Ranveer Allahbadia and Niharika NM share the good, the bad & the nuances of influencer marketing

With the booming influencer marketing wave across the globe, influencer marketing has become a crucial part of the marketing communication of brands. The A&M industry is seeing the influencers in a new light and this has changed the fortunes of many people across the length and the breadth of the country.

BuzzInContent.com caught up with Ranveer Allahbadia – Influencer/YouTuber and Co-founder of Monk Entertainment and content creator Niharika NM to talk about the growth of influencer marketing in India and the challenges associated with it.

Talking about the contribution of women content creators, Allahbadia said, “I think it is changing with time, today there are more women creators than men. Earlier there were more men creators but now we see women taking the lead. You will see women creators earn more than men creators, especially in the lifestyle segment.”

On the other hand, Niharika stressed that women are easy prey for the cancel culture. She said, “I think social media has given us the power, but at the same time if a man messes up versus when a woman messes up, she will be cancelled easily and the man can still resurrect his career before she can. We have to grow in that sense.”

Sharing his thoughts on how to subtly integrate brands into the content so that it doesn’t come across as jarring, Allahbadia said that as a thumb rule, he keeps approximately 10% of the duration of his videos for brands, whereas the rest is dedicated solely to the audiences. Niharika agreed with him and shared that she has a similar approach on the matter.

Influencer marketing started booming in the last five years and later was fuelled by the pandemic when everyone was stuck inside their homes, scrolling endlessly and consuming content throughout the day on their devices.

Today, multiple influencer marketing agencies have come into existence as they saw a huge opportunity, but with every opportunity also comes a challenge which needs to be dealt with.

Similarly, with a plethora of brands as well as influencers available in the market, most agencies face the challenge of choosing the right candidate for the brand. 

Allahbadia shared a few challenges that they face at Monk Entertainment. He said, “In terms of scalability, it is difficult because it's a people-driven industry both on the talent management side and the brand's side. So, to keep a team together and bring the best out of them is one of the major challenges. At the start of the company, bringing brands was the major problem but now selecting the right talent for the brand and delivering the best is the challenge we face. The content creator, agency, and brand are the three entities that have to work together.”

Likewise, as an influencer, Niharika shared the challenge that she faces with brand infused content. She said, “It has to be creative issues for me. Sometimes brands get involved too much. I want them to have faith in me and let me take the creative decisions.”

Upon the topic of choosing the brands, Ranveer said that as long as they feel the brief fits the talents they have to offer, they go ahead with it.

In the influencer marketing segment, regional influencers hold more influence than the ones in metro cities. Regional influencers come with the most relatable content with their dialect, attire, script, settings, etc. Niharika has a south Indian dialect which is very much apparent in her videos and plays a big role in her popularity. The influencer said that she is very happy that people in India are recognising and appreciating talent from the southern regions of the country.  

She said, “People are not exposed to South at all and the content creator space is only from the north. The minute a South Indian person walks in, they are amazed by the accent and I think what accent, I talk like this! So, it is interesting that it became a focal point, but I’m also glad that not just south Indian movies are taking over but a lot of people in the industry are from our side. To say about the southern dialect, I think my audience is pan-India, which is why I make sure I speak in English (in content pieces) and keep a balance of different languages.”