Kat's Brand Equity

 Katrina Kaif & Shah Rukh Khan rule TV as top advertisers like HUL, P&G, Idea Cellular & Panasonic prefer them over Dhoni & other cricketers

NEW DELHI: Cricket may have been the flavour of the season with the back-to- back World Cup and IPL in the first half of this year, but top advertisers such as Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Idea Cellular and Panasonic have largely stuck to film actors to endorse their brands.

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif emerged the most visible celebrity on television in terms of advertising volumes during January- June, according data from television ratings firm TAM. She was followed by Shah Rukh Khan, M S Dhoni and Kareena Kapoor.

Commenting on the study, Katrina Kaif said, "These studies are cyclical. What matters is consistent performance over the long term and this is what I choose to focus on, be it in my movies or my brands."

Consistency clearly is one thing most Indian cricketers lack as is visible from the Indian team's disastrous performance so far in its England tour. And, despite India's success in the world cup, only two cricketers, captain MS Dhoni and master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, made it to the Top 10 most visible celebrities.

"Bollywood stars definitely bring more recognition to a brand than others," said Mehul Choksi, MD of the country's largest jewellery maker Gitanjali Gems which has hired Katrina Kaif to endorse its Nakshatra brand. Gitanjali Gems, which was among the top 10 advertisers on television in the first half of the year, however, paired cricketer Sreesant with actress Riya Sen to endorse its Rivaaz brand.

Indranil Das Blah, COO of marketing and entertainment and talent management firm Kwan, said film actors will always rule when it comes to celebrity advertising.

"While cricket stars endorsements could be negatively impacted with their performance at sports, it does not impact actors and actresses even if some of their movies flop." Film actresses contributed the highest to celebrity advertisement volumes with 39% of the television ad volumes, followed by film actors at 37% and cricketers at 21%.

Vinita Bangard, founder and managing partner of Krossover Entertainment, said cricketers busy schedule and the international cricket council's stringent ambush marketing norms may also have made them less accessible to brands. Katrina Kaif was clearly the flavour of the season. Beverages and food major PepsiCo says roping in the actress worked wonders for its mango based drink Slice since its relaunch in 2008.

"The 'Aamsutra' ad series has carved a distinct brand identity in its category and Katrina has become almost synonymous with Slice. A major part of the campaign's success must be attributed to her," PepsiCo Director (Juices and Juice Drinks) Homi Battiwala said.

Other brands that Katrina Kaif endorses include Etihad Airways, Lux, Olay, Panasonic, Pantene, Uniball, Veet, Wrigley's Doublemint and Yardley.

Talent managers believe that the industry has several younger film actresses such as Asin enjoying the top slots in the Hindi movie industry making them more suitable for brands that target youth.

Also, getting the A-list actors is more expensive than getting toplevel actresses. Katrina Kaif is learnt to charge anywhere between Rs 3-4 crore per endorsement annually, while actors like Shah Rukh Khan are estimated to earn Rs 6-8 crore for the same. Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni is known to charge much higher with deals amounting to Rs 8-12 crore.