Tokyo Olympics 2020 | Mirabai Chanu's chances of winning gold to up her brand value by 40%

Mirabai Chanu | Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Anaheim, United States. She lifted a new world record of 194kg – 85kg snatch and 109kg clean-and-jerk in the 48 kg weight category.

India's silver at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics could turn into gold and that will further strengthen the endorsement game of weightlifter Mirabai Chanu.

Chanu, who gave India its first silver medal at the Games, won in the 49-kg category for women on July 24, the first day of the Tokyo Olympics.

Chanu's brand value will see a 30-40 percent increment in case of gold, said Neerav Tomar, MD, IOS Sports and Entertainment, Chanu's management company.

"There's a lot of interest from brands because she already has won a silver. The corporate world started on Monday and there are already talks of (endorsement) deal closures. There's an event brand, FMCG, healthcare, nutrition and beverages brand that have shown interest. There is even interest from brands who have been sitting silent. In these pandemic times everyone's looking for inspiration which she (Chanu) has given to the whole nation," Tomar told Moneycontrol.

The endorsement deals that the athlete is being offered include both digital as well as endorsements.

It didn't take long for brands to lap up Chanu's win at Tokyo Olympics and Domino's India was the first one when it offered free pizzas for life to the athlete on Twitter. Domino's tweet came after Chanu, in one of her interviews after her win said that she would like to have many pizzas as it has been days.

Many other brands took to Twitter to congratulate Chanu and also capitalise on the opportunity.

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd's (GCMMF) dairy brand Amul came up with a topical campaign that said, "Worth her wait in silver! Amul, Mira, tera, humara favourite snack."

Another food and beverage company Britannia Industries took to social media with a campaign that featured a weightlifting equipment made from digestive biscuits. In addition, there was a caption that said, "Mirabai Chanu, worth her weight in 'Gold."

Delivery platform Dunzo got more creative and took inspiration from a Punjabi song and came up with a caption that said, "Chanu ve ghar aaja ve. Your home is proud, it was worth the weight. #JoyComesHome."

While brands are making a beeline for the silver medalist who has chances of winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics, brand strategist Harish Bijoor said, "Chanu's brand value climbs but as is the case with Olympic sport. It is always a climb that is followed by a quick dip."

Whether brands will associate with Chanu for long remains to be seen. Tomar said that Mirabai Chanu at this Olympics will be at par with badminton player PV Sindhu who had also won a silver at Rio Olympics.

Sindhu is considered one of the biggest female sports stars and has endorsed brands like JBL earphones, Bridgestone tyres, Moov pain relief ointment, sports energy drink Gatorade, online fashion store Myntra, among others.

In 2019, Sindhu had featured in the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid female athletes where she stood at 13^th position with total earnings of $5.5 million.

Sindhu who has become a poster child of non-cricket sports athletes has set a high benchmark when it comes to endorsement deals. Will Chanu be able to match that only time will tell.

Until then Chanu's win has opened India's medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics where team India is aiming for a double-digit medal tally.