American R&B singer Rihanna has been named as the world’s most marketable
celebrity, outranking other A-list celebrities such as Angelina Jolie,
Beyoncé and the Kardashians, according to global information provider The
NPD Group.
“Rihanna is the most marketable of all big-name celebrities, with fans that
have more distinctive brand preferences than any other big-name celebrity
in any genre (including athletes, actors, musicians, and others),” NPD said.
According to its findings, a celebrity is considered to be a strong
endorsement opportunity for a brand if the fans of that celebrity are at
least 50 percent more likely to use the brand.
Thus, the 27 year-old singer landed an index score of 367, which is almost
3.7 times as many strong brand endorsement opportunities as the average
big-name celebrity.
Rihanna, who is set to debut her first sneaker collection with Puma at New
York Fashion Week in February, has also helped UK fashion chain River
Island to hit a 70 percent rise in 2014 profits with her celebrity
collaborations.
However, NPD said motor brand Jeep was one of the brands driving Rihanna’s
top endorsement score with her fans showing a distinct preference for that
brand.
Beyoncé, who has a successful and growing collaboration with UK fashion
retailer Topshop, was the second-best big-name celebrity with a Brand
Endorsement Score of 336. Also in the Top Ten are: Ne-Yo, Usher, Wiz
Khalifa, The Weeknd, Jennifer Lopez, Kevin Hart, Dr Dre and Khloé
Kardashian.
The organisation said the study was powered by its BrandLink database of
responses from 92,000 consumer surveys covering 1,000 celebrities and 2,500
brands across automotive, consumer packaged goods, beauty/fashion,
financial services, restaurants, technology, and others.