Realme’s Shahrukh Khan deal, plus 5 Indian celebrities that helped sell phones | Digit

Following teasers, Realme declared that it had chosen Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan as its new brand ambassador in advance of the June release of its Realme 11 Pro series phones. In case you didn’t know, realme introduced these cellphones in China in May 2023 and has since obtained numerous certifications, including those from the FCC, TDRA, and other organisations. 

These certifications demonstrated that the Realme 11 Pro 5G series smartphones might be the same in both global as well as Chinese markets. The series can be expected to arrive in India by the end of June. 

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Previously, Salman Khan was chosen by the phone company to serve as the brand mascot for their Realme 6 series in 2020 and KL Rahul was chosen in 2021.

The actor Shahrukh Khan stated, “The brand’s unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries aligns perfectly with my own pursuit of excellence. Together, we aim to ignite innovation and fuel the growth of Realme globally,” when talking about the collaboration.

Before Realme, Shahrukh Khan was the brand ambassador for Nokia in 2007 and Apple in 2017. Apart from Khan, currently there have been a lot of stars who have been appointed as the brand ambassador for smartphone brands, so check out our list below.

Samsung – Alia Bhatt partnership

Alia Bhatt was appointed the brand ambassador for Samsung in 2021 for their premium Samsung Galaxy foldable devices namely; Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3. The smartphones showcased class and premium style and that was their campaign which featured the star. Alia Bhat is considered one of the most popular actresses currently and has a following of 77.4 million fans on Instagram, establishing a prominent reach on social media. 

OnePlus – Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput Kapoor

Shahid Kapoor along with his better half Mira Rajput Kapoor were made the brand ambassadors for smartphone company OnePlus, most recently for their TV campaign in 2022. The OnePlus brand capitalised on the popularity of the couple for their smartphone and television campaigns in the past.

Vivo – Virat Kholi

Virat Kholi, a celebrated Indian cricketer, partnered with smartphone brand Vivo. And even though he’s not from the Bollywood industry, Virat Kohli’s celebrity status is cemented on the cricket field and in the hearts of millions of Indians.

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He has an influential fan following in the country which is quite evident with his 250M followers on Instagram. He ranks as the third most followed athlete in the world next to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Tecno – Ayushmann Khurrana 

Ayushmann Khurrana has been recently appointed as the Tecno brand ambassador and the Chinese company aims at targeting the mass audience with the actor’s vast reach of influence. Khurrana has been coming out with multiple movies addressing and inkling towards social issues which has created a buzz for the actor’s work.   

Xiaomi’s Redmi – Pankaj Tripathi 

Pankaj Tripathi was appointed as the new brand ambassador for Xiaomi’s Redmi series of phones. The actor has gained popularity amongst the Indian audiences for his endearing performances as a native Indian character and Xiaomi’s Redmi is known to cater to the budget-friendly category of smartphones. The brand has tried to draw parallels between the essence of the actor’s career trajectory and the brand’s overall value for money appeal.     

Poco – Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya had been appointed as the brand ambassador for Poco at the starting of this year. Pandya has achieved a daredevil persona in the eyes of the Indian audience with IPL popularity and the mass appeal to audience with his on field demeanour. The cricketer has gained popularity in the last few years and can hold influence on a sub-group of audience which the smartphone brand also taps into.  

An important point to ponder on is how do the superstar brand ambassadors help contribute to the sales of the latest smartphone launches, and are they actually impactful? The answer here is quite easy, of course! They do draw a lot of attention to a brand when they are associated with the company which inadvertently adds value to the brand. With the brand ‘Shahrukh Khan’ being associated with Realme, it no longer can be seen as just another smartphone brand range and that is the essence of ‘starpower’, adding brand value.

What are your thoughts about this association between celebrities and brands? Let us know at [email protected]