Dhoni pips Big B to emerge most persuasive celeb

M S Dhoni has emerged as the hottest property among celebrities, pipping Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan when it comes to selling a brand.

The rankings are based on a survey by Percept Talent Management and Hansa Research, a media research company, and were arrived at after evaluating the stars on a number of parameters like persuasive power, looks, image attributes, popularity and media presence.

Celebrities considered for the list, which is intended to help brands decide on the most appropriate star to sell their products, included actors, general sports persons and people from the music industry.

In the celebrity category, cricketer M S Dhoni holds first rank followed by Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar.

The Indian captain also beat out fellow cricketer Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar in the cricket category while Sania Mirza topped the other sports category with Vishwanathan Anand and Mahesh Bhupati at the second and the third spot, respectively.

In the male actors category, Shah Rukh Khan ranks first while in the female category the number one position is held by Aishwarya Rai.

"The results allow clients and talents to study the changes with the earlier data and allows them to combine the results for an even more robust and long-term understanding of changing public perceptions," Hansa Research's Managing Director Ashok Das told reporters here.