From followers to founders: Creators rewrite the brand brief

Let’s not get distracted by headlines. The recently announced INR 8,300 crore creator fund by the central government is not just a symbolic nudge — it’s structural reinforcement. It marks a shift from the creator economy as a trend to the ecosystem as infrastructure. This moment demands more from brands, agencies, and creators alike.

The transactional influencer is extinct. What’s replaced them is the creator-as-partner model — where storytelling, product thinking, and customer intimacy converge.

Take Kuku FM, which collaborated with creators not just to market content but to shape its content pipeline. Or mCaffeine, where creators helped refine the sensory appeal of products even before launch. As a beauty brand’s chief marketing officer candidly shared, “Our creators know our customers better than our marketing team does.”

Campaigns co-created with creators are showing 2–3x better performance — not only in click-through rates, but in brand recall, customer retention, and sentiment uplift.

This is not a Bharat versus India binary anymore. It’s Bharat rewriting India’s digital marketing playbook.

Consider Anju Rawat, a homemaker from Bareilly, now earning six-figure incomes monthly teaching DIY home hacks. Brands like Patanjali and Flipkart are banking on her relatability.

Kishan Lal Yadav, a makeup creator from Lucknow, is redefining beauty narratives in North India — contributing to a 25% rise in regional cosmetic brand sales, according to RedSeer.

In Ujjain, The Rachna Kitchen Show drives more live commerce sales for grocery brands than most metro-based food bloggers. The shift is clear: creators are moving from being sources of viral content to being key drivers of impactful commerce.

Live commerce and creator-led selling aren’t about gimmicks anymore. The battleground is trust. A D2C fashion brand reports that its creator-led Instagram Lives convert at eight times the rate of its website visits — without a single discount.

As Kofluence highlighted in its 2024 Creator Economy report, credibility has overtaken reach as he top KPI. The most successful creators are transparent — about earnings, affiliate links, and even product flaws. One creator with two million followers explained, ‘My audience doesn’t mind me making money. They mind it when I fake it.’

So, what should brands do now?

Brands must reimagine creators not as media slots but as strategic partners. That begins with moving away from one-off placements toward long-term collaborations — ideally spanning three to six months — that involve product feedback, co-created content loops, and real community engagement.

Regional creator advisory boards can be a game-changer. Creators bring local insight, language nuance, and cultural calibration that internal teams often miss.

Measurement models also need to evolve. Traditional CPM and CPA frameworks don’t reflect the brand equity built through creator partnerships. Instead, marketers must track sentiment shifts, comment quality, and feedback loops from creator audiences.

Budgets, too, need realignment. At least 10–15% of creator marketing budgets should go toward authenticity — behind-the-scenes content, unscripted creator posts, and direct audience Q&As. Lastly, brands need to stop scripting everything. Let creators own the tone, format, and rhythm of communication. Audiences are quick to notice when a post feel manufactured.

This fund is more than money — it’s a cultural moment. Brands that continue to view creators as just distribution channels are already lagging.

The ones that will lead are those who see creators as co-builders of culture, trust, and product relevance. For creators, this is the time to double down on voice and values rather than virality. The next 12 months won’t just decide who gets noticed — but who becomes indispensable.

Suyog Jadhav, co-founder, B.I.G Media Communications