Hanks and Winfrey top advert list

Winfrey and Hanks are bankable stars

Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey are the celebrities with the most selling power, according to a new index targeted at US advertising agencies.

Davie-Brown Entertainment has launched the index to determine which stars could have the most relevance to a particular brand.

The score is based on factors such as appeal, influence, trust, trendsetting and aspiration.

The company questions a panel of 1.5 million people for its research.

More than 1,500 celebrities from the world of TV, film and music will be included in the index.

'Void in industry'

Two-time Oscar winner Hanks has appeared in more than 50 films, winning best actor awards for his roles in Philadelphia in 1993 and 1994's Forrest Gump.

TV presenter and actress Winfrey's show is watched by 30 million TV viewers each week in the US, has been America's highest-rated talk show for 18 consecutive series.

She has also co-produced a musical of The Color Purple which is currently showing on Broadway.

"The main reason we created the DBI was because there was a void in the industry. There was no tool created for brands by brands to evaluate celebrities and their influence" said Jeff Chown, president of Davie-Brown Talent.

"We're trying to determine whether this person would help sell a product to a particular demographic," he said.

In the UK, the BBC runs its own celebrity index called Celebdaq based on how much press coverage each person gets, but this a fun game is not intended for use by advertising companies.

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