New Delhi: Movie stars from the south, especially Tamil and Telugu cinema, including Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu, Rashmika Mandanna, Samantha Prabhu, Prabhas and Vijay Deverakonda have overtaken some of the top Bollywood names in national-level endorsement deals for large brands such as Coca-Cola, Frooti, Kingfisher, redBus, McDonald’s and boAt, executives said. They are also being paid higher fees in many cases, amid a string of high profile Bollywood movies tanking at the box office, they said. 

“In the TAM AdEX Celeb track, we have seen over a three-fold increase recently in celebs from regional geographies becoming national brand ambassadors,” said TAM Media Research chief executive LV Krishnan.

“Brand choices for ambassadors are dependent solely on consumer preferences… brands have no limits to geography affiliations when it comes to using ambassadors.”

Beverage maker Coca-Cola is said to be signing Allu Arjun — who headlined Telugu movie Pushpa: The Rise — for an endorsement deal.

“We are evaluating to expand the endorsement with Allu even across Hindi-speaking markets, given his increasing pan-India popularity,” said Arnab Roy, vice president and head of marketing, Coca-Cola, India and Southwest Asia. Pushpa grossed more than Rs. 365 crores worldwide.

Coca-Cola last month released a song featuring Arjun that has crossed 30 million views. “We have many regional stars endorsing our brands now and we are seeing that their connect is no longer limited just to regional markets,” Roy said.

Other recent national deals include Parle Agro’s Frooti mango drink naming Telugu actor Ram Charan as its brand ambassador with Alia Bhatt after the actor’s blockbuster RRR, Kingfisher beer signing Pushpa: The Rise female lead Rashmika Mandanna, and Allu Arjun getting on board online bus ticketing platform redBus. Mandanna is also the face of boAt, Cashify and McDonald’s.

“Many of our clients are evaluating the south stars since brands obviously want to associate with endorsers with higher consumer connect,” said Rediffusion MD Sandeep Goyal. “What was earlier massive regional appeal is now massive mainstream appeal.”

Arjun has signed a few national endorsement deals at fees higher than Ranveer Singh, he said. According to two celebrity management executives, Arjun now charges Rs. 7.5 crores per brand endorsement. He also endorses KFC, Zomato and building material company Astral. Ranveer Singh, in contrast, is learnt to charge Rs. 3.5-4 crores per endorsement.

Mahesh Babu has been the face of prominent brands such as Royal Stag, TVS Motor and Mountain Dew, and is known to charge Rs. 1 crore per brand endorsement. Samantha Prabhu endorses PepsiCo’s snack brand Kurkure, online fashion platform Myntra, personal care brand Mamaearth and Nestle’s Munch chocolate.