Remember those Lux ads featuring the then-actor Leela Chitnis who in many ways was the first Indian celebrity to endorse a brand? And there are times when brands have supported these celebrities even during their turbulent times. Case in point Nike’s 27 years of association with F1 racer Michael Schumacher, who suffered a tragic crash. The association of actor Johnny Depp and Dior is another such example when the latter stood with him through thick and thin. At home, Indian celebrities too have come a long way from the Leena Chitnis days, with associations helping them to up their brand value and eventually earn. “Today brands are increasingly targeting newer faces like Shanaya Kapoor, Suhana Khan, and Navya Nanda among others given their strategic demographic shift targeting younger audiences. Given the current consumer landscape, characterised by a substantial presence of tech-savvy millennials and Gen-Zs, brands seek to build meaningful connections through collaborations with the new generation stars. These stars not only enjoy significant popularity but also garner significant engagement on digital and social media platforms. This digital resonance in return enables brands to quickly establish its positioning and credibility amongst younger audiences,” Avril Jain, Managing Director, Valuation Advisory Services, Kroll, told BrandWagon Online.
As per a report by Kroll, the cumulative number of brand product endorsements by the top 20 celebrities increased to 424 in 2022, reflecting an increase from 376 product brands in 2021, representing a growth of 7.8% over the last five years from 314 product brands in 2018.
Why old is no more gold?
While the market of celebrity endorsements has grown as a result of the outpour of new-age companies courtesy of the pandemic, the top 25 celebrities endorsed 302 product brands on television across 20 different industry segments during the 12 months ending November 2022. The top 25 celebrities also had a digital presence on over 100 websites, including YouTube, Zee, Rediff, Yahoo, MSN, and BBC.
There has been a shift in celebrity brand endorsement values as newer players including Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Alia Bhatt, among others have started coming to the fore. The report states that new players are topping the charts with the top three consisting of Ranveer Singh, Virat Kohli and Akshay Kumar. The top 10 consisted of Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, MS Dhoni, Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan. Two out of three in the top three of celebrity brand valuation are newer players as compared to the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
| Celebrities | Rank | Valuation (in USD million) |
| Ranveer Singh | 1 | 181.7 |
| Virat Kohli | 2 | 176.9 |
| Akshay Kumar | 3 | 153.6 |
| Alia Bhatt | 4 | 102.9 |
| Deepika Padukone | 5 | 82.9 |
| MS Dhoni | 6 | 80.3 |
| Amitabh Bachchan | 7 | 79 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 8 | 73.6 |
| Hrithik Roshan | 9 | 71.6 |
| Shah Rukh Khan | 10 | 55.7 |
| Salman Khan | 11 | 54.5 |
| Ranbir Kapoor | 12 | 54.5 |
| Rohit Sharma | 13 | 49.5 |
| Ayushmann Khuranna | 13 | 49.5 |
| Anushka Sharma | 15 | 41.7 |
| Kiara Advani | 16 | 38.3 |
| Kareena Kapoor | 17 | 36.5 |
| Kartik Aryan | 17 | 36.5 |
| Hardik Pandya | 19 | 34.8 |
| Allu Arjun | 20 | 31.4 |
| Sara Ali Khan | 21 | 28 |
| Varun Dhawan | 21 | 28 |
| Neeraj Chopra | 23 | 26.5 |
| PV Sindhu | 23 | 26.5 |
| Rashmika Mandana | 25 | 25.3 |
According to industry experts, the newer players are topping the brand valuation charts due to relevance and relatability. Additionally, the advent of social media has provided celebrities with extensive touchpoints, facilitating easy connections with followers. Notably, there is a shift from perception-driven brand value to actual monetary returns, with celebrities increasingly involved in revenue-sharing endorsements and establishing successful brands. “Newer players have secured more lucrative deals compared to their older counterparts, contributing to the inflation of brand valuation. Their advantage lies in factors such as age, relevance to product categories, adept navigation of the social media landscape, and resonance with the content-consuming habits of their target audience. The evolving business metrics in celebrity endorsements, including revenue-sharing arrangements, underscore the increased sophistication of brand valuation,” Devdatta Potnis, CEO, Animeta, said.
Industry experts opine that marketing has changed as brands have moved from multi-year partnerships to campaign-to-campaign partnerships. Case in point: Approximately two to three months before the Indian Premier League (IPL), many brands start partnering with sports personalities to cash in on the cricketing wave. Additionally, digital media has changed the dynamics of user engagement.
Making way for the new!
While relevance and relatability are important for brands, new-age players continue to top the celebrity brand valuation charts. Moreover, industry experts believe that price points play a crucial role in brand valuations. The legacy brands will continue associating themselves with old players, having a certain set of beliefs, new-age companies, on the other hand, are looking to spend differently as budgets are limited. “The new age of people coming in are more relatable because celebrities earlier were more mysterious. They have opened their lives to their followers. Engagement has become important in today’s time. The more relatable you are, people will take your word for it,” Himank Duvurru, founder and CEO, Mando’a MediaWorks, said.
According to industry estimates, Shah Rukh Khan charges approximately Rs 7-10 crore per year/day. Virat Kohli on the other hand charges approximately Rs 5 crore per year/ day while Ranveer Singh charges approximately Rs 3-4 crore per year/ day. Moreover, experts opine that new-age actors are more adventurous when it comes to exploring new avenues. And contrary to popular belief the new players don’t come cheap.
Deccan heralds!
The South Indian film industry has been gradually growing into prominence, as it stepped out of the shadows. Over the past two years, the South Indian film industry has grown in terms of popularity across Indian and International markets as well. As per a FICCI-EY report, the South Indian film industry commands over 50% of box office revenue. Additionally, out of the eight Hindi movies that crossed the Rs 100 crore mark, the top two were dubbed versions of South Indian films. Moreover, 37% of the Hindi box office revenue in 2022 was generated by dubbed South Indian films, according to a report by Ormax.
South Indian cinema has seen a rise and Bollywood is no longer the only industry to rule at the box office. South Indian cinema continues to deliver, paving the way for South Indian actors to become national faces today. South Indian celebrities are increasingly bagging endorsement deals like Allu Arjun (with KFC, redBus), Samantha Prabhu (with Mamaearth) and JrNTR (with Appy Fizz), highlighting the expanding influence of South Indian cinema and the marketability of its stars in the national brand endorsement industry. “Bollywood stars were looked upon as a brand’s face all across the nation. However, there was no relatability at all past the tier-1 and tier-2 cities in the southern states. The popularity of South Indian cinema has transcended the Southern states and has made its mark all over the country. I can see more South Indian celebrities featuring in the top 25 list in the future,” Shankar Bala, CEO, Fourth Dimension Media Solutions, highlighted.
Notably, the South Indian film industry has established itself as a dark horse in the celebrity brand valuation race. As per the Kroll report, the overall brand value of Bollywood is 67.6%, with 28.9% comprising sports stars while the remaining 3.5% belongs to Tollywood stars.
The EY-FICCI report also states that the South Indian film industry had the highest gross box office collections in 2022 amounting to Rs 5,800 crore. South Indian film actors have started coming to the fore as celebrities like Allu Arjun. Rashmika Mandana, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Yash, and Mahesh Babu among others have started signing endorsement deals with brands.
Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandana featured on the the top 25 list of celebrity brand valuation ranked 20 and 25 respectively. According to experts, while the South Indian film industry continues to shine, there is less awareness amongst brands about the potential that lies in the South. It is expected that South Indian celebrities will continue to do well because of the anticipated releases of movies in 2024.
To be sure, going forward the nature of deals will change. According to industry experts, artificial intelligence (AI) will be a big thing in the next two years in terms of brand partnerships. Social media, influencer marketing, and the creator economy are expected to play a significant role, ensuring that newer players maintain their prominence. The landscape remains dynamic, presenting both challenges and opportunities for celebrities and brands alike. “Brand endorsements have changed as new kinds of deals have emerged. Brands have gone from roping in a star for multiple years to signing a celebrity for two to four months. New kinds of deals are expected out of 2024. Smaller brands will continue to come up with innovative ways to engage consumers,” Duvvuru added.