The brand value of top 20 celebrities rebounded last year from the pandemic slump of 2020 as Virat Kohli, Ranveer Singh and Akshay Kumar continued to lead celebrity brand value rankings.
The brand value of top 20 celebrities increased about 12.9 percent last year after declining five percent in 2020, according to a Duff & Phelps celebrity brand valuation report.
The number of product brand endorsements by the top 20 celebrities increased to 376 last year from 357 in 2020 driven by endorsements in new age companies that grew to about 12 percent of the total endorsements.
Moreover, for the fifth time Virat Kohli became the celebrity with the highest brand value of $185.7 million. New brand endorsements in 2021 included Digit Insurance, Hyperice, Lux, and Vivo. The cricketer's social media following has also shown strong growth, increasing more than 60 percent resulting in 265 million followers in 2021 as compared to 165 million in 2020. Kohli continues to hold more than 30 brands in his portfolio across industries.
Ranveer Singh jumped up to the second rank, with a brand value of $158.3 million. With several new endorsements in 2021, he holds around 35 brands across industries. The Bollywood actor has been made the brand ambassador of crypto currency exchange platform CoinSwitch Kuber and fintech platform Cred.
The Sooryavanshi star Akshay Kumar, who holds the third rank with a brand value of $139.6 million, has been focusing on brands like Cuemath.com, GOQii and PagarBook, among other new age companies.
Alia Bhatt climbed the ladder to the fourth spot with a brand value of $68.1 million toppling Shah Rukh Khan. The Gangubai Kathiawadi star has become the most valued female celebrity in 2021. She has in her portfolio brands like Blenders Pride, JSW Paints and Kopiko.
Among sports celebrities, along with Kohli, MS Dhoni entered the top five club in 2021, while Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu ranked number 20. Dhoni saw a spike in his brand value to $61.2 million in 2021 from $36.3 million in 2020. Even after his retirement from international cricket, Dhoni continues to hold more than 25 brands across industries. One of his notable endorsements in 2021 included entering into a three-year strategic partnership with HomeLane.com both as an equity partner and a brand ambassador, the report noted.
PV Sindhu who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics was the new entrant in the top 20 celebrity brand value rankings with a brand value of $22 million. In 2016, after winning the Rio Olympics, Sindhu turned to be the ambassador for brands like Bank of Baroda, Bridgestone and Yonex. After Tokyo Olympics, she bagged deals for multiple brands including Moj, Natural Ice Cream and Spinny.
