Brands leveraging popularity of A-list family members

Brands are queuing up to cash in on the popularity of celebrity family members from the sports and films fraternities on social media.

While actor Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter Shanaya awaits her debut film, she has featured in ads for a jewellery and a hair straightener brand. Similarly, Arjun Kapoor’s sister Anshula, Sachin Tendulkar’s daughter Sara, and Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira Rajput, have tied up with brands like candle and home fragrance firm EKAM, Natural Ice Cream and Samsung, for their social media campaigns as influencers to leverage their family name. According to the industry experts, family members of A-listers can earn up to ₹15-30 lakh for a post as part of a social media campaign.

Rajput has 4 million followers on Instagram, while Shanaya and Sara have 1.5 million and 2.3 million, respectively. “Celebrity relatives often get a lot of attention and early coverage. Collaborating with star kids becomes a promising proposition for designer brands as their public appearances are captured by the paparazzi and spread across social media platforms by their fans. As star kids help increase brand exposure, companies proactively look forward to collaborating with them to build community and affinity,” Mitesh Kothari, co-founder and chief creative officer at digital agency White Rivers Media, said.

By capitalising on the family’s stardom in different ways, some star kids become actors, influencers and models, like Chunky Panday’s niece Alanna and Alaviaa Jaaferi (Jaaved Jaffrey’s daughter) or take completely different routes, such as Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda who works on women’s rights, Kothari added.

Amit Mondal, the founder of influencer marketeer Pulpkey said it is a form of camouflaged advertising where not only can the relative sign up for a brand collaboration for a much more reasonable rate than the celebrity family member, it also brings the star’s support to the table indirectly. “They not only bring with them millions of followers on their own but anyone who is a fan of the star relative. Plus, they are followed by important personalities whose likes and comments might benefit the campaign significantly,” Mondal added. Samiksha Mehta, business development manager, Pollen, an influencer marketing firm, said: “For those who are about to make film debut, brands try and lock them in just before they become inaccessible or more expensive.”