The ad match: Tendulkar, Dada TVCs return to telly, Bollywood endorsement pie to shrink further

NEW DELHI: Bollywood has lost out to cricketers—even retired ones--in celebrity advertising volumes on television, according to the latest TAM AdEx data.

MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag made a comeback in July-August, following apparent disillusionment with movie stars in the wake of controversies roiling the mainstream Hindi film industry. Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket last month. Sports celebrity endorsement ad volumes rose 17% in the two months from the year earlier.

“The surge in ad volumes of the cricketers is led by Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Sachin, Ganguly and Sehwag. While Kohli has remained at the top of ad volumes, there has been a surge in ad volumes featuring senior cricketers,” a TAM AdEx spokesperson said.


In contrast, ad volumes of endorsements by movie actors dropped 30% from the year earlier in the period.

Industry executives attributed the dulling of Bollywood’s sheen to a combination of factors, including a backlash over events following actor Sushant Singh’s death and anti-China sentiment that’s made the country’s brands wary of showing celebs endorsing their products, while shoots had to be cancelled because of Covid. Big celebrity endorsement deals have dried up since March, and while brands are advertising, they have cut down on high-cost endorsements, industry executives said.

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[Link in bio] Cricketers beat Bollywood stars in celeb ad rankings. While Brand Kohli is the most-preferred, MS Dhoni over took Big B at No.2. Dhoni endorses close to 30 brands including Oppo, Sunfeast and MasterCard.⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #Dhoni #msdhoni #ViratKohli #Kohli #mahendraSinghdhoni #celebadrankings #adrankings

A post shared by ET Panache (@etpanache) on Sep 10, 2020 at 3:49am PDT

The industry expects the Bollywood pie to shrink further with the issue that’s consumed TV channels and social media expected to escalate in the coming weeks.

“The celebrity endorsement business was already reeling with Covid-driven pressures,” said Manish Porwal, managing director at Alchemist, a celebrity management firm that works with L'Oreal and CavinKare among others. “With the new issues and the possibility of specific celebrity names coming under the law scanner for possible abuse of drugs, we expect an 18-21% further dip in celebrity deals (value terms). We also expect a 30% drop in consumer loss of equity of top 50 stars and a significant drop of usage of commercials already using these celebrities.”

For instance, a report—later denied—that 25 Bollywood A-listers had allegedly been named as drug users by an actress in custody, prompted viral social media calls to stop using the celebrities in ads.

“In general, the general perception about Bollywood has turned negative over recent months for multiple reasons, which is forcing brands to reassess existing associations with actors,” said Tuhin Mishra, managing director of sports marketing company Baseline Ventures, which represents shuttler PV Sindhu and billiards player Pankaj Advani. “Combine that with Chinese brands, which have always been top spenders, stalling exposure of celebrities.”

While India skipper Virat Kohli has been consistently at No 1 through this year, Dhoni moved to No 2 in July and August, from No 8 in June, overtaking Bollywood actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor, the Tam AdEx data said.

Brands associated with Dhoni said they will continue with him despite his retirement from international cricket.

“Sunfeast’s association with Dhoni will continue,” said Hemant Malik, ITC chief executive, foods. “He cuts across ages and boundaries and has universal appeal.”