Akshay Kumar is top celeb endorser in H1 2022: TAM AdEx

Celebrity endorsements have been prevailing in India for a very long time; there is an increasing challenge for brands to capture people’s time and focus. According to TAM AdEx’s ‘Celebrity Endorsement Report H1 2022’, marketers believe that brand ambassadors provide a higher degree of consumer recall. This is based on a pretty simple logic as India is a country where people are star-struck by Movie Stars, Sports Personalities, TV Actors and Actresses.

People idolise them and so, when they are seen in an advertisement promoting a product, it helps in building better brand image, spreading awareness, connecting consumers emotionally, creating unique identity and in turn increase product usage.

The report encompasses all the aspects of Celebrity Endorsement on TV during the year 2021. The study provides comprehensive information about trends of celebrity endorsement done on TV over the last three years.

The key aspects of this report are Most Visible Celebrity through Endorsement, Quantum of Sector, Categories and Brands endorsed, ratio of Ads with/without Celebrity endorsement, Monthly and Yearly Celebrity Endorsement trend, advertising theme appeal differs by Age and Gender, etc.

As per TAM AdEx’s report, in Jan-Jun’22, 30% share of the ads telecast on TV was endorsed by celebrities, while non-celebrities had a 70% share. Film stars contributed more than 80% of the advertising during Jan-Jun’22, followed by Athletes and Television Stars, who contributed 11% and 4%, respectively.

Compare to Jan-Jun’20, celebrity endorsement seen in Jan-Jun’21 and Jan-Jun’22 recorded a growth of 65% and 100% share, respectively. Celebrity endorsement ads increased significantly in Mar-May’22, with March 2022 having the highest celebrity ad volumes share.

Food & Beverages sector saw the highest share of celeb endorsed ads at 28%, followed by Services sector with 13% share. More than 50% of the ads endorsed by celebrities fall under the Top 3 sectors and more than 3/4th of the ads fall under the Top 7 sectors. Banking/ Finance/ Investment sector entered in top 10 list, whereas 7 out of Top 10 sectors have the same rank position for Jan-Jun’22 over Jan-Jun’21.

The average ad endorsing ratio of Male and Female celebrities for the Top 10 sector was 60:40. During Jan-Jun’22, the Top 2 sectors, namely ‘F&B’ and ‘Service’ were dominated by commercials backed by Female celebrities.

The Top 10 categories accounted for 36% share of celebrity ad volumes, whereas ‘Toilet/Floor Cleaners’ was the top category with 9% share of celebrity ad volumes in Jan-Jun’22. ‘Ecom-Gaming’ was the top category for which maximum celebrity from different professions endorsed brands under it, however, celebrities were mostly seen in the ‘E-Com’ sector.

‘Akshay Kumar’ was the most visible star, with an average visibility of 37 hours per day across all channels, followed by ‘Amitabh Bachchan’ with 18 hours per day through TV sponsorships. There were equal number of male and female celebrities in the Top 10 list.

In Jan-Jun’22, 8 of the top 10 celebrities, including ‘Akshay Kumar’, ‘Amitabh Bachchan’, ‘Alia Bhatt’, ‘Vidya Balan’, ‘Shahrukh Khan’, ‘Taapsee Pannu’, ‘Ranveer Singh’, and ‘Kareena Kapoor’, sponsored more firms than in Jan-Jun’21. MS Dhoni endorsed the maximum number of brands in Jan-Jun’22 and had also topped Jan-Jun’21.

More than 50% ads were endorsed by top three celebrity couples – ‘Akshay Kumar/ Twinkle Khanna’, ‘Amitabh Bachchan/ Jaya Bachchan’ and ‘Ranbir Kapoor/ Alia Bhatt’ and the top 2 couples had endorsed similar 37 and 29 brands, respectively, during Jan-Jun’22.

Young Female Celebrities were preferred over their Male counterparts, but the scenario changes when it comes to celebrities in the 35+ age group.

Key findings:

Among celebrity endorsed ads, Film stars had the bigger share of ad volume, that is, 84%.
Celebrity endorsed ads growth in Jan-Jun’22 with more than 1 times compared to Jan-Jun’20.
The highest ad volumes share registered during Mar’22.
More than 50% of the ads endorsed by celebrities fall under Top 3 sectors and 80% of the ads fall under Top 7 Sectors. – ‘F&B’, ‘Services’ and ‘Personal Care/ Personal Hygiene’.
The top 2 sectors viz. ‘F&B’ and ‘Service’ were dominated with ads endorsed by Female Celebrities during Jan-Jun’22.
Top 10 categories contribute 36% share of overall ads carrying celebrity to endorse it.
Ecom-Gaming was the top category for which maximum celebrity from different profession endorsed brands under it.
With an average visibility of 37 hrs/day, Akshay Kumar topped the list of the most visible celebrity through endorsements done on TV.
Akshay Kumar was the top Celebrity among all professions to endorse maximum number of categories in Y 2021.
More than 40% ads were endorsed by two celebrity couples - Akshay Kumar/ Twinkle Khanna & Amitabh Bachchan/ Jaya Bachchan.
MS Dhoni was the top visible Sports Person in Y 2021.
Young Female Celebrities were preferred over their Male counter-part, but the scenario changes when it comes to celebrities of age 35+ group.