Virushka and Deepveer in close combat for top power couple tag

In a closely fought match, the power couple team of Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma beat Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh by a whisker in certain parameters like "trustworthiness" and "respect" in the inaugural edition of The Sparklers, a report by the Mumbai-based Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB).

With a comprehensive study of Virat-Anushka, Deepika-Ranveer, Ranbir-Alia, Akshay-Twinkle, Abhi-Ash and Saif-Kareena -- the report claims to have covered the 'hottest, and commercially-most-in-demand couples in the country'. Kajol-Ajay Devgn, Shahrukh-Gauri, Madhuri-Dr Nene and Priyanka-Nick were also researched, but their score together remained below acceptable threshold, says a press statement from IIHB. There is also a throw-back study on Romantic Couples of Bollywood since Partition, that forms a part of the report. 

“Power Couples are the new phenomenon in the brand endorsement business with many brands trying to sell aspirational and experiential products to millennial couples who are starting families, using famous couples as the ones to emulate. But there is no empirical research so far on what these Power Couples actually represent or how they are seen by potential audiences. At IIHB we decided to track each one of these trail-blazing couples over a set of 24 important brand attributes,” says Sandeep Goyal, chief mentor, IIHB. 

Trustworthy, Respected, Fun, Distinctive, Charming, Different, Stylish, Progressive, and MFEO (Made-For-Each-Other), were some of the key image, human and personality brand attributes covered by the study.