New guidelines could give influencers more creative control

With the ASCI making it mandatory for influencers to reveal if they are putting up a paid post, does the very nature of the business change?

Influencer marketing has changed forever. The self-regulatory body for the ad world in India — the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) — has made it mandatory for influencers to make disclosures about the financial or material benefits they have received from an advertiser for putting up a post.

Starting June 14, influencers must use tags like an advertisement, ad (most prominent), sponsored, collaboration, partnership, employee, free gift, etc, to make disclosures about the content being paid for by a brand, said Deepak Sakhuja, co-founder of Ripple Links, a digital influencer marketing agency which works with top brands like Nestle.

But influencers have said that the reach of a post with one of these tags is far less than that of an organic post. The latter, whether a picture or video, travels well on the same day or the next day. “But when I put branded content, I am not satisfied with the reach,” said Sonali Mitra, a fashion and lifestyle influencer, who has a following of 1,66,000.