Sidharth Malhotra celebrated his 37th birthday on January 16th, from fans to Bollywood celebrities’ wishes poured in for the star on his special day. He made his film debut in the year 2012 with Student of the Year and within a short span of time has managed to carve a niche for himself in Bollywood. Apart from blockbuster movies, Sidharth is the face of many prominent brands. Though in the initial days he had a tough time appearing for multiple auditions for TV commercials he finally bagged his first-ever advertisement of Ponds. Thereafter, the actor has endorsed a lot of top brands in his career so far. The list only keeps growing every year. He is on the list of Top 100 celebrities in India according to the Forbes Report.
From Club Mahindra to Vivo V23 to Bewakoof.com to New Zealand Tourism to Brylcreem India to Onefit Plus, Sidharth is the face of many eminent brands. As per reports, hé charges a brand endorsement fee of Rs 3 crore.
So what makes him the darling of brands?
According to Rajeesh Rajagopalan, National Business Head – Grapes, “Sidharth Malhotra’s zeal appeals to youngsters, his connection with millennials has got associations from many brands and marketers toward him. In Bollywood, he is represented as an actor who came from outside the industry and made it big almost on his own”
“In his career, he has endorsed varied categories be it FMCG, lifestyle, Smartphones, and many more. But one of the ad campaigns he did for MyGlamm#“#TestedOnSid” grabbed eyeballs as he was the nation’s first male brand ambassador for a female enteric cosmetics brand. Also, after the massive success of ‘Shershah’ at the box office, the actor’s career graph has moved upwards, and definitely, brands would associate with the star,“ Rajagopalan added.
Jagdeep Kapoor, Chairman, and Managing Director – Samsika Marketing Consultants points out that Sidharth represents a calm, suave and self-assured young man.
“Brands wanting to target the youth find him relevant. His personality connects with the modern target audience. He is liked because, while being ‘in‘ with the times, he has an understated elegance and is not loud,” he added.
“He is underpaid. He should charge double of his current charges, keeping in mind the value he brings to the brand,” observes Kapoor.
“Of the dozen-odd movies Sidharth Malhotra has done since 2012, four have been termed flops, two averages, two semi-hits, and one hit by box office collection measures. However, he has managed to stay mysterious and yet in the limelight. He also has the classical ‘hero’ looks that Bollywood adores. The enigma behind the actor keeps his brand image up,” said N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research.
According to Chandramouli, there are many factors when a brand chooses an endorser.
“The prime among those is the Cost-to-return ratio, the longevity of the endorser, and course, current popularity. Apart from these, I think his boy-next-door attitude is one of the main reasons that he finds brands coming to him,” Chandramouli concluded.
