New Delhi: Big-ticket celebrity endorsements are losing traction as brands cut back on top-down campaigns and increase spends on influencer marketing.
Celebrity-based ad volume fell 22% in 2025 from 2024—the steepest drop in a year—according to TAM AdEx data shared with ET.
Such ads contributed to 27% of total television ad airings in the last calendar, TAM AdEx said in its celebrity endorsement report.
Industry executives said some of India’s largest advertisers—including Nykaa, HUL, PepsiCo, Myntra, Swiggy, Coca-Cola, Zomato, ITC, Amazon and Reckitt Benckiser—are increasingly opting for influencers, who charge less than a fourth of celebrities, and also appeal to GenZ consumers.
“Influencer marketing offers companies deeper inroads and direct connections to their audiences and a greater ability to explain product stories and usage opportunities,” said Manisha Kapoor, chief executive at the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). “It also offers better measurement of reach and engagement, allowing them (brands) greater flexibility and agility in their campaigns.”
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Brands are also roping in regional or nano influencers with even 10,000 followers, as they increasingly move away from top-down endorsements to smaller community-focused ads, executives said. The pattern over the past three years shows either degrowth or marginal growth of ads that featured well-known names across movies and sports, they said. In 2024, celebrity-based ads increase only 3% over the previous year, TAM data showed.
PepsiCo, which has extensively relied on celebrities such as cricketer MS Dhoni and actors Ranbir Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan for endorsing its snacking brand Lay’s, aligned with influencer Suhana Nanda for its global gourmet snacking brand Red Rock Deli, which it introduced last quarter. Nanda currently has 62,700 Instagram followers.Officials said brands are opting for a mix of influencers and celebrities, with more inclination towards the former.
“For an upcoming summer launch, we had discussions with an A-lister actor. But dates and expectations were constantly a task to match. Hence, we have settled for two regional influencers for a fourth of the fee,” the marketing chief of a large consumer company said on condition of anonymity.
“Based on the return-on-investments and campaign recall data, we may use a large mix of influencers though we will not entirely discontinue with celebrities,” he added.
Beauty platform Nykaa, which has had actors Deepika Padukone and Janhvi Kapoor endorsing it, recently teamed up with Snapchat to nurture Gen Z beauty creators and influencers, with participants involved in collaborations and campaigns.
A Nykaa spokesperson said in a statement that the incubator “is a launchpad for India’s next wave of beauty storytellers.”
Food delivery platform Zomato has been tying up with micro-influencers, food bloggers.
Even luxury brands like Forest Essentials are choosing to collaborate with influencers.
Influencer marketing platform KlugKlug noted in a report on Wednesday that India has over two million active creators, influencing more than $350 billion in consumer spending annually, with this figure expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030.
Kapoor of ASCI, however, said celebrities “are still quite central in many categories and they are likely to be continued to be used by brands to gain instant impact at scale.” As per TAM data, foods and beverages brands accounted for the biggest share of celebrity-based ad volumes last year at 24%, followed by personal care and hygiene brands with 16% share.