10 years of Ayushmann Khurrana: The 'plain, simple, middle-class boy' who brands love
With more than 20 brands in his kitty, the actor is quite a popular name in the brand-verse today
It has been exactly 10 years since Ayushmann Khurrana – a former MTV Roadies winner, RJ and VJ – made his big-screen debut with ‘Vicky Donor’, released on April 20, 2012. The singer-actor impressed the audience with his boy-next-door charm and built on this success meticulously as he continued to pick scripts that the industry terms as out-of-the-box and betted on stories that got as much commercial attention as critical acclaim.
As Brand-Nomics MD Viren Razdan puts it, “Ayushmann Khurrana has found his mark; carved out a strong persona among his breed of newcomers. His ability to take on unusual subjects and deliver strong performances has crafted his values. I would really place him as the modern avatar of Amol Palekar, a good boy with all the talent and magnetism of the new-age breed.”
This magnetism and talent also made him quite a popular name in the brand-verse too, which has got him some solid brand deals. With more than 20 brands in his kitty currently, including the likes of Godrej Appliances, Toyota Urban Cruiser, and Titan, among others, Khurrana charges a premium fee of around Rs 3-3.5 crores for brand endorsements, as per industry insiders. His brand value stands at Rs 374 crore as per Duff & Phelps Celebrity report 2022. As he celebrates his 10 years in Bollywood today, here’s a look back at his journey of brand endorsements.
Early days
Khurrana’s early brand deals came from a range of advertisers who were predominantly targeting the urban youth and those interested in music, an extension of his screen personality.
One of his earliest brand deals came from Blaupunkt India, a German manufacturer known for its home and car audio equipment, in 2013. The brand’s then marketing head Preeti Bakshi had said in a statement, "Ayushmann and Blaupunkt are both recognised for great music, innovation and cool style. We are very excited to partner with Ayushmann and together we will further accelerate the connect of Blaupunkt products with Indian youth and young at heart."
The same year, Khurrana also became the face and voice for the young brand XOLO’s Play Tegra Note tablet.
Hey this tweet comes from the fastest 7'' tab XOLO PLAY TEGRA NOTE, @myxolo. Play on!
— Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) December 16, 2013
In 2014, Khurrana was brought on board by Nissan for their cost-effective luxury car, Datsun along with QSR giant Pizza Hut.
Building on brand value
While 2015 remained a silent year for Khurrana with no major brand deals coming, possibly because of the lukewarm response his films Natuanki Saala (2013), Bewakoofiyaan (2014), and Hawaizaada (2015) got, his second release of the year Dum Laga Ke Haisha propelled his brand value further.
In 2016, he was signed by VI-John for its shaving foam. Commenting on the association, Harshit Kochar, then the director of VI-John India had said, “We are delighted to have multi-talented Ayushmann Khurrana on board as this association will help build a strong connect between the brand and consumers especially youth who admire his music and take him as their role model. Ayushmann who wears different caps of a singer, lyricist and actor, has a mass appeal and connects well with our brand philosophy.”
Lancer Footwear got the actor on board in 2017.
100-crore club there, big brands here
2018 was truly the year of reckoning for the force that Khurrana was turning out to be in the Hindi film industry. His 2017’s releases Bareilly Ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan got him immense popularity but Andhadhun and Badhaai Ho, both released in 2018 got him into the coveted 100-crore club. The same year, Khurrana featured in Coca Cola’s ads ahead of Diwali, joining the league of several A-listers who were associated with the big brand.
Not just Coca Cola, Khurrana appeared as the face of a bevy of brands in 2018, including American Tourister, Flipkart, Turtle, Mc Dowell’s No.1, V-Mart, Parachute Advanced, HDFC Payzapp, and Samsung Galaxy.
Brand Love Continues
Khurrana’s box office formula was getting better and his performances in Article 15, Dream Girl, and Bala, all released in 2019, concreted his footing as a bankable actor. Simultaneously, Khurrana was getting more & more popular in the brand world.
In 2019, he was signed on with more than 10 brands including Balaji Wafers, The Man Company (where he invested as well), Titan Eye Plus, Godrej Security Solutions, Realme (the first celebrity endorser for the brand in India), Magicbricks, Nexus Mall, Daniel Wellington, Vingajoy, and Urban Company. With more than 20 brand endorsements running, he became the top celebrity ambassador.
And the brand love kept pouring in for the star, who now established his image as a middle class, good boy, who is out there to talk about everything unmentionable. In 2020, he started endorsing Toyota Urban Cruiser, Nestle KitKat, Bajaj Allianz, JSW Paints, Sprite, Tide, and Colgate. He was also signed by UNICEF as a celebrity advocate for the children’s rights campaign.
Khurrana must not change to reinvent
Today, Khurrana is endorsing a number of leading brands in the country including CIPLA, JSW Paints, Mgicbricks, Godrej Appliances, Boro Plus etc. The brands are pouring in but it seems like Khurrana might be steering away from the persona that made him the lover boy of the capitalist world, as Rediffusion MD Sandeep Goyal writes, “My view is that Brand Ayushmann Khurrana requires an urgent course correction. He can’t just be different for the sake of being different. The LGBT story did not cut much ice with even his hard-core loyal audience in Chandigarh itself. It just failed to resonate with enough viewers. Yes, it was different, but was it relevant and different? And therein lies the crux of the issue: if the success formula has to continue, then story selection and his own role have to get far more rigorous attention. For that, he has much to learn from Aamir Khan.”
Goyal concludes by saying that Khurrana must not change his screen persona, “Brands that Ayushmann endorses love him as the plain, simple, unvarnished individual that he has been through most of his career till Andhadhun. WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get. A new, improved Ayushmann is neither required nor relevant. The new version may actually bruise and hurt the original.”
