Duff & Phelps, the global advisor that protects, restores and maximizes value for clients, today released key findings from the fifth edition of its Celebrity Brand Valuation Study 2019: “New is Gold”. The study provides a ranking of India’s most powerful celebrity brands based on brand values derived from their endorsement contracts.

Key findings from the report include:

Virat Kohli retains the top position for the third consecutive year. His brand value rose by 39% to USD 237.5 million (mn) in 2019.

Akshay Kumar jumps to second position with brand value of USD 104.5 mn (a jump of 55.3%).

The dynamic power couple, Ranveer and Deepika, claim the third spot with a brand value of USD 93.5 mn each. Deepika retains her most valuable female celebrity status for the second consecutive year whereas Ranveer moves up a spot, to now occupy the same position as Deepika Padukone.

Total value of the top 20 celebrity brands stands at USD 1.1 billion, with the top 10 contributing about 75% of the total value.

“This year we saw the new generation celebrities make it to the top 20. Apart from the celebrities who were featured in last year’s study, this year, we have Ayushmann Khurrana (rank 10), Tiger Shroff (rank 17) and Rohit Sharma (rank 20) with a cumulative brand value of USD 87.5 mn,” said Aviral Jain, Managing Director, Duff & Phelps. “The industry saw a wave of new faces and concepts with the effective usage of digital media to capitalize on millennials and Gen Z. Even though brands changed their approach of sticking to established actors by roping in new faces, overall the industry managed to stay on course with the perfect blend of traditional and new. The new pedigree of stars also ventured into investments by emerging as ‘starvestors’ (star investors), thus infusing capital in brands that resonated with their values,” Jain added.

Commenting on the changing nature of the endorsement market in India, Varun Gupta, Managing Director and Asia Pacific Leader for Valuation Services, Duff & Phelps said, “This is the dawn of a new era for the media and entertainment sector. The industry has seen experimentation, be it celebrities moving from traditional mainstream endorsements towards investments in brands, the rise of digital format advertising campaigns, or the onset of over-the-top (OTT) stars who are breaking new ground in endorsements. Brands and celebrities have parallelly adopted the path of conscious advertising and filmmaking by choosing uplifting topics and making the narrative less window dressed, an important facet for today’s Gen Y and Gen Z.”

Further, the study focuses on the rising trend of OTT since the upgrade of the India’s digital demography. Regional industries created ripples nationally and globally with OTT proving regional content is no longer a desired state, but a prerequisite for today’s consumer. The study also highlights the new tribe of celebrity endorsers who have become digital stars; they actively involve themselves in social causes and promote brands inclined towards fitness, health and wellness.