Manu Bhaker hits the bullseye as brands vie for her after Olympic wins

Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event

From moment marketing to sponsorships, Manu Bhaker has turned a brand favourite.

Enquiries for endorsement deals have doubled as the champion shooter raised her medal count to two in just two days at the Paris Olympics.

With two bronze medals, the 22-year-old shooter from Haryana’s Jhajjar now has many feats to her portfolio. She has become the first female shooter from India to win an Olympic medal and the first Indian woman to qualify for the 10-metre air pistol final round at any Olympics. She is also the first Indian female shooter to reach the Olympic final of an individual event in the last 20 years.

Bhaker created history on July 30 by becoming the first Indian to win two medals in the same edition of the Olympic Games in 124 years. Her achievements have caught the attention of brands that are looking to associate with her in a number of ways.

Manu's tryst with brands

"We are getting a lot of queries which started yesterday and now these enquiries have doubled. We had a dozen enquiries till noon (of July 30 when Bhaker, along with Sarabjot Singh, won their bronze medals in 10m air pistol shooting event). The enquiries increased to 18-20 by evening of the same day," said Neerav Tomar, managing director of talent management agency IOS Sports and Entertainment, which manages Bhaker's portfolio.

From endorsing one brand currently, the shooting star is expected to add to her endorsement portfolio a dozen more brands, Tomar said.

"She endorses Performax, an athleisure brand. We are looking at signing at least a dozen brands which will include endorsement as well as digital deals," he said.

With a brand value of Rs 1.5 crore, Tomar said that a lot can change with another big event for which they are keeping their fingers crossed. He is also looking to sign digital deals and the charge for a single activation is around Rs 30 lakh.

"There is another event which is the women's 25m pistol event that is slated to commence on Friday. This is her another big event. If she performs better there then her brand value can change further," he added.

Brands in categories like aerated drinks, skin care, nutrition are approaching Bhaker. "There are some interesting new categories like dairy, organic farm, among others. There are a lot who want to do long term deals and some who want to do moment marketing. They want to capture the buzz right now and capitalise on it. For long term deals, we are looking at a minimum of two years. We are also encouraging brands to follow her to the next Olympics because she is 22 and there is a long way to go for her."

An overnight star

Two medal wins in the Paris Olympics has positioned Bhaker in a different way, said Tomar. "She has her own space now with the  distinction of becoming the only Indian having won two medals in one Olympics. She is presentable, looks good, and is a good personality in sports. So, a very great athlete for brands. Shooting as a sport does not get that much attention unless it is a big medal win like Manu Bhakers’.”

“Indian Olympics stars are usually from humble backgrounds and they have difficulty in communication or aren’t good speakers. For Bhaker, we want to position her well and take her for appearances on TV shows, associate her with the right platforms. We will work on her image management," the IOS Sports MD said.

Bhaker is probably the biggest star in the Paris Olympics right now, said Abhishek Jain, CEO of Prime Table Tennis League.

"Her commercial value is definitely going to grow. There are more brands who will be looking to collaborate with her and sign long-term partnerships because she’s just 22. So, this makes sense for all the relevant parties. A lot of the brands in the market will be looking at her, he added.

Buzz on social media

The Olympic star's social media following (on Instagram alone) has shot up from 170,000 followers before the Paris Olympics to around 700,000 right now, Jain added.

"There is a huge traction on her social media. Her following has more than tripled and it is only increasing. She (her social media following) can touch a million (following). After that all will depend on how active she is on social media," Tomar said.

Bhaker on X has a following of 234,000, while on Instagram, she has 761,000 followers.

What really changes for Manu Bhaker is her market attractiveness, said Ajimon Francis, managing director of Brand Finance India, a brand valuation consultancy. He added that women sportspersons charge anywhere between Rs 8 lakh and 30 lakh as endorsement fee.

In the endorsement world, there is a lack of pay parity as established male cricketers typically command Rs 3-6 crore per annum for a brand endorsement, while the emerging ones charge Rs 2-3 crore per annum. On the other hand, this fee range drops to Rs 1-2 crore per annum when it comes to successful female cricketers.

A top female athlete like PV Sindhu commanded a brand value of $26.5 million in 2022, according to brand valuation report by advisory firm Kroll.

But in the Paris Olympics, women are on top among the Indian athletes. Manu Bhaker opened India's medal tally with two bronze wins while table tennis star Manika Batra became the first Indian paddler to reach the pre-quarters of an Olympic competition.

Make way for non-cricket sports 

Like women making a mark in sports, sports other than cricket are also establishing a market in the endorsement space.

"Brand interest has increased every Olympic year. Earlier, there was no market for non-cricket sports but now there is. There is also competition in the market among brands for non-cricket sports. For instance, from a category like batteries there are more than one query which was never the case before. We were left with whatever (brands) were remaining. But now we are in the position of negotiating and we can get what is best for the athlete," Tomar said.

Endorsements in emerging sports was valued at Rs 117 crore ($Mn 14) in 2023, according to India Sports Sponsorship 2024 Report by GroupM ESP (the entertainment and sports division of the WPP subsidiary).

Emerging sports which include football, kabaddi, badminton, athletics, among others recorded a seven percent growth last year in terms of endorsement value.

"We can expect Olympic sports to contribute more to the endorsement pie in 2024, and beyond too. In view of all these factors, we will soon be leaving the Rs 1,000 crore mark behind us as our athletes move forward in their onward journeys," the report noted.