Decoding iCubesWire’s influencer marketing playbook to maintain consumer trust and relevance

Sahil Chopra, founder and CEO, iCubesWire, says brands need to produce genuine vernacular content to effectively reach and influence consumers.

As consumers increasingly turn to social media for recommendations and content, influencer marketing has become a crucial strategy for businesses aiming to build trust and authenticity. This shift is complemented by advances in ad tech, enabling more precise targeting and measurement, ensuring that marketing efforts are effective and efficient.

In this context, iCubesWire, a unified machine learning (ML) driven ad platform designed to enrich customer engagement, retention, and re-engagement via mobile, desktop, and influencers, has established itself as a significant player in both the ad tech and influencer marketing sectors.

Established in 2010, iCubesWire is now in its 15th operational year and has a team of nearly 250 people based in Gurgaon, which serves as its headquarters, with additional offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai, Riyadh, and Jakarta.

Sahil Chopra, founder and CEO of iCubesWire, shares that the company offers various products to clients, including Pie (an AI and ML driven data management platform to help brands discover highly engaging audiences), Grab (a real-time ad serving platform to help brands target and engage customers), and InfluenceZ (an influencer marketing platform for brands and creators, supported by video production and strategy).

“Another area that has grown significantly for us, as well as for the entire industry, is influencer marketing. We collaborate with some big brands in India and other markets where we operate. As a result, performance and influencer marketing are currently the two main pillars of our company,” he says.

iCubesWire currently works with over 200 brands, including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Flipkart, Adani Group, and Indigo Airlines. Chopra says that there is no specific sector that the company caters to, and it works with brands that are active on the consumer side.

However, he notes that the company is particularly strong in the e-commerce segment, with Flipkart being one of its largest clients. "In addition, we work with the BFSI sector and have been partnering with Kotak for the past 10 years. All the top Indian online travel agencies (OTAs) also collaborate with us, so I don't believe there's any industry bias."

InfluenceZ

On May 21, 2024, iCubesWire launched its new product called InfluenceZ. As per a press release, this platform aims to improve the way influencer marketing works for brands and creators. It provides access to a large network of influencers and includes advanced video production and strategic tools.

Chopra elucidates that the launch of the product has proven to be quite instrumental for the company, as it is being promoted across numerous brands. One aspect of this is aimed at influencers and creators. There is an app available on the Play Store and App Store that provides influencers with numerous collaboration opportunities, helps them keep track of their work, creates media decks, and more.

The other side of InfluenceZ is designed for brands, helping them to create custom plans, segment their audience, measure engagement rates, and assess the quality of content a particular influencer is posting.

“At the end of the day, you see a lot of analytics on the platform where, as a brand, one can check the end result of their campaign, and whether it is better than the last one. Therefore, these are the two pillars from creators and brand side who are active on the platform,” he adds.

With influencers becoming a mainstream media channel today, Chopra believes that the largest challenge in the influencer marketing landscape is trust and relevance. A survey conducted by iCubesWire found that 51% of consumers do not believe or trust content showcased by influencers, with fintech being an extreme case due to the financial angle involved.

He says, “Many people assume that influencer marketing is solely about the money paid to influencers to endorse a brand. As a result, trust, relevance, and authenticity remain some of the biggest challenges in the industry. However, as we move forward, consumers are becoming more discerning. They can recognise when content promoted by a creator is merely a paid promotion, especially when the same influencer endorses a competing brand just two weeks later.”

He emphasises the need to bring more clarity to the ecosystem, particularly in the area of vernacular content. Given India's diverse, multi-layered culture, brands must recognise that to reach and influence consumers effectively, they need to make a genuine effort to produce more vernacular content.

Growth trajectory

Since 2010, iCubesWire has expanded from a small group of digital marketing experts to a much larger company. Today, the entire digital marketing system it has built is valued at around Rs 1,200 crore, reflecting its significant growth and success over the years.

According to Chopra, launching new products and hosting events that position the company as a thought leader rather than just a service provider is the key reason behind this growth.

He also considers entering the Middle East market a success for the company. Commenting on the expansion of Indian agencies in the Middle East, Chopra says, “There is clear growth in the ecosystem that agencies have established there. Large players are present in the UAE, with significant spending and well-developed ecosystems. The market remains one of the easier entries, largely dominated by Indian firms.”

With steady year-on-year growth, iCubesWire is currently focussed on continuing its current strategies. Chopra notes that in 2023, the company experienced nearly 30% growth. This year, the company is on track to achieve even better growth than in 2023.

“While we remain privately held, we have to be very cautious in how we manage both our brands and our bottom line. I believe we have been doing well in this regard. For now, we want to focus on what we are doing right now,” he conveys.