Instant brandhood Gone are the days when an actor needed several hits for one brand endorsement. Today, all it takes is one hit to bag several deals

Instant brandhood

Gone are the days when an actor needed several hits for one brand endorsement. Today, all it takes is one hit to bag several deals

There are three things that determine an actor’s popularity today — films, link-ups and endorsements. While a B-Towner can either be a good actor or a bad actor, the number of brands they endorse does not have anything to do with the number of flops or hits they deliver. But the intial benchmark of acquiring a credibility as an actor capable of delivering a hit has changed with the advent of young stars. Actors like Freida Pinto, Sonakshi Sinha and the new debutante, actor Nargis Fakhri have bagged endorsements right after their first release; the latter got three endorsement deals worth about Rs 9 crore even before her first film, Rockstar released. Sonakshi, who is just a-film-old has a string of endorsements under her kitty, and the same holds true for Freida, who became a sensation overnight. Her popularity soared to such an extent that she was also offered an international brand endorsement, which she eventually took up. Actor Deepika Padukone had endorsed two brands before her debut film, Om Shanti Om released. Actors Sonam Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor too had an endorsement deal each before their debut film’s release.
Atul Kasbekar, photographer, finds this trend a little bizarre. He is of the opinion that to become a brand ambassador of a product, there needs to be some credibility behind the actor. “He/she must have a track record that proves that he/she is capable enough of endorsing the brand or being the face of a brand. Having said that I believe that it’s fatigue of seeing the same old faces that is giving way to new faces for brand endorsements.”
Harish Bijoor, brand specialist, feels that says that the trend is here to stay. “Endorsements are all about freshness and creativity. People have had enough of seeing the same faces. The trick today is to pick the horse early. Anybody who makes headlines could be picked up. Sonakshi was picked up after Dabanng because she was in the news for at least seven to eight months after the film released.”
Film trade analyst Amod Mehra says it all boils down to the number of zeroes. “Newcomers will obviously charge lesser as compared to a Shah Rukh Khan. Plus they also get to be in constant limelight due to the advertisements. It is always a good choice to catch hold of smaller stars and market your product well,” he said.