’Décor, Vimal Elaichi, LG and online grocer BigBasket, among others, recently saw online ed-tech platform Byju’s suspending the ads featuring him, according to media reports. It isn’t clear though whether Khan has been dropped as brand ambassador for the platform that he has endorsed since 2018. Byju’s did not respond to Mint’s queries nor did some of the other companies including Dubai Tourism and LG.
Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertainment, also did not respond to Mint’s query on the impact on his endorsement deals. The Celebrity Brand Valuation Report of 2020 by financial consultancy, Duff & Phelps had ranked Khan as the fourth most popular celebrity from India for 2019, with brand value of $51 million. Duff & Phelps has since rebranded itself as Kroll.
“To make a noise or start a trend on social media in India, you simply require 500 or 1000 people which could make companies panic. But these 500-1000 people don’t represent the universe of ‘SRK haters,’” said Sandeep Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion and chief mentor at Indian Institute of Human Brands.
The current controversy involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son is a bit of a hiccup and by suspending SRK ads, Byju’s being ‘overcautious’, he added. He said that film stars are lifestyle celebrities and such controversies don’t really impact their brands seriously.
Communications strategy consultant Karthik Srinivasan, however, said, Byju’s choosing to pause ads featuring Shah Rukh Khan is a conventional crisis-management decision within marketing communications. “The simple logic is this: the brand ambassador’s name is in the news for not-so-favourable reasons, so why associate the brand name during that period voluntarily?” he said. Byju’s has not dropped the star altogether, he added. The SRK-Byju’s ads continue to be on the brand’s properties online.
The controversy is unlikely to impact SRK’s payouts from the brand or other brands he endorses with companies likely to adopt a wait-and-watch approach as the case unfolds, said Saurabh Uboweja, managing partner at BOD Consulting.
“It is also unlikely that his brand value would take a permanent hit as there is a significant amount of sympathy for the star and his family,” he added.
Harish Bijoor, brand strategy expert and founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. agreed the entire episode underlines the inherent weakness of the brand-endorsement format of marketing. “The moment you get a star to endorse your brand, you are to an extent at the mercy of the star and his, her or their doings and undoings. The current sets of reactions by brands, starting with Byju’s is a bit knee jerk. Reacting to every tweet and every social media reaction calling for a ban does not behove good and solid brands,” said Bijoor.
The controversy will not scar SRK forever as “public memory is proverbially and really short,” he pointed out.
However, some of Khan’s film projects may be delayed as he’s unable to shoot at the moment which is bad news as he’s seen a string of flops in the last few years. His last release Zero (2018) did not meet box office expectations making only Rs. 88 crore. It came after other flops such as Jab Harry Met Sejal and Fan.
Currently, the actor has three film projects locked in. Two of these, Pathan produced by Yash Raj Films and an untitled venture with Tamil director Atlee, have already begun shooting. The third, an untitled movie with Rajkumar Hirani, was yet to go on floors. Khan is slated to be co-producer on the last two films while all three will have budgets between Rs. 100 and 200 crore.
“There is a body double filling in for Atlee’s film at the moment but nobody knows how long this will go on. Obviously, work cannot be a priority at this point but obviously all of the films will see delays even though Khan may make up for lost time later,” film producer, trade and exhibition expert Girish Johar said.
(Suneera Tandon contributed to this story)
Source: Live Mint