Wedding season expected to trigger a revival in celebrity endorsements

It wasn’t too long ago when Indian weddings started becoming all about hashtags on social media — #TusharKiPoojaSafal, #DoGillEkDil, #KaranKiKangana, and a hundred other versions where couples fused their names. This wasn’t just a cute random trend. It started because celebrity weddings set the template first. #Virushka, #DeepVeer, #Nickyanka. When Virat and Anushka got married in December 2017, their wedding practically became a national pop culture moment. After a long-standing partnership with the couple, Manyavar officially used #Virushka in its ads the very next season, and that’s how fast brands catch a cultural cue.

The point is, celebrities don’t just appear in wedding campaigns; they truly influence how Indians imagine and approach the big, fat Indian wedding. The shaadi market has always followed their cues. This brings us to the 2025-26 wedding season. Even though celebrity endorsement volumes on TV dipped by 12% in H1 this year, the wedding season is still one place where celebrities continue to matter commercially. 

Jewellery, beauty, hospitality, apparel, and all the wedding-related categories still rely on faces that feel aspirational and trustworthy. 

Shubho Sengupta, Marketing (Brand) Consultant, says, “Despite a decline in celebrity-driven advertising in H1 2025, weddings remain an exception because the category trades on trust, fantasy and social signalling.” 

Vejay Anand, Senior Advisor, Prequate & Marketing Strategist, gives a bifurcation on categories that will likely dominate the wedding season. He says, "Despite a cautious overall ad market, wedding-related categories are expected to scale up endorsement spends:

Which couple is dominating? 

When it comes to numbers, there's no contest. According to a report shared by TAM AdEx exclusively with Social Samosa, covering January to September 2025, Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli captured a commanding 29% of ad volumes in wedding-adjacent categories like jewellery, fashion, beauty and hospitality. That's nearly double the share of any other individual celebrity endorser during the same period.

Speaking about #Virushka being brand favourite along the years, Dr Rutu Mody Kamdar, Founder of Jigsaw Brand Consultants, says, “[They] bring an 'everyday royalty' energy, the kind of chemistry that makes aspiration feel achievable. Brands are seeking real emotions. The narrative has shifted from ‘the big fat wedding' to 'the beautifully balanced one’.”

Earlier this year, the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Visit Dubai) rolled out an ad film starring the couple who were seen per usual being their playful selves in the ad, and had the internet swooning over their chemistry. 

In a media statement, Visit Dubai’s spokesperson said, ‘This collaboration with Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma is a natural fit – their genuine affection for Dubai and the way they engage with audiences make them ideal champions for the city.’

This year, Pay10 announced Virat and Anushka as global brand ambassadors. Explaining the decision, Prabhpreet Singh Gill (Harry Gill), Chairman, Pay10, said in a press release, “Pay10 is building a brand for the next generation of digital finance. Virat and Anushka embody these same qualities. His discipline, performance and passion and her creativity, authenticity and entrepreneurial spirit together make them ideal brand ambassadors.”

Singularly, Virat Kohli also continued to hold the top position for 2024 with a brand value of $231.1 million, according to Kroll’s Celebrity Brand Valuation Report.

Close behind are Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt at 26%. After the couple got married in 2022 and the success of their first film together, Brahmastra, they quickly became brand favourites.

That same year, the pair appeared together in a Spotify ad, vibing to their film’s hit track ‘Kesariya’.

In the following years, the duo has been seen in multiple campaigns for brands such as Rungta Steel, FabriCare and TMT Bars. Their popularity as a ‘power couple’ has spread further, fueled by their viral public moments with their daughter.

Anand says, "Alia Bhatt–Ranbir Kapoor and Virat Kohli–Anushka Sharma hold premium allure for high-end jewellery, hospitality, and selective, philanthropy-driven campaigns."

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan secured the third spot at 23%. Together, the top three couples contributed nearly 80% of all couple-based ad volumes on TV in this period.

Brand consultants also see a new wave building, especially Kiara Advani-Sidharth Malhotra and Vicky Kaushal-Katrina Kaif.

On why these newer pairs are attractive, Dr Kamdar says, "Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra: modern yet traditional, equal yet emotionally connected. Or Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif, whose cross-cultural pairing mirrors India's own evolving social fabric. These are couples who represent the middle ground, rooted enough to fit into the shaadi frame, yet relatable enough to not feel cinematic."

In September 2025, vivo announced Kiara and Sidharth as brand ambassadors for their V Series smartphones, stating that the couple embodies qualities that align with the brand's commitment to fostering real connections and empowering personal expression. Their on-screen romance in Shershaah (2021) and subsequent 2023 wedding in Jaisalmer created a narrative arc that brands find commercially valuable.

Snegupta adds, “Brands will keep leaning toward couples who project stability and aspiration: Virat-Anushka and Ranbir-Alia remain evergreen, while Kiara-Sidharth, Katrina-Vicky, and even newer pairings like KL Rahul-Athiya or Shubman Gill-Sara Tendulkar carry strong currency.”

Anand says, "Brands prioritise authentic storytelling, modern partnership narratives rooted in equality and respect, strong cross-regional chemistry and relatability, and a high audience 'trust factor', and social media fluency."

But not every category benefits from a couple of endorsements. Sai Ganesh, Brand Consultant, clarifies, "Any category where both partners influence the decision."

He cites Prestige Appliances’ classic use of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai for household appliances, and adds, “Edtech is another one where both parents influence the decision. Wedding attire brands also do this. Even men’s fashion brands target women influencers because women often influence men’s fashion choices.”

The new commercial explosion: Women’s cricket 

The most dramatic shift in the 2025 wedding season ambassador landscape has been the explosive rise of women cricketers. India's historic ICC Women's Cricket World Cup victory hasn't just rewritten sporting history; it's created a commercial windfall.

The 2025 ICC Women's World Cup recorded more than 190 million live viewers, marking the highest ever for a women's cricket tournament. According to media reports, the win is expected to boost the team's brand valuation by 20–30%. 

Ganesh says, "With the Women's World Cup, someone like Jemimah Rodrigues has reportedly doubled or tripled her endorsement fee. We'll see more brands partner with the women's cricket team."

Right after the win, KFC released a digital ad featuring Jemimah Rodrigues and Renuka Thakur, where both the cricketers were seen continuing their winning celebrations. 

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According to reports, soon after the win, Jemimah’s brand value saw a double growth, now commanding Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore per endorsement, while established stars like Smriti Mandhana continue earning Rs 1.5-2 crore per brand across 16 major partnerships, including Hindustan Unilever's Rexona, Nike, Hyundai, Herbalife, State Bank of India, Gulf Oil, and PNB MetLife Insurance.

Sengupta sees strategic value in women cricketers for wedding brands. He says, "Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma are particularly compelling for jewellery, beauty, fusion bridalwear and hospitality brands—they combine national pride with a modern, self-made narrative."

Solo stars for wedding 

While couples dominate wedding advertising, individual celebrities continue to hold significant sway. And here, Sai Ganesh sees a clear winner.

"In entertainment, one clear standout for women has been Shraddha Kapoor. In all our consumer research in the last 12-24 months, Shraddha consistently comes on top as the most influential brand ambassador for the women category."

He attributes this to two factors: "She has had real success with her films," and "The nepotism perception doesn't apply to her."

Earlier this year, Nutrogena onboarded Sharddha as its brand ambassador. Subsequently, Eureka Forbes named her the brand face for its vacuum cleaner range. She has also been the face for her own co-founded jewellery brand, Palmonas, especially after the brand rolled out its 9-carat product line, with the star answering FAQs about the new 9K gold for the festive season. 

On Instagram, she ranks as the most-followed female Indian celebrity with 94.9 million followers and is the second most-followed Indian overall, behind Virat Kohli.

Ganesh adds that brands will continue to collaborate with Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, and Kriti Sanon, but notes, "Shraddha is definitely on top from a consumer-pull viewpoint."

For male ambassadors, the options are more fragmented. Ganesh explains, "It's still a mix between Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, and a big rise of South stars like NTR, Vijay Deverakonda, Ram Charan."

Sengupta identifies the low-risk cricket picks, "Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Neeraj Chopra continue to be low-risk, high-impact picks."

This trend is already playing out. Recently, ahead of the wedding season, the wedding wear brand TASVA named Shubhman Gill as their brand ambassador. 

The statement released by the brand read, ‘Shubman Gill represents the confident and progressive India we design for. Weddings are no longer about rituals alone, but about the couple at the heart of them, with families as joyful partners. With Shubman Gill as our ambassador, we look forward to strengthening this vision for a new generation of couples.’

Anand says, "Cricketers like Shubman Gill (fronting Tasva) symbolise the modern, grounded, yet stylish Indian groom, diversifying endorsement away from pure Bollywood."

For similar brands looking to strengthen their connect with new-age consumers, celebrities like Shubman Gill, Shraddha Kapoor, and Smriti Mandhana and other women cricketers, have a lot to offer.

At the end of it, wedding season advertising in India still runs on aspiration, and right now, that aspiration is both power-couple-led and women-cricket-fuelled.