Kolkata Knight Riders remains the most valuable Indian Premiere League (IPL) brand, benefiting from co-owner and actor Shah Rukh Khan’s fan appeal.
The brand, which was on top of the pile in 2016, grew 23 percent and is valued at $58.6 million after the 2017 edition, according to a report published by the global corporate valuation, analytics and strategy firm Brand Finance.
The company arrives at a brand value on the hypothetical premise that a brand is an asset which can be transferred or lent for a consideration, which can be called a royalty or a licence fee, said Ajion Francis, managing director, Brand Finance India. It is the amount that such a transfer would command that determines the brand value, he said.
To put it simply, the brand value is created on the basis of how much of a franchise’s absolute revenue the brand hypothetically contributes, he said.
Kolkata’s Trump Card
Khans’ media and fan appeal was a large contributing factor to KKR’s brand value, according to the report.
Khan’s personal brand equity and connections were instrumental in establishing a network of local and national sponsorship, the Brand Finance report said. The fact that the franchise has established an effective merchandising strategy also helped.
Robust Overall Growth
All six franchises whose brands were valued, registered a growth, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) growing at 23 percent and Mumbai Indians at 17 percent.
Brand Mumbai grew 16.5 percent to $54.1 million to retain the second two spot. SRH climbed a spot to the third rank with a brand value of $46.5 million, a jump of nearly 24 percent.
The report attributed Mumbai Indians’ growth to a strong local identity, the emergence of Rohit Sharma as a captain, and the young Nitish Rana’s strong performances.
Capitalising on merchandising and smart social media strategies were key to the growth of brand SRH, while a stable management and solid on-field performances also helped, the report said.
The Delhi and Punjab brands grew 13 and 17 percent, respectively, retaining their fifth and sixth positions. Delhi was valued at $40.5 million and Punjab at $36.2 million.
The only franchise to register a single-digit growth at 4 percent were 2016’s finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). They climbed a rung down to be the fourth most valuable brand at $44.4 million.
The team had a poor season on the field, which was a contributing factor, but continued to receive good support at home games, despite the team’s icon, Virat Kohli, missing some games due to an injury.
This article was originally published on BloombergQuint.
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