Has athlete Manu Bhaker hit the bullseye in attracting brand interest?

New Delhi: Manu Bhaker scripted history on Tuesday as the 22-year-old won two bronze medals in the final of the 10 m air pistol event for India at the Paris Olympics. Her victory is a showcase of India’s sporting talent, which often fails to make a mark on the world stage due to a dearth of sponsors backing them up. 

However, it’s a good day for Bhaker, who finds herself in a sweet spot with the top notification on her phone displaying “100 new messages from brands.” 

Brands’ love affair with Olympic athletes is nothing new and Bhaker’s recent win at the Paris Olympics has rekindled this affinity. The interest of brands in the Olympics as property has witnessed a major spike over the years.  

Bhaker is the latest entry to the list of successful Olympians and brands are going to leave no opportunity to capitalise on her win, as witnessed in the case of Neeraj Chopra, whose brand value is now touching the multi-million dollar mark. 

As per Nisha Sampath, Brand Consultant at Bright Angels Consulting LLP, “Manu Bhaker's youthful poise, maturity, and confidence, as well as her coolness under stress, are qualities that characterise her and would make brands excited to engage with her.  

She is neither Neeraj nor Sindhu but represents the new-age Indian youth who will go beyond the trodden paths to create new trends. Brands across sports, health, wellness, fashion, tech, and finance categories are more likely to align with her persona.” 

Praising Bhaker’s off-the-field potential to advertise for brands, Dhruv Jha, Co-Head of Mediabrands Content Studio India, said, “Manu Bhaker's remarkable achievement as the first Indian female athlete to win two medals in a single Olympics at Paris 2024 positions her as a new darling for brands. 

Her discipline, determination, and perseverance embody the qualities that resonate with a wide audience, despite the niche nature of shooting. Brands will have a unique opportunity to craft compelling stories around Manu’s journey, inspiring narratives that go beyond the sport itself.”

Adding to how brands can tap into Bhaker’s story to bring authenticity and relatability to their target audience, Piali Dasgupta Surendran, a senior marketing leader, said, “Bhaker is young, a Gen-Z sports personality, already has 680k followers on Instagram and 36k on Facebook, and is a great representative of the mega aspirations of Bharat, hailing from a small town in Haryana.  

As a 22-year-old female Olympian in a largely male-dominated sport, she would be a great choice, particularly for brands looking to woo the Gen Z audience. 

She is, in many ways, symbolic of the new India. Bold, ambitious, hard-working, and daring to chase big dreams. If her personal narrative can be tapped into intelligently, she would be a great fit for many brands.” 

When asked if Bhaker would be the new Neeraj Chopra or the new Sindhu, Surendran said, “Sindhu and Chopra have been around for much longer than Bhaker, and the comparison is not fair. However, Bhaker has tremendous potential both on and off the field in the years to come and this is just the beginning for her.” 

Sharing his perspective on the categories of brands that could make use of her youthful persona, Mitrajit Bhattacharya, an independent brand consultant, said, “She can be a good ambassador for brands from categories like beauty, lifestyle, jewellery, homegrown household appliances, banks, youth categories, travel, and many more.” 

Reaffirming Bhattacharya’s thoughts, Surendran said, “She is already endorsing an activewear brand. Brands in healthcare, fitness, wellness, women's health, as well as lifestyle, would find her to be a great fit for their products and brand philosophy.”  

Commenting on the challenges that come with signing Bhaker as a brand ambassador, Surendran said, “Brands need to be careful about using her images/content without signing her on or paying her an endorsement fee, as a whole bunch of brands that posted congratulatory messages about her Olympic win are already courting legal trouble.” 

“Piggybacking on the success of an athlete/sports personality without engaging her officially has led to brands receiving legal notices even in the past,” said Surendran. 

Because athletes have short-lived careers, brands are often sceptical about signing long-term partnerships with athletes. Despite no guarantees of a success streak, Sampath advises brands to foster long-term relations with athletes.

“It is indeed true that athletes have a short-lived career—the sad story of her coach, Jaspal Rana, highlights this.

Therefore, when it comes to sports, brands should try to avoid opportunism and adopt/sponsor an athlete rather than merely take them as an endorser, which is a very one-sided deal. They should partner to grow together, as this benefits both the brand and the athlete,” advised Sampath.

Surendran recommends brands carefully examine their marketing objectives before teaming up with Bhaker. “It entirely depends on the marketing objective of brands that choose to partner with Bhaker and what they aim to achieve from the alliance. Typically, long-term partnerships are signed for three years between brands and celebrities, which includes multiple campaigns, appearances, activations, etc.  

While the success streak of an athlete can't be predicted, a lot of start-up brands today believe in signing on emerging influencers and celebrities early on in their careers and growing with them,” mentioned Surendran. 

Regardless of what Bhaker brings to the table for brands, challenges exist for brands looking forward to partnering with her. Expanding her thoughts on the same, Surendran said, “It's an area that all brand owners must tread carefully. Unless a brand can effectively leverage Bhaker's personal journey to create a narrative that is aligned with its philosophy, it can come across as ingenuine, inauthentic, and desperate to ride on a celebrity's success without having anything meaningful to offer.” 

Speaking of challenges that brands may face, Jha said, “The real challenge lies in the limited public knowledge of shooting in spite of her historic achievements that provide a strong platform for creating impactful campaigns.”  

To conclude, as Bhattacharya puts it, “Bhaker has at least another two Olympics to play for and she has a long career ahead. Shooting may not be as well known as cricket but look at how popular Neeraj has been over the past three years after his win at the Tokyo Olympics. Brands go for champions. Other than a conflict of interest, nothing is stopping her from being the new darling of brands.”