From DeepVeer to Virushka: Are power couples always a sparkle for brands?

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli once again topped the latest brand valuation report by Duff & Phelps, but that's not a surprise. What will catch your interest, however, is another power couple — Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, who tied at the third spot with brand value of $93.5 million each (Rs 667 crore approximately).

Brands have been banking on star couples and their combined popularity and influence amid people.

The top power couples in India, who are favorites among brands as well, include Virushka (Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma), Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Saifeena (Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor), Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna, Deep-Veer (Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh) and Abhi-Ash (Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai).

Many experts say power couples are a perfect fit for those brands who are targeting the youth. The combination of a male and female celebrity helps brands include perspective of both the genders using that product.

A 2018 Duff & Phelps report pointed out that India has around 80 percent of its population between the age of 25 and 34 currently married. And for advertisers, this makes it a very large segment to target and bringing a power couple on board opens up a big window for brands that want to attract both young couples and youth.

However, there are experts who believe that power couples are not always very effective and there are challenges involved in associating with two big celebrities at a time.

Some advertisers argue that because of the celebrity status, the product image often fades away from the consumer's mind and only the story tends to stay.

Others say power couples are an expensive affair. Plus, brand value of a celebrity couple gets dragged through the brand image of one of the partners.

According to the 2019 study by Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) on couple as brands, couple brand Ranbir-Alia takes a knock on parameters like trustworthy and reliability.

The report said this could be a dampener when it comes to endorsing brands in the financial services sector, where parameters like trustworthy and reliability play a huge role. The report added probably the playboy image of Ranbir Kapoor drags down the couple’s rating on these fronts.

In the 2019 report New is Gold, Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc commented that he thinks the era of power couples is over.

“While a newly married/committed couple may initially enjoy a higher brand recall and likability, it eventually depletes over time. More importantly, with the Indian social norms still playing a huge influence on the psychology of the typical Indian consumer, the couple individually tends to lose their fan following with time as the desirability quotient fades away. This decline is even steeper for the female celebrities getting married or pregnant, as they are perceived to lose attributes such as glamour and desirability during such times,” he said.