This story is from February 19, 2008

Endorsement billionaires

Rajat Ghai / TNN / Feb 19, 2008, 00:00 IST

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Recent reports revealed that Shah Rukh Khan earns more from endorsements than from films. With his peers following suit, is this trend here to stay?

doweshowbellyad=0; Shah Rukh (TOI Photo) More pics��Nothing exceeds like excess,�� remarked Oscar Wilde once. His aphorism would go down very well with today��s Bollywood stars and Team India��s men in blue.
Already at the zenith of their professions, these hi-flyers have, of late been tapping into another source of income, so much so that it may become the primary source for the cr��me-de-la-cr��me endorsements.
Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan leads the pack. SRK, who has ruled the silver screen for well over one and half decades now, has bagged the title of ��emperor�� even as far as endorsements go.
Sources in the advertising agency pegged the endorsement revenue earned by SRK at around Rs 150 crore a year, the highest for any Indian advertising ��model��. This figure is Rs 30 crore more than what Amitabh Bachchan earns �� Rs 120 crore, even though the Big B endorses more products than Shah Rukh does.

Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are next in line, earning less than Rs 100 crore from their endorsements. Between them, these stars, along with their cricketer counterparts endorse everything from soft drinks, pens, hair oil, diamonds, suits, computers, soaps, cars, antiseptic cream, diet supplements, real estate, washing powder, watches, motorbikes to even the humble chyawanprash.
So why endorsements? There are two perspectives to it: the advertiser��s and the celebrity��s. Explaining Shah Rukh Khan��s case, ad-guru Prahlad Kakar feels that it is simple maths.

��SRK does hardly two films a year. He charges Rs 5-6 crore per film. On the other hand, if he does 20 endorsements a year and charges between Rs 7 and 8 crore per endorsement, he would end up with Rs 140 and 160 crore in his bank locker,�� reasons Kakar. Alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kakar points to Preity Zinta as the other major female endorser in Bollywood.
Ad guru Santosh Desai adds that as far as advertisers are concerned, the nature of celebrity endorsements has completely changed. ��There is less upfront money and more brand sales.
For example, when you want to launch a new brand or increment an existing one, you rope in a celebrity, mostly a Bollywood star or a cricketer. There is accountability of effort and no upfront commitment. But most of all, the sheer charisma of the star can bail you out,�� he says.
And although, SRK has gone on record to state that celebrity appeal may not always increase sales, fact remains that he and Big B have an uncanny ability to sell everything. Adman-lyricist, Prasoon Joshi admits, ��There is big money in endorsements. Whether to endorse or not, however, is the personal choice of the endorser.��
And, where do endorsements go from here? ��The faster the economy grows, the higher would be the stakes,�� says Kakar. The bull run has just begun!

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