Deep dive into influencer marketing with ODE's Shabir Momin

One Digital Entertainment's co-founder, Momin talks about its newly formed 'New Media Holding', the evolving landscape of influencer marketing, its regulations and more.

Influencer marketing has become one of the fastest-growing segments across the world, including India. It has become a big part of brands’ social media marketing mix. But how has influencer marketing evolved over the years?

The industry has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years. According to a Statista report, as of 2022, the influencer marketing industry in India was valued at over Rs 1200 crore and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% over the next few years.

Thanks to this growth, many creative agencies, including One Digital Entertainment (ODE), Kinnect, Ogilvy, Schbang, Dentsu, and others, have started their own influencer marketing verticals.

ODE, a creator/influencer management company behind the likes of Prajakta Koli, aka ‘Mostlysane’, recently announced the formation of ‘New Media Holding’. It will oversee the operations of several leading brands in the digital media space. The move is a part of ODE’s efforts to streamline its global operations, bring more synergies between its businesses, and strengthen its positioning as a full lifecycle media company.

In a chat with afaqs!, Shabir Momin, co-founder, ODE, says, “The leadership is the same, nothing has changed in its structure.”

“ODE has done this restructuring because it ended up owning many brands. It has many other properties that were either acquired or built. So, we decided to put all these different properties under one global structure and then use that as a common vehicle.”

Under New Media Holding, ODE will consolidate the operations of several well-established brands, including One Digital Entertainment Creator Network, Instant Bollywood, Social Nation, OneAxcess, Pod One, Merch Garage, Digital 2 Sports, Space Hero, Being Indian, Blush, Zenga Media, StreamBay, to name a few.

Consumer concerns

In a recent Influencer.in report, 28% of the brands surveyed said they had increased their influencer marketing spends by 2x over the previous year.

With influencer marketing witnessing a spike, in terms of advertising and investment, it becomes imperative for the government to address consumer concerns that are triggered from it. The Department of Consumer Affairs recently introduced guidelines aimed at ensuring that celebrities and influencers comply with the Consumer Protection Act and associated rules or guidelines, and don’t mislead their audiences when endorsing products.

Momin mentions, “From a legal perspective, the intent is customer awareness. While 99% of the brands are responsible in nature, the remaining do try to cheat the customers. These guidelines are good for us too.”

Influencer-led merchandise

The demand for influencer-led merchandise, is on the rise lately. It has been observed that the influencer’s personal (social media) account usually has more number of followers than his/her business page. For example, there’s a big gap in terms of the followers of ‘Mostlysane’ and Koli’s brand page (‘Merch Garage’).

Are influencers able to replicate their social clout in their own brands? Does this bring in additional revenue?

“It’s definitely better than launching a new brand with zero customers, as you have a starting point with some customers. We have seen success with many of our creators who come up with their own brands. The success doesn’t depend on how big the influencer is or how big the fan base is. Word of mouth is very significant, especially in Asian markets,” points out Momin.

He adds that it does bring in additional revenue, and the creators are always looking for ways to earn more money and create better value for the brand.

ODE has been engaging with the creator economy for more than 12 years. “From investing in creators to helping them building a brand. We do a full lifecycle around the creator's economy.”