2018 was an important year for the celebrity-brand industry as it just stopped short of Rs 1000 crore. Interestingly, Akshay Kumar overrode the brand power of the Khans.
While younger actors like Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan have a stronghold over the endorsement space, more brands are trying to catch hold on to the power of actors like Vicky Kaushal, Kartik Aaryan, Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan. According to the ESP Properties’ latest entertainment report Showbiz 2.0, celebrity endorsement grew from Rs 795 crore in 2017 to Rs 995 crore in 2018.
According to the report, the Top 10 Celebrities’ endorsement value increased by 20% over 2017, reaching a staggering Rs 605 crore. However, its contribution to the overall industry size went down from 64% in 2017 to 61% in 2018. There seems to be a major change in advertisier behaviour, suggesting that brands are looking beyond the normal A-listers.
Akshay topped the list with endorsements worth Rs 100 crore, while Alia Bhatt at number 5, raced ahead of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.
Ranveer Singh (Rs 84 crore), Deepika Padukone (Rs 75 crore), Amitabh Bachchan (Rs 72 crore) and Alia Bhatt (Rs 68 crore) made it to the top 5 of the list, while Shahrukh (Rs 56 crore), Varun Dhawan (Rs 48), Salman Khan (Rs 40 crore), Kareena Kapoor Khan (Rs 32 crore) and Katrina Kaif (Rs 30 crore) settled in the lower half of the list.
The brands are also cashing in on the power couples like Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, and Virat Kohli-Amushka Sharma and using their love stories for the ads.
On the work front, Akshay has a busy year ahead, as he has several projects in the pipeline, including Sooryavanshi and Mission Mangal. He was last seen in Kesari.