Kareena Kapoor has beaten Katrina Kaif to emerge as the top woman brand endorser on TV during 2009, according to the latest TAM Adex data.

Bebo is top woman endorserIn the 2008 list, Katrina was the only woman among top five celebrity endorsers. Kareena's powerful position is interesting because she trails only M. S. Dhoni and Shah Rukh Khan on the overall list. Bebo shares the third spot with Sachin Tendulkar.

Both Bebo and Sachin endorsed 15 brands last year.

On the 2009 list, another interesting point is the film actresses's domination. They lead the celebrity endorsement circuit with a 43 per cent share followed by actors and sports stars with 37 per cent and 15 per cent shares respectively.


"Kareena has a huge mass- market appeal which makes her a favourite across the board. Also, Bebo isn't as choosy about brands as other actresses. So, it helps her grab more brands," said Anirban Das Blah, managing director of Kwan. What's interesting is that Bebo didn't even feature in the 2008 top five. But in the just- released data, she has made a direct entry to the third spot. Katrina has managed to hold on to her fifth rank. Kat got the same spot on the 2008 list.

Kareena's entry has dislodged favourites like Hrithik Roshan.

Hrithik had grabbed the third spot on the 2008 list. Kat, on her part, endorsed for 14 advertisers last year as compared to 11 in 2008.

"Bebo has an edge over Kat due to her appeal in the hinterland," said ad guru Prahlad Kakkar. "Kareenas pure Indian appeal and Hindi speaking ability, as compared to Kat, makes her a bigger draw than Katrina in smaller towns."Kakkar has a point because of late, Katrina has been getting all the major ad deals - Lux, Olay, Pantene or Panasonic. Kareena, however, is more identifiable in small towns. But both Kareena and Kat charge about Rs 4 crore per deal.

Bebo is the top female endorser despite delivering three back-toback duds in 2009 - Kambakkht Ishq , Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and Kurbaan. Kareena's only recent success has been the Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots . Surprisingly, TAM's list has no place for other biggies such as Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and even Deepika Padukone. "It goes on to show that Kat and Bebo are the biggest names among Indian youth," said Das Blah.

In the 2009 list, SRK lost his top position to Dhoni. While SRK has dropped to the second spot with 21 advertisers, Dhoni edges past the actor with 26 advertisers. In 2008, Dhoni had 21 advertisers.

"Dhoni's top position goes on to prove that he is currently the hot favourite cricketer.

Sachin and SRK enjoy special positions in the endorsement circuit but Dhoni has surely caught young India's popular imagination," said Kakkar.