After dropping several notches in celebrity brand valuation listings for several years, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s brand value is soaring handsomely in 2023 after his high-octane return to the silver screen with two blockbusters—Pathaan and Jawan—so far this year.
In 2023, King Khan, as he is popularly known, has been roped in as a brand ambassador for smartphone brand realme, fashion portal Myntra, ITC’s Dark Fantasy biscuits, and the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Most recently, he has joined actor Amitabh Bachchan in new ads for Everest Masala. In addition, brands including Zomato, Bisleri, Astral Adhesives, and Bharat Petroleum have also partnered with him for one-time collaborations as part of Jawan’s promotions.
“The recent success will definitely add at least 20-30 per cent in the mid-term to his brand value, which had slipped in the past two to three years. Pathaan raised it to a certain level, and Jawan will take it higher. With his next film Dunki unlikely to be a total miss, his [brand] value will rise again,” says Manish Porwal, MD of integrated marketing solutions firm Alchemist Marketing Solutions.
Over the years, Khan has endorsed more than 40 diverse products, services and even states, such as Pepsi, Hyundai Santro, Nokia, Lux, Dish TV, Byju’s, bigbasket, Reliance Jio, LG, Denver, ICICI Bank, Fair & Handsome, Dubai Tourism, and the state of West Bengal. But his brand value has slipped from $106 million in 2017 to $55.7 million in 2022, per data from investment management firm Duff & Phelps’ celebrity valuation reports. He lost his top spot for the first time in 2017 to Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. In 2021, his brand value of $46.3 million knocked him out of the Top 10 most-valued celebrity brands; he was ranked 12th.
Of the 12-odd releases he had between 2010 and 2020, his only blockbuster was Chennai Express, released 10 years ago. After a spate of flops such as Fan (2016), Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017) and Zero (2018) and a four-year hiatus, Khan has exploded on the big screen this year with Pathaan in January (Rs 1,050 crore gross worldwide collections so far) and then Jawan in September (Rs 1,004.92 crore worldwide gross collections so far). Dunki, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, is set to hit theatres in December. Clearly, the star is shining again.
@SaysVidya