Shah Rukh is king of endorsements too!

Shah Rukh Khan’s name sells not only in Bollywood but also on television. The latest data from TAM Media Research reveal he endorsed the highest number of brands during 2008 on television, closely followed by India’s cricket captain, MS Dhoni.

He currently endorses 39 brands, including Pepsi, Hyundai, Airtel, Videocon, Sun Feast, Tag Heuer, Dish TV and Mayur Suitings. And, gets Rs 1-1.5 crore to be present at any function in India, according to event management agencies.

The brand endorsement business is around Rs 1,000 crore, including star appearances and events, according to Manish Porwal, CEO of celebrity management company, Percept Talent Management.

The report says Shah Rukh and Dhoni moved up in the ranking of celebrities endorsing products on TV during 2008, as compared with 2006. Amitabh Bachchan, Shweta Tiwari (Prerna) and Sachin Tendulkar, who were at the first, third and fifth place in 2006, respectively, were not among the top five in 2008.

Shah Rukh's most recent endorsement was with Linc Pen, one of the largest players in the branded pen industry, which appointed him its ‘brand ambassador’. Linc Pen had never opted till now for a celebrity brand ambassador to endorse its products. Says Deepak Jalan, Managing Director: “Shah Rukh Khan is someone who personifies style, entertainment and popularity and these values resonate perfectly with our brand attributes. Moreover, Shah Rukh cuts across age groups and demographics and appeals to a universal audience, just like our products, and was therefore a natural fit.”

Shah Rukh endorses Nokia handphones. D Shivakumar, Vice President (Markets), Nokia India, says the company is planning to bundle exclusive content featuring him for handsets sold in India. Nokia has bundled the full length ‘Om Shanti Om’ movie in the Nokia N96. It will look at bundling video clips and music of Shah Rukh Khan movies in the handsets. Khan, on his part, would extend collaboration with Nokia for such possibilities through his production house, Red Chillies Entertainment, he had told Business Standard.

Khan also has Kolkata-based Emami on his list of endorsements. For this, he is reportedly paid Rs 5 crore every year. The company is known for having the largest number of celebrity endorsers, including Madhuri Dixit, Raveena Tandon, Sunny Deol, cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and also Amitabh Bachchan. Shah Rukh’s ad campaigns for Emami include ads for Chyawanprash and some other herbal healthcare products of Emami; the firm gets more than half its revenues from their personal healthcare range.

Emami’s prime catch, however, has been Amitabh Bachchan, its umbrella brand ambassador. Bachchan is reportedly paid Rs 10-12 crore yearly for this endorsement.

Till a year earlier, the distance between Shah Rukh Khan, the No 1 player in Bollywood, and Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan was big. However, now Akshay is the highest-paid actor, currently getting Rs 17 crore for a film, while Aamir Khan is the highest paid star-endorser, having bagged a yearly fee between Rs 12-15 crore per annum for his three commercials on including Tata Sky, Samsung Mobiles and Parle Monaco biscuits.

Shah Rukh Khan would be paid around Rs 2 cr for a 20-minute performance at the wedding of Mumbai builder Kanti Gowani’s nephew. The actor had reportedly charged Rs 1.5 cr for his number at the wedding of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter.

Sources in GS Entertainment, the event management company handling the Gowani wedding shows, say Shah Rukh can be available, say for three days, for Rs 12 cr. On the other hand, Akshay Kumar charges Rs 1.25 crore to be present at events, while Salman Khan pitches Rs 1 crore, and Govinda Rs 70 lakh, according to estimates provided by event management companies.

During 2008, Airtel led the list of the top 10 brands endorsed by celebrities on TV, followed by Pepsi, the report said. “It is natural that the endorsement price is heavily skewed in favour of icons like Aamir, SRK, Akshay Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. These five, on average, get roughly three times what the next 10 get," says Porwal.