Tam AdEx recently unveiled its celebrity endorsement report for the year 2023. The results suggest that only 28% of television-advertised content received celebrity endorsements.
This despite having the highest ad volumes per day (in hours) during the October-December 2023 quarter due to the Cricket world cup tournament held in India, coinciding with the ongoing festive season.
Celebrity endorsements have long been a popular marketing strategy in India. Brands however, are encountering a growing difficulty in engaging consumers' attention and time, shows the report's findings. Nevertheless, marketers continue to believe that brand ambassadors offer greater consumer recall because of the fascination consumers continue to have with movie stars, sports figures, and television actors.
There was a 2% increase in the ad volumes for ads that featured celebrity compared to the year 2021, however there was a dip when compared to previous year's numbers.
Celebrity endorsed ads increased by 11% in 2022 as compared to 2021.
The 2023 report, compiled on the various aspects of celebrity endorsement on TV during the year, includes the most visible celebrity through endorsement, the quantum of sector, categories
and brands endorsed, and the ratio of ads with and without celebrity endorsement.
Celebrity vs non-celebrity ads
The data indicates that film stars held a significant influence, comprising more than 80% of the advertising scene in 2023. Following closely were sports personalities at 12% and television stars at 7%.
More than 50% of celebrity-endorsed ads originate from the top 3 sectors, with over three-fourths stemming from the top 7 sectors.
2023 saw the food & beverages sector leading the pack in terms of celebrity endorsements.
‘Ecom-Gaming’ was the top category for which maximum celebrities from different professions endorsed brands, followed by ‘Ecom-Online Shopping’.
In terms of gender representation within advertisements, male film actors were featured in 42%, while actresses were prominent in 39% during this period. Interestingly, the report highlights an average ad endorsement ratio of 55:45, favoring male celebrities, within the top 10 sectors.
Notably, ‘F&B’ was dominated with ads endorsed by male celebrities and ‘Personal Care/Personal Hygiene’ dominated by female celebrities during 2023.
Ads under ‘Telecom/Internet Service Providers’ and ‘Fuel/Petroleum Products’ sectors were only endorsed by male celebrities.
Most visible celebrity endorsers of 2023
With an average visibility of 29 hours per day across all channels, Akshay Kumar topped the list of the most visible celebrity, followed by Amitabh Bachchan with 16 hours per day through endorsements done on TV.
The Top 10 list had six male and four female celebrities, with celebrities like Ajay Devgan, Sara Ali Khan and Virat Kohli forming new entrants into the top 10 celebrity list of 2023, compared to previous year.
Notably, the top 10 roster exhibited a balanced representation of both male and female celebrities, with prominent figures such as Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh among the season's leading endorsers.
Interestingly, when it came to the top 10 celebrity endorsing quantum of brands, Amitabh Bachchan endorsed the maximum number of brands, as compared to the previous year.
Six out of the top 10 celebrities were endorsing more brands in 2023 compared to 2022, including Amitabh Bachchan, Virat Kohli, Shahrukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgan, and Kiara Advani, with Virat Kohli featuring as the top visible sportsperson for the year.