Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li>It’s been more than a week since India was locked down due to the outbreak of novel <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword>. </li><li>In these testing times, to spread more awareness and keep the nation fit, influencers are taking to social media. Brands are also rethinking their strategies, opening up their budgets for digital media and leveraging the rising demand for <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword>. </li><li>We are organising a live twitter panel discussion on April 6 at 4:30 pm to find out why brands are taking the influencer marketing route and how the industry is adjusting in times of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>. </li><li>The panel that will be moderated by <keyword id="3054169" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varun-Duggirala">Varun Duggirala</keyword>, Content Chief &amp; Co-founder, The Glitch will also have Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression; Sejal Kumar, YouTuber, Actor and Singer; Be YouNick, YouTuber and Content Creator; and Viraj Sheth, Co-founder and CEO, Monk Entertainment. </li></ul>In testing times, brands are constantly experimenting with digital solutions to find newer ways to engage with their audience. Concerts are now virtual on BookMyShow, Birthday Parties are being held on Zoom, and Gym time is on digital fitness platforms. Brands have also postponed or cancelled their campaigns and are rethinking their marketing strategy for the rest of the year. With advertisements production and shoots on hold, brands have turned to content creators and digital influencers as consumption and engagement on social media platforms have seen a significant rise. From WHO’s collaboration with ‘Dude with a Sign’ to Dettol’s #HandWashingChallenge on TikTok, brands are using social media’s power in every possible way to spread awareness around COVID-19 and the precautions that can be taken during this crisis. Influencers are further helping them to amplify the campaign and create a momentum. According to BARC’s latest report, people have increased their time spent on chatting by 23% and on social networking apps by 25%. Brands have therefore realised that the influencer marketing model is well-suited in a time in which the audience is looking for some inspiration, DIY videos, cooking tutorials or is curious to learn more about fitness and self care. Advertising and Media Insider is organising a live Twitter Panel Discussion on April 6 at 4:30 pm to find out from influencers how they are altering their content plans to continue making a living amid a global pandemic and influencer marketing experts will discuss how the landscape is evolving with the situation every day. The panel will be moderated by Varun Duggirala, Content Chief &amp; Co-founder, The Glitch and include Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression; Sejal Kumar, YouTuber, Actor and Singer; Be You Nick, YouTuber and Content Creator; and Viraj Sheth, Co-founder and CEO, Monk Entertainment. Join us for an informative evening on Twitter at 4:30 pm where a panel of industry experts will share their analysis of how the nationwide lockdown has impacted the influencer marketing industry.

Join us on Twitter to find out how the influencer marketing industry is adjusting in times of COVID-19

<ul><li>Varun Duggirala, Content Chief &amp; Co-founder, The Glitch, Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression; <keyword id="3288876" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sejal-Kumar">Sejal Kumar</keyword>, YouTuber, Actor and Singer; Be YouNick, YouTuber and Content Creator; and Viraj Sheth, Co-founder and CEO, Monk Entertainment share the new trends that have emerged during the <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> in <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> and how they continue to stay motivated and creative. </li><li>They further shared with us how this lockdown will impact influencer marketing landscape in the long-run and things that brands need to take cognizance of -- while coming up with campaigns during a crisis. </li></ul>With the Covid-19 lockdown in its 14th day already, we thought it would be a good time to shine the spotlight on the influencer marketing landscape. Considering people have been stuck at their homes, and will be, for a few more days to come at least, people have been increasingly consuming content online, which has given influencer marketing a boost. In a riveting conversation around how the influencer marketing ecosystem is shaping up moderated by Varun Duggirala, Content Chief &amp; Co-founder, The Glitch with Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression; Sejal Kumar, YouTuber, Actor and Singer; Be YouNick, YouTuber and Content Creator; and Viraj Sheth, Co-founder and CEO, Monk Entertainment spoke about their individual experiences and their views on what lies in the future, for the creators as well as the industry in general. <div type="twitter" handle="BiIndia" handlename="Business Insider India🇮🇳" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1232926719016718336/sfffJHNV_normal.jpg" favoritecount="33" retweetcount="10" status=".@varunduggi, @followtheglitch, @apaksh537, One Impression, @viraj_sheth, @MonkEtweets in conversation along with Y… https://t.co/35bOkJBauy" createdat="1586171138000" id="1247118262497726464"></div> Speaking about how the industry is shaping up right now, what are the kinds of brands that are investing on influencers, Sheth said, “Currently, a lot of people feel that marketing spends will move to Digital and influencers because there’s not going to be any outdoor productions. Nobody is outdoors so there’s no point spending on billboards and hoardings. The other thing is, even with Digital, when brands create content, they have a big team around it, where they get a production agency and a talent team. But right now, even that’s not going to happen. The only thing is to engage with a lot of content creators and influencers through their own native content pieces. I have been seeing a lot of opportunities but in general since the market is down, its players in e-sports, e-learning or these apps that don’t have any manufacturing liabilities that are spending right now.” Seconding Sheth, Gupta said, “The net impact is negative as many brands from the FMCG sector who are not spending because of logistics issues and e-commerce platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon are a huge part of their spend. However, a lot of companies from the gaming sector, education and finance have increased their budgets tremendously because they have no barriers. Secondly, it is an opportunity for them to become an integral part of user behaviour. So we have seen certain categories go really crazy on their spends right now.” The lockdown comes with its limitations. As a content creator, it can be challenging to stay motivated and be creative. However, for Sejal Kumar, who started her journey as a content creator with a tiny tripod and her parents as her camera crew, house arrest hasn’t really impacted her content. It has, in fact, pushed her to come up with newer ideas, make do with limited resources and reflect on her long-term strategy. Kumar said, “It is nice to go back to the way I started. It has been annoying for my parents to keep helping me but I like it because it is relaxing and less stressful. This is helping me think a little bit differently. However, it is overbearing when people tell me to make more content because people are at home and consuming it more than ever, I’m not taking too much stress about that. I do what I want to, I take more time out for myself.” Nick went live on Instagram a year ago and now, that is his primary medium to connect with his followers. He has put YouTube on hold. He said, “I work with a team and our creation process isn’t exactly raw. We work with good equipment and a proper setup. So currently, I am making all the content that I can create from home. It is all really short and crisp content that you can post on your Instagram rather than on YouTube.” Brands have turned to digital influencers as consumption and engagement on social media platforms continue to see a significant rise. Pinterest has added 40 million users in the last month. Giants like WHO and Dettol have also recognised the potential in TikTok's reach. With TV production on hold, Gupta said the influencer marketing industry is only going to grow from here and lead the way. He said, "People and brands who were not thinking of influencer marketing as a channel, who were spending between 1% to 4%, are looking at it in a major way. While the net impact might be negative at the moment, when things go back to normal, influencer marketing is going to blow up. It is going to be four to five years ahead in the industry." On what lies ahead for him in the next few weeks, Nick said that he had been waiting to work on a bigger piece of content that he has finally found the time to work on. “While I have not yet decided what platform to put it out on, I am very happy to be finally able to work on a bigger piece of content.” Kumar thinks that once we resume normalcy, there is going to be a big change in the working environment. Organisations will continue using digital mediums. She said, “They will try to remove activities that do not require people to be in the same room. The process will become obsolete; it is going to be the same with creators as well. For collabs, we may not need to meet people physically.” On what lies ahead for Monk Entertainment, Sheth explained, “As an organization, our next plan is to figure out how to re-initiate lot of the new wings we had created because after this ends, brands will go all out in terms of spending. Over the last 2-3 months, brands, especially FMCG players, haven’t had enough exposure to the audiences. So the goal is to be able to capitalize on that opportunity.”

As demand for influencer marketing goes up, creators and experts share where the industry will go from here

<ul><li>GenZ content creators have taken the internet by storm and their influence is only going to grow.</li><li><keyword id="7372416" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viraj-sheth" source="Orion">Viraj Sheth</keyword>, Co-Founder and CEO, <keyword id="9491005" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment" source="Orion">Monk Entertainment</keyword> writes what makes this passionate generation special different from the other generations and why 2022 will only make GenZ creators shine brighter.</li></ul>Have you heard? There's a new word in town buzzing around, and no, we're done with 'millennial'. It's the Generation Z, and they're the new wave of influencers, ready to take the year by storm. Traditionally defined as the group of people born between 1997-2012, this generation is also dubbed as 'digital natives' because they quite literally grew up watching their cartoons on YouTube instead of Television sets. The GenZ skipped the Facebook phase entirely and jumped straight to posting pictures (and now reels) on <keyword id="819905" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram" source="Orion">Instagram</keyword>. With higher empathy and self-awareness than the previous generations, they are not shy to lay their life bare for their followers and talk about their feelings with a refreshing, complete transparency. They may have a lower attention span than most other generations and think they know better than their professors, but haven't we all? Arguably the biggest advantage, and yet at the same time, the biggest disadvantage that the <keyword id="159493" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="gen-z" source="Orion">Gen Z</keyword> have over the other generations is the omnipresence of smartphones and access to high-speed internet. While as per parents, this has led to terrible repercussions, I believe this has its fair share of pros attached to it. The Gen Z is the generation that is truly, unabashedly expressing themselves on social media and rightfully so, making money on the internet. When the lockdown hit and a lot of these folks had the option to attend schools and colleges virtually, they resorted to spending all this added time in pouring out their creativity on social media platforms. 2020-2021 saw the rise of the Gen Z creators, 2022 will see the power of the Gen Z creators. The lockdown saw the rise of a massive set of Gen Z social media creators across every possible category. While the common notion seems to be that the Gen Z are only equipped with making quick, thoughtless dance and slow-motion content, this couldn’t be further from the truth. This new wave of influencers has seen someone like Aastha Shah who has bravely battled vitiligo and is not afraid to speak about it on her profile. It has seen some fantastic comedy creators like Bihari Ladka who along with his grandmother makes content that entertains millions, there's even cooking creators like <keyword id="13353836" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aditya-hirlekar" source="Orion">Aditya Hirlekar</keyword> (aka Nom Nom) who have found creative ways to film recipes. Did you think that was it? More to the list of Gen Z influencers is <keyword id="13353835" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aryaki-joon" source="Orion">Aryaki Joon</keyword> who has brought her sense of fashion to the fore and inspired her audience to support small and local fashion brands and also Dev Raiyani who has given the younger generation some beautiful music to tune in to. Aside from their fantastic content, another major reason for the rise of these GenZ stars is due to the increase in the GenZ consumer. Around 60-70% of the audience demographic of these creators ranges from the ages of 18-24. The Indian internet is getting younger on an average, every passing day, and GenZ creators speak their language and ride that wave. The average Gen Z creator is more likely to speak up about social causes, actively support small businesses, and be mindful and empathetic towards people’s feelings while making content. They love Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter because of the snackable nature of short-format content making them quick, snappy, and impactful with ease. With their innovative ways of narrating stories, they’ve been able to build an engaged community that far surpasses the numbers of their millennial peers in the same number bracket. Due to these numbers, they’re also increasingly attracting more attention from global brands like Netflix, Tinder, L’Oreal, Unilever, Zomato, OnePlus, and more titan brands. 2022 should see a drastic surge in their popularity with their ever growing audience. On that note, 2022 is not the Year of the Tiger, it's the Year of the Gen Z Creator. Now you've caught onto the wave.

2022: The year of GenZ creators

<ul><li>Due to the ongoing festive season, advertisers and brands are going all out to connect with consumers.</li><li>This year, the number of brands approaching influencers is significantly larger than last year, and there is a good mix of startups and well-established companies.</li><li>From fashion to home decor creators, brands have partnered with social media influencers to promote their new festive launch before Diwali.</li><li>So, with Diwali around the corner, we speak to <keyword id="2540701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="influencer-marketing" source="Orion">influencer marketing</keyword> agencies to find out how important is the festive season for creators, what kind of uptick in demand can we expect due to the festive season, response from advertisers so far and trends we can look forward to during Diwali.</li></ul>If you are sprucing up your house on a small budget or planning to buy new accessories or ethnic dresses for India’s biggest festival -- Diwali, are you using a search engine for inspiration or are you following social media’s top influencers for ideas? If you are active on Instagram, then chances are you are also turning to influencers for festive advice. We all have at least a 100 bookmarked posts on Instagram for rangoli ideas, DIY home decor, or ethnic dress inspiration. According to Facebook’s Festive Marketing Guide for 2021, social media has now become a leading channel to drive brand discovery and purchase during the festive season. Facebook’s report further reveals that half the people said that influencers help them discover new products and 45% added that influencers help them make a purchase decision. The year 2020 accelerated influencer marketing’s growth, perhaps by a decade, and revolutionised the Indian marketing ecosystem completely. It is because of the pandemic and the consumer’s heavy reliance on social media platforms that the influencer marketing industry has undergone a severe transformation in a short time, becoming a mainstream marketing vehicle. According to the latest figures in the Global Web Index (GWI), the average Indian spent 2.29 hours per day on social media in 2020 and as always, brands are following consumers where they spend the most time. So, this Diwali, from fashion to home decor creators, brands have partnered with social media influencers to promote their new product launches. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Growth so far and predictions for this festive season" text="Growth so far and predictions for this festive season">Growth so far and predictions for this festive season</cmsannotation> GroupM and INCA’s study revealed that influencer marketing has become a top priority for marketers this year. Every other leader indicated a budget growth of more than 25% in 2021. INCA’s report further said that the Influencer Marketing industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 25% for the next decade, reaching a size of Rs 2200 crore in 2025. So, with India’s biggest festival around the corner and to leverage the increasing demand, brands have also increased their budget for influencer marketing. “Influencer Marketing is set to be one of the top choices for brands to enhance the brand value this festive season. In fact, brands have culled out almost 30% of the overall budget for influencer marketing. It has been on an all-time high this year. According to an industry report, brands are likely to spend around Rs 600 crore on influencer marketing. Thus, one thing is definite about influencer marketing this festive season: It’s going to take a big leap from 2020. The primary reason for the rise in influencer marketing is the personalization of content along with the disruption in cost and speed. Influencers are real and relatable for consumers and can deliver real value for brands by offering exciting ways of sharing a brand’s message,” said <keyword id="11300089" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neel-gogia" source="Orion">Neel Gogia</keyword>, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media. Festive season has given a further push to the industry’s growth. Experts are expecting to see 50% more brands exploring influencer marketing this festive season as marketers look to solidify their social media presence and reach out to the group with highest spending power, GenZ and millennials. "The festive season is already looking very positive for the influencer marketing space. We expect a 50% uptick in brands leveraging influencers to connect with their audiences during this season,” said Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect. “Since the consumer sentiment had plummeted gravely in 2020, brands are looking forward to explosive growth and pent up demand that will translate to greater sales and revenues this year. Brands are likely to capitalize on this positive sentiment by tapping into the influencer marketing space, which will in turn provide a significant fillip to our industry,” added Pushp. Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; Chief Executive Officer of One Impression also said that brands have increased their budget by 50% this year. “Last year, brands had spent very little on their marketing efforts because of the pandemic restrictions and other factors, but the curbs are now eased out and traders are expecting a boost in sales. To put things in perspective, last year we saw brands spending about Rs 20-25 lakh [average] on their influencer campaigns, but this year we expect it to go beyond Rs 50 lakh [on an average] during festive seasons. Additionally, during the pandemic, we also witnessed a boom in the creator economy, and brands have taken note of it. Social media platforms have enabled brands to reach out to a wider audience with the help of influencers who help in putting their messages across, in a more personalized and creative manner, what we nowadays call as snackable content.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="This festive season, a diverse set of brands are upping their spends on influencer marketing" text="This festive season, a diverse set of brands are upping their spends on influencer marketing">This festive season, a diverse set of brands are upping their spends on influencer marketing</cmsannotation> After going through a lull for a year and a half, startups like MamaEarth, Slurrp Farm to established brands and FMCG giants, all key players are leveraging influencer marketing for better visibility and consumer attention. There’s another interesting shift in the industry after the pandemic. Brands are leveraging influencer marketing not just for brand awareness and engagement but also for performance marketing and driving customer acquisition through relevant targeting. Sharing which categories are the biggest spenders this time, <keyword id="7372416" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viraj-sheth" source="Orion">Viraj Sheth</keyword>, Co- founder and CEO, Monk Entertainment said, “FMCG brands, e-comm players, and FinTech clients I believe will be massive spenders. Brands that are selling products that are best suited for festive gifting will be heavy spends and FinTech clients that help buy digital gold or provide buy now pay later schemes will be in demand as well.” Avantika Mohan, Travel, Lifestyle and Fashion Influencer, represented by WORD Talent, has also seen more lifestyle brands coming her way lately. She said, “I’ve noticed an influx of briefs focusing on fashion (particularly festive wear), online shopping portals and jewelry; brands across these categories along with technology and cosmetics are investing heavily in this festive season, which should go on till the end of the year. Festivals also become an excellent opportunity for brands to offer additional discounts and offers to drive up sales hence brands work with creators to spread the word on the same. It’s an exciting time. Brands are willing to not just work but also allow the creativity of the influencer to drive the content. Brands now understand that the content that creators push can drive real value for them and their products. Our niche allows them to connect with their target audiences directly with content that is fun, relevant and most importantly seasonal. The air is already abuzz with celebration and brands are pushing their seasonal marketing ideas and products that creators are exhilarated to deliver.” Brands with smaller budgets are also partnering with nano-creators. <keyword id="3630874" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dharika-merchant" source="Orion">Dharika Merchant</keyword>, COO, Alchemy Group &amp; WORD said, “Brands are now dedicating special budgets for their influencer marketing campaigns which have resulted in a lot of new brands entering the space. Brands earlier would focus only on large creators but now they’re happy to have smaller spendings but are willing to explore relevant nano or micro influencers for the same. So as we move forward, we are forecasting a more focussed approach towards influencer engagement as compared to before. Brands are now becoming conscious of which creator they want to work with, what kind of content they want to push out and majorly why the creator’s creative process shouldn’t be hampered with. Secondly, we are expecting more brands focussing on micro or nano influencers. These influencers usually cater to a very specific niche and have a higher rate of engagement. As brands start to realise the importance of content over numbers, this is a trend we’re very excited about.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Instagram or home-grown apps, which medium is getting the biggest piece of pie?" text="Instagram or home-grown apps, which medium is getting the biggest piece of pie?">Instagram or home-grown apps, which medium is getting the biggest piece of pie?</cmsannotation> As brands vie for consumer’s attention this Diwali, which is divided into different mediums, where are brands investing the most? “2021 is seeing comparatively more inclination towards influencer marketing strategies. We are seeing a growth upwards of 75% in the influencer marketing industry. Instagram is still the leader when it comes to influencer marketing promotions. YouTube would be the other platform that has gained momentum over time. Even some of the newer short video apps like Josh, Taka Tak and Moj are also being experimented with, by the brands. Increasingly we are also seeing brands leverage content created by creators for performance marketing with Instagram Branded Content Ads and Youtube Creator Promotions for maximum reach and conversion,” Arushi Gupta, Head - Influencer.in told Ad and Media Insider. GenZ and millennials do not consume a lot of television. They either spend their free time scrolling on social media or on an OTT platform. They are looking for authentic content that keeps them engaged, entertained and informed, which happens to be influencer marketing’s core offering. Therefore, influencer marketing is becoming a pivotal marketing tool for brands and its significance is only likely to grow in the future.

As brands turn to influencer marketing for the festive season, experts are optimistic about seeing about a 40-50% growth in ad spends

<ul><li>It has been more than a year since we have been stuck inside our homes, which has been a mix of boon for a few and curse for many.</li><li>So for our sixth episode of Influencer Adda, we decided to get someone to inspire us.</li><li>In today’s episode, we will be talking to <keyword id="4077853" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ranveer-Allahbadia">Ranveer Allahbadia</keyword>, aka BeerBiceps about his content creation journey so far, the future of social media and his goals ahead.</li><li>Ranveer recently became the first independent creator from India to be associated with Spotify through its Exclusive podcasts.</li></ul>Content Creator, podcaster, investor and Co-founder of <keyword id="9491005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment">Monk Entertainment</keyword>, Ranveer Allahbadia has more than six million YouTube subscribers across three channels and over 1.4 million Instagram followers. He started creating content back in 2015, when becoming a YouTuber wasn’t recognised as a serious ‘career option.’ Popularly known as ‘BeerBiceps,’ he was fresh out of engineering college when he thought of inspiring others with his fitness journey through YouTube. Interestingly, he is the third engineer we have spoken to, who has quit the field to pursue a career in entertainment and content creation. “I think engineering teaches you how to learn anything because we don’t understand any of our subjects. We go in with zero knowledge and you figure things out yourself. Then you can apply it to the media world or to content creation and do an alright job,” says Ranveer, chuckling. <div type="Video" msid="83405511" hostid="261" title="Ranveer Allahbadia on finding his true calling, journey so far and goal to collaborate with Virat Kohli" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=83405511"></div> To evolve with changing times, stay relevant and connect with his fans, Ranveer gradually diversified his content from fitness to career guidance, mental health, lifestyle choices and mystery around parallel universes. According to him, “Versatility is a weapon in the world of content creation.” Sharing with us a little piece of advice he received before starting out, which shaped his career to a great extent, he elaborates, “Indians like masala. That’s why Om Shanti Om would do better than Guzarish because the latter is niche and the former has everything. Indians inherently love masala. And that’s all that I have been playing towards. People tend to get bored with one kind of content piece. So, we do horror, poetry, romance, fitness, fashion, etc. You also have to tweak it for different mediums, keeping in mind that you can’t fake it. Social media is a very intelligent collection of people and they spot out bullsh*t. So, you can’t fake it (versatility).” In 2019, India had over 1,200 channels with one million <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/youtube-in-india-has-over-265-mn-monthly-active-users-1200-channels-with-1-mn-subs/articleshow/72456212.cms?from=mdr">YouTube </a>subscribers. At that time, two creators on an average were crossing one-million subscribers and 2,500 creators were touching their first 1,000 subscriber milestone every day. Due to the lockdown, many Indians have turned to content for entertainment, which has led to exponential growth of content creators as well. And this number is only going up by 2025 as the number of internet users is expected to grow to more than 974 million, says data platform Statista. So, to stand out in this highly cluttered, ever-growing market of content creation, Ranveer suggests, “Offer very fast-paced content which is original, created with consistency and is ideally a value-add to a user's life. Value-add can be humour as well but it has to be fresh and new -- something that hasn’t been done before. And it is not that difficult when you religiously get down to it because every human being has a different personality and an inherent sense of humour. So, it is just about putting your most raw-self out there with consistency at a fast pace. People are using TikTok and Reels and that’s why their attention span is reducing. So, you need to play according to what the demand is right now.” Ranveer’s social media handle, BeerBiceps, is quite creative and ironic at the same time for a fitness channel, which is why it stays with you. He has been using this name even when investing in other businesses because it has become a brand name now, that precedes him. For example, he invested in an LA beauty brand Ready Set Jet under the alias BeerBiceps. “If you want to grow in any business, you have to run in the opposite direction. Fitness channels back in the day were only about hardcore discipline and fitness and I wanted this element of taking it a little easy: you can party and stay fit. So, BeerBiceps worked for me and it stuck around.” Today, many creators have simply used their real name on social media channels to avoid any confusion. However, Ranveer suggests it is important to come up with a creative handle to clearly establish your content offering for your audience. “It is important now to stand out with your name than it was earlier and I am glad I took that decision in 2015. There are so many people who are going by their names that it becomes difficult to remember them. If you go by a gimmick or a brand name, it does better. For example, you remember MissMalini rather than Malini Agarwal or The Rock more than you remember Dwayne Johnson. So in today’s modern world, having a gimmick is great because it stays in people’s heads,” adds Ranveer. Ranveer recently became the first independent creator from India to be associated with Spotify through its exclusive podcasts, which is a stepping stone for thousands of budding podcasters in the country too. Taking us to the very beginning of it all, Ranveer shares, “Content creation for me was just an aggressive learning process. I wanted to learn how to use a camera, put a video on YouTube and build brands -- in this process of self study, my learning capability increased and I kept applying it to my career. Today, we talk about modern skills like coding and communication, etc., -- videography is another important modern skill today, which is the key in my overall arsenal and probably more important than my entrepreneurship.” Ranveer’s first brand deal was with an energy drink for Rs 7000 and he shared a small part of his first income with Monk-E’s Co-founder and his manager Viraj Sheth. “Viraj earned Rs 1,400 from it and I earned about Rs 5,600 and it was a huge deal for us back then. We were getting around 500-1000 likes on Instagram and we were monetising those likes,” he recalls. Until 2-3 years ago, Ranveer was still getting pressured into changing his career by people around him. While he said that it is important to ignore those who pull you down, you should heed to constructive criticism to grow. “In your first three years, you have to listen to what the society is saying because criticism can hold lessons. I started out by doing motivational content and people said, “What else do you have to offer?” That gave me the motivation to start my own business. When we started Monk-E, they said media business is easy to run but can you do a ‘real-world thing?’ That’s my next motivation now -- that I am creating consumer-first products and selling directly to the audiences. So, you need to hear the criticism because it can often help shape your content. This is also what goes with a lot of content creators. They switch off to criticism therefore, switching off their own growth. Go through the things you do wrong, you experiment -- that’s when you grow,” says he. If he gets a chance to start all over again, Ranveer says (with a small twinkle in his eyes), “I would shave my eyebrows, my head and become a monk. I would go to the mountains and I wouldn’t do this (content creation). I am doing it now because there’s momentum with it and in this journey, I have discovered Yoga, meditation.” “And from a content perspective, I would go really strong with my Instagram Reels strategy. That’s the key to growth. We are seeing it with one of our Monk-E talents Niharika NM, who started 5 years ago but has popped as a talent now. We always knew she would have this explosion but we didn’t expect this magnitude of the explosion and that’s only due to Instagram Reels,” adds he. With vaccination drive in full swing, Ranveer is now hoping that the country would slowly get back to normal and he would get to meet a few of his dream podcast guests in person, including Virat Kohli.

Ranveer Allahbadia on finding his true calling, learning from his mistakes and goal to collaborate with Virat Kohli

<ul><li>Over the last few years, <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> has grown exponentially in India.</li><li>The Advertising Council of India has now launched <keyword id="6586390" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-guidelines">new guidelines</keyword> for the <keyword id="11333696" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="influencer-marketing-industry">influencer marketing industry</keyword> to increase transparency.</li><li>We reached out to experts from the influencer marketing ecosystem to understand how it would impact the industry and help shape its growth in the coming years.</li></ul>The Advertising Council of India (ASCI) has launched new guidelines for influencers, brands and talent agencies in a bid to make influencer marketing more transparent for consumers. The lines between influencer’s personal content and paid content have become blurry, almost indistinguishable from regular posts. As per the guidelines, all advertisements published by social media influencers or their representatives, on such influencers’ accounts will be expected to carry a disclosure label that clearly identifies it as an advertisement. Disclosure is required if there is anything of value given to mention or talk about the advertiser’s product or service and it is supposed to be placed in a manner that is hard to miss. Influencer marketing has been witnessing an exponential growth in India in the past few years. According to digital marketing agency AdLift, India's influencer market is estimated at $75-150 million a year, as compared to the global market of $1.75 billion. And the year 2020 pushed businesses of various kinds and sizes to further experiment with digital solutions as all activities from attending concerts and birthday parties to fitness sessions moved from the physical realm to digital. Today, Indian audiences are watching more online videos than ever before. Nielsen studies show that home-bound consumers have led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. So, as more and more Indians get connected to the internet, they discover and interact with a multitude of brands on a daily basis. ASCI’s new guidelines, experts said, will help give a structure to the industry, will elevate the level of trust between customers, influencers and brands. We reached out to experts from the influencer ecosystem to understand the implications of the guidelines and how it will impact stakeholders, and here is what they had to say: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Varun Mayya- Digital Content Creator and CEO &amp; Founder of Avalon Meta and Scenes by Avalon:" text="Varun Mayya- Digital Content Creator and CEO &amp; Founder of Avalon Meta and Scenes by Avalon:">Varun Mayya- Digital Content Creator and CEO &amp; Founder of Avalon Meta and Scenes by Avalon: </cmsannotation> The reach of influencers and media is much wider than ever before and thats one of the reason why the digital economy has disrupted the traditional economy. The consumers' mindset has changed massively over the last few years and they're much more sophisticated now. This change calls for changes in the advertisers approach with regards to ethics and openness. Influencers should be mindful of the products and companies they advertise and be upfront about the fact that they're paid to promote them. When you see TV, you know Shah Rukh is paid to do the ad but on Social Media this is mostly absent. You're following a person because you find them genuine and helpful but all of a sudden when they're promoting some fitness or haircare product and you don't know whether it's genuine or not. These guidelines should be able to bridge that gap and I hope that advertisers also take this as seriously as the creators." <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Viraj Sheth- Co-Founder and CEO at Monk Entertainment:" text="Viraj Sheth- Co-Founder and CEO at Monk Entertainment:">Viraj Sheth- Co-Founder and CEO at Monk Entertainment:</cmsannotation> I believe the ASCI Influencer Guidelines are a welcome move within the industry. The influencer marketing industry definitely was in need of regulation considering how size-able it has become and will keep getting in the near future. Influencers and creators have the onus of ensuring complete disclosure with regards to all their endorsements and brand deals in order to make sure their audiences know of the paid partnerships and they can then evaluate their decision about whether or not they wish to still buy the product/service. The introduction of these guidelines is only half the battle won, the latter half would have to focus on correct implementation and enforcement of the same with both brands and creators. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder and COO, ClanConnect:" text="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder and COO, ClanConnect:">Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder and COO, ClanConnect:</cmsannotation> Influencer marketing has been witnessing a steady growth in India in the past few years. As digital media consumption is growing, the distinction between content and promotional advertisements is becoming important. Influencer marketing has now become mainstream. Therefore, consumers have a right to know what content has been paid for by brands and the guidelines intend to bring this transparency to influencer marketing. The guidelines are crucial at this moment considering the rapid growth in branded communications to consumers via social media. Wherein there are guidelines for traditional media advertising, now, with the boom in influencer marketing, these guidelines have become essential. The guidelines seems to have addressed all the necessary angles. These have been finalized after extensive evaluation and consideration of suggestions by industry players. With these guidelines, consumers can expect much more transparency as they navigate through the social media universe. These will not only streamline the space and offer a direction but also ensure that there is an added sense of social responsibility amongst the influencer community. On our part, we are geared up to guide influencers through the intricacies of the newly-launched guidelines, helping them meet all the requirements so they can focus on what they do best – create impactful content. We trust this will regulate &amp; filter out the misleading content, creating a transparent and healthy digital world! These guidelines will align the Indian online advertising industry with international markets. If influencers want to be followed by their audience, it is necessary for them to stay interesting, honest, creative while managing the art of storytelling to keep consumers engaged. While these new guidelines will promote transparency, it will also elevate the level of trust between customers, influencers and brands. So it will be beneficial across the stakeholders in the ecosystem. These guidelines will help the consumers to identify promotional content and also guide digital influencers. Ultimately, it will unlock a wealth of new opportunities for the fast-evolving segment that will result in positive outcomes for the sector in the long run. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media:" text="Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media:">Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media: </cmsannotation> The <keyword id="10323570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asci-guidelines">ASCI guidelines</keyword> are a welcome step forward in introducing transparency and authenticity across the ecosystem. However, every new initiative will face questions on its practicality. That debate is necessary to create a sustainable solution. Hence, in my opinion, the current recommendations might not be applicable to every influencer or every tool of influencer marketing. The lines are a little blurred. For instance, a non-monetary association under which an influencer shares an unbiased product review will be labeled as an AD, leaving consumers in a tough spot. This will be difficult to implement for a tech or an auto influencer as they cannot buy every product for review as they are of high monetary value, and in fact, not all the reviews are positive as well so they cannot be labeled as an AD. Furthermore, organic and value-added content creation with genuine product integration is being given priority by the brands, agencies as well as influencers at the moment and the current recommendations might not be aligned with this objective. For a YouTube content creator with long-format vlogs labeling the entire integration section as an AD will lead the audience to ignore the content even if it is adding value to them. A mention of 5-10 seconds should suffice rather than a full-length mention. I believe platform labels like ‘Includes paid promotion’ and ‘Paid partnership with’ on YouTube and Instagram respectively, offer that clarity for sponsored posts. This is sufficient to highlight that the integration is paid. However, additionally, the creators can put a supplementary hashtag to make it more visible. So, we will have to wait and watch how this unfolds.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers:" text="Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers:">Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers:</cmsannotation> The guidelines are a good guardrail in the industry that has been unregulated so far. The fact that the guidelines are not extremely stringent and do rely on influencers to see that they do justice, leaves room for brands to explore ways to circumvent around it. A lot will depend on how influencers &amp; brands adapt to it. Many brands are averse to the whole #Ad &amp; #Sponsored and may now start drawing parallel compares to paid media, which might see the investment in influencer marketing take a slight hit, after the phenomenal growth year that it has had. These guidelines will be like a double-edged sword for creators as well. While they will get a lot more say in putting out content that will work on their pages, influencers/creators who are doing a lot of branded content might see a hit in their engagement &amp; reach numbers. Quality content will continue to win nonetheless. For brands, would suggest to give influencers a little more freedom in designing the content in a way that will bring out the brand benefits, as well as get content to perform better on their channels. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng:" text="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng:">Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng:</cmsannotation> This was a long time coming. The blurring of the line between ads and simple user-generated content needed to be corrected. Users not only have the right to know the difference between the two, they all but demand it. Disclosure labels are unquestionably a step forward in that direction. Besides helping bolster the trust audiences were increasingly hemorrhaging in content creators, the guidelines will hold brands and marketers more accountable. I am gratified ASCI has moved the needle in organizing a niche where entropy was just about beginning to reign supreme.

How ASCI’s new guidelines will impact influencer marketing industry: Experts share their opinion

<ul><li>As we enter a brand new year, we want to crystal gaze into what the year holds for us.</li><li>In today’s feature, experts from the <keyword id="2540701" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">Influencer Marketing</keyword> Industry tell us a few key trends and opportunities that the industry will bring forth as we move forward in 2021. </li></ul>2020 pushed businesses of various kinds and sizes to experiment with digital solutions as all activities from attending concerts, and birthday parties to fitness sessions moved from the physical realm to digital. After the COVID-19-induced lockdown, with TVC shoots on hold and people stuck at homes, brands realised that the influencer marketing model is well-suited in a time in which the audience is looking for some inspiration, searching DIY videos, learning new recipes or focusing on self care. This posed a good opportunity for brands and influencers to engage with their audiences with impactful messaging. Brands realigned their strategies, opened up their budgets for digital media to leverage the rising demand for influencer marketing. Today, Indian audiences are watching more online videos than ever before. Nielsen studies show that home-bound consumers have led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. The number of live video sessions conducted on social media platforms by content creators also hiked in 2020. As per Facebook US, in the first months of the pandemic alone, the number of users watching live video increased by 50% and the platform launched additional features to support video creators. There was also a shift in perspectives and communication tone -- driving away from superficial, in-your-face, sales-driven content to a more meaningful, two-way and purpose-driven conversation. More content creators and brands started talking about the causes they believe in. To weather the storm of trimmed advertising budgets in the first half of the year, influencers turned to alternative revenue sources like selling merchandise or launching direct-to-consumer products. As a result, COVID has spawned strong growth in influencer marketing and creators have cemented their position boosting consumer trust in 2020. Keeping in mind how 2020 revolutionised the digital industry, we reached out to a few influencer marketing agencies to understand what does the future hold and how is the ecosystem shaping up. Here is what they said: Anuja Deora Sanctis, Founder and CEO, Filter Coffee Co: <div type="image" title="Anuja Filter Coffee" msid="80100767" hostid="261"></div> Influencers this year have used a variety of features to promote brands. There was an increased focus on short Video content, especially Reels, as it is being heavily promoted by Instagram and is cost-effective compared to long videos, providing more authenticity and engagement. Driving brand advocacy through genuine users and exploring varied types of influencers from different walks of life also saw great engagement and growth. For example, for one of our clients in skincare, we collaborated with Face Yoga Expert, Nutritionist, Chefs, and that benefited the brand a lot. The one trend that will grow massively in 2021 will be the rise of Micro &amp; Nano influencers. This is mainly due to high engagement, authenticity, and low-costs and is relevant in the current scenario as most brands have slashed budgets. Apart from the trends in general for influencers, one area where it is really working is skincare and cosmetic brands. Influencers are able to display the benefits and usage of products, so in a lockdown situation, where people cannot go and try the product, they are totally buying what the influencer is saying. Also, because of the way lifestyle e-commerce has developed, like Nykaa, Amazon, etc, to drive traffic to these platforms, you need swipe-up links through stories. Since not many brands have 10,000 followers, they are dependent on influencers to push traffic to their website and drive CTA. This trend is termed Influencer Commerce and I foresee it being one of the most demanded categories next year. Viraj Sheth - Founder and CEO, <keyword id="9491005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment">Monk Entertainment</keyword>: <div type="image" title="Viraj Sheth Monk-e" msid="80100797" hostid="261"></div> The biggest trend in influencer marketing in 2021 is going to be creators becoming founders and brand owners. So far, creators have only been resorting to platform revenues and brand deals as major sources of revenues. Although, in 2021, we are going to witness a huge wave of content creators building value-adding brands which are not just selling merchandise but products and services of all varied kinds. We are also going to start observing big brands partnering with creators on equity deals which will incentivise creators to build much deeper, valuable relationships with the brands. Neel Gogia, Co-founder, <keyword id="9617651" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="iplix-media">IPLIX Media</keyword>: <div type="image" title="Neel Gogia" msid="80100803" hostid="261"></div> 2020 has been like a catalyst for the growth of Influencer Marketing in India, not only we explored lots of new content creators but more brands also showed interest in working with influencers for their respective goals. We can expect a trend where more brands heavily focus on the strategies of their influencer marketing campaigns. Gone are the days where you can just hold a product and click a selfie to promote a brand. I feel both influencers and brands will evolve and explore creative ideas collectively to create engaging content. Brands will work with agencies who provide them interesting campaign ideas rather than just a list of influencers and expected reach which happens most of the time. This will make them stand out from other branded content which is already out there and might not be engaging to the audience. Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression: <div type="image" title="Apaksh Gupta, CEO, oneimpression" msid="80100881" hostid="261"></div> 2020 has changed the perspective of both brands and influencers, leading to a paradigm shift in functionality of influencer marketing. A trend that the ecosystem is harping on and that undeniably is gaining momentum, is the content consumption pattern. Steering away from pictures, people are consuming more videos than ever. They like to be updated with influencers’ lives, which creates space for smart product integrations that brands are now leveraging! Well established platforms like Reels, YouTube, Facebook coupled with new-age ones like Triller &amp; Moj have attracted avid video lovers to create and share short-format videos. In fact, live sessions have been devoured all the more, due to the content relatability and authenticity. Additionally, audio format content (podcasts) has started booming, and we may see it becoming as powerful as videos, in 2021! Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng: <div type="image" title="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng" msid="80100887" hostid="261"></div> 2020 was the most sobering of realities. It was also the year the rest of the world discovered Dalgona coffee, TikTok got banned, and influencer marketing went to its grassroots. The black swan of 2020 awoke businesses to the power of social platforms and content creators. Creators restored their focus on delivering content that adds genuine value. They also played an integral role in building a sense of community; something people searched for when living in isolation. From a marketing standpoint, we saw a momentous shift from sales-driven campaigns to social good and charities. The lockdown and work from home, which we took to like ducks to water, pushed the needle on one more front. Marketers started bringing in influencers into the creative conversation earlier. Something, we’d been pushing for years. Brands also recognized that creators are more than a vehicle for sales. They can be credible communicators and excellent platforms to listen to changing consumer desires. As our co-founder, who we onboarded recently, Hemant Dua, Ex-CEO of Delhi Daredevils, affirms, the year was a bellwether for what lies ahead. We have ventured through the backwoods, and are finally headed to a more well-travelled path. Both our product and team saw dramatic growth. We’re closing at almost 4 times to what we were last year. As for 2021, I feel it will be a content and creator moment. Till now, brands gave credibility to creators. In the time to come, creators will bring credibility to brands. Shahir Muneer, Founder and Director, Divo: <div type="image" title="Shahir Muneer, Founder and Director, Divo" msid="80100899" hostid="261"></div> Divo has been at the forefront of influencer marketing since the beginning of this segment around 2017. While we have seen tremendous growth ourselves in excess of 100% growth year on year since then, here are few trends for 2021 that we see around the corner. Outcome or engagement-based model: There is a good number of brands/advertisers who have been using influencer marketing for well over 2 years now, and while influencers have so far been limited to scrutiny on their creative or content and their basic stats like followers, reach. We will see multiple advertisers look at the historical data and see what outcome like installs or sales they got via these influencers, and set the price or even inclusion into campaigns. Engagement rate will be a key parameter going forward and purely a high follower count won't suffice. While a shift from paying upfront to an affiliate or performance-based pricing model is not likely immediately, but that is where we are headed to in the future, and this is the beginning for it. Hence it's not enough for influencers to make interesting content, but also be able to engage with their audience and make it a 2-way conversation. Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl: <div type="image" title="Ramya Whoppl" msid="80167495" hostid="261"></div> It is interesting to note how influencer marketing was such a defining phenomenon in the year 2020. Now that brands have fully realised the kind of credibility and cachet that influencers bring to the forefront, one can only wonder how they will now spread their eventual overarching bosom and become an indispensable must-have for a holistic marketing endeavour. 2021 will see the rise and prominence of commerce-led influencer marketing, which will make it imperative for influencer-curated content to drive a relatable conversion. Brands would now like to see how an influencer churns out content that is authentic, and how that content is so relatable that it will lead to a sure-shot, subsequent conversion. If content was King all this while, 2021 will be a game of chess where ‘relatable content’ is the Queen. Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect: <div type="image" title="Kishore ClanConnect" msid="80113607" hostid="261"></div> Gone are the days of creating content just for the sake of it. 2021 will be all about content with context. The number of influencers in India has witnessed explosive growth over the past year. Content which is not relatable, won’t get the desired engagement. So, the trick is to understand the context, get the background, and then create content that hits just the right mark. How can influencers gain this context? By getting the right insights through data analysis. The purpose of influencer campaign, at the heart of it, is creating engaging, interactive content for the consumers on behalf of a brand. Data analysis can present a wealth of insights about the audience base, the kind of content that has worked for them in the past, popular topics keywords searched by consumers, and more, allowing influencers to create content that will have a deeper impact and achieve the highest ROI. Context backed by data will, then, be the mantra of influencer activity in 2021. Prashant Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Nofiltr Group: <div type="image" title="prashant-sharma-nofiltr" msid="80118072" hostid="261"></div> Influencer marketing was a highly likely outcome of the pandemic, not only because of the availability of the campaign but also because of the changing way among the audience to receive communications. Demand is shifting, and both brands, as well as content creators, need to understand more about the value of content and what needs to be out in the market to captivate the attention of their targeted audience so as to thrive in a post-covid world. We are expecting that influencer marketing is here to stay and grow more and more. Brands have started relying more on content creators now to communicate their message to consumers in a more natural way, to maintain their relevance and meet their target audience online. Just because of this, content creators will have an upper hand. The industry of Influencer marketing is on track to become a $15 billion dollar industry by 2022 and it shows no sign of slowing down at all. Influencer marketing is going to be a game-changer in the times to come. 2020 literally gave a platform to several new content creators and brands also did not shy away from leveraging their skills and popularity to their own benefit. A massive trend that we can expect to witness moving forward is how brands will merge content marketing, influencer marketing and social media marketing. They will focus more on finding and partnering with those influencers who share similar values as themselves and will enter into long-term relationships with them, rather than onboarding them on a contractual basis. As for the content creators, they will be creating more audio and video content. So podcasts will become the next big thing along with the likes of Instagram Reels. Also, micro-influencers will emerge in huge numbers who do not have many followers but enjoy the popularity amongst a niche audience. Such influencers will help brands find their foothold with the specific group of people who would align with the goals of the brands. And the best part about such micro-influencers is that their audiences frequently engage with them. How events unfold will be interesting to watch.

You Searched For "viraj sheth" and got 7 results

Join us on Twitter to find out how the influencer marketing industry is adjusting in times of COVID-19

BI India Partner

As demand for influencer marketing goes up, creators and experts share where the industry will go from here

Samarpita

Karuna

2022: The year of GenZ creators

Guest Author

As brands turn to influencer marketing for the festive season, experts are optimistic about seeing about a 40-50% growth in ad spends

Karuna Sharma

Ranveer Allahbadia on finding his true calling, learning from his mistakes and goal to collaborate with Virat Kohli

Karuna Sharma

How ASCI’s new guidelines will impact influencer marketing industry: Experts share their opinion

Karuna Sharma

Influencer Marketing: Trends to watch out for in 2021

Karuna Sharma

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides