Shah Rukh Khan, FMCG cos lead TV advertising charts

MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, backed by more than a dozen brand endorsements, has emerged as the most visible celebrity on television in the first nine months of the year followed by Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor.

The top ten advertisers list, on the hand, is dominated by the consumer goods majors. While Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Procter & Gamble (P&G), and L'oreal India led the pack, telecoms major Idea Cellular and jewellery brand Gitanjali Gems emerged as the only non-FMCG advertisers on the list, according to TAM, a television audience measurement agency.

Film actors, who continue to dominate television screen space thanks to their multiple brand endorsements, have seen their presence decline, even as sportspersons (read cricketers) led by M S Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar upped their share by 7% between January-September this year compared to the corresponding period last year.

TAM AdEx, which takes into account advertising volumes for its analysis, said sports celebrities now have 19% share of the overall brand endorsement as seen on television.

Significantly, film actresses accounted for 39% while actors had 37% share. Besides film and sports celebrities, small-screen actors and actresses had 2% share each of the overall endorsement on TV.

As far as advertisers go, the telecom sector, which used to be one of the biggest spenders till recently, has seen its share decline this year as far as its visibility goes with a lone player-Idea Cellular-making it to the top ten list. "While consumer goods players like L'oreal have stepped up advertising in a big way, the telecom brands have not been able to match the pace due to issues surrounding the sector," said R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare South Asia, WPP's media agency, which works for HUL, PepsiCo besides others.

"The first half of the year had the cricket World Cup and also the Indian Premier League ( IPL) which meant that a lot of brands with crickets as ambassadors were most visible. But this will come down drastically now with the Indian team having had no time to shoot any new campaigns courtesy a chock-a-block calendar," said Indranil Das Blah, COO at Kwan Entertainment, a celebrity management agency.

Both Dhoni and Tendulkar haven't signed any new deals post the World Cup despite their big win in April. Although, MSD's signing amount has gone up sharply to upwards of Rs 10 crore per annum. But one cricketer who has been on a signing spree is Virat Kohli. He is learnt to have recently signed P&G's Vicks brand making his kitty swell up to eleven brand endorsements at the price of Rs 1.5 crore per year - up from Rs 75 lakh before the World Cup win.

What catapulted SRK to the top spot among brand endorsers is the unprecedented promotion that began a few months before the release of his magnum opus, Ra One, said industry watchers. The actor, who endorses brands like Emami, Hyundai Motors, Dish TV, besides others, charges anything between Rs 7-8 crore per year. "His (SRK) rates are half of what Aamir Khan charges, which makes him more visible. Also, for Aamir brand endorsements are not really his priority at the moment," Blah of Kwan Entertainment added.