Kofluence's CEO on the role of gaming creators for influencer marketing

• Kofluence, now partnered with Nazara Technologies, ventures into an influencer-driven game discovery platform

• CEO Sreeram Reddy Vanga discusses influencer marketing hurdles, ties with Nazara, Kofinity, and more

• Kofluence works with ASCI to ensure creator authenticity and uphold content standards

The rise of content creators already began before the Covid-19 outbreak and took off during the pandemic, now becoming one of the fastest-growing industries today. As per a report by Statista, the influencer marketing industry in India is estimated to amount to Rs 2,800 crore by 2026.

Despite this growth trajectory, inefficiencies and trust issues whether the creator or the brand they are endorsing is reliable or not persist in the industry, particularly for micro and nano creators. Kofluence, an Indian AI-powered influencer marketing platform, is aiming to address these issues, and mend the bridges between brands and said creators.

The company has so far inked partnerships with major brands such as ICICI Bank (bank and financial services company), ITC Limited (Indian FMCG giant), Domino’s (pizza delivery restaurant chain), and Swiggy (online food delivery platform).

The platform recognises the growing significance of influencer marketing and transcends traditional brand collaborations through the development of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. These solutions leverage automation and technology to introduce organisational frameworks to the market.

The agency is now looking to tap into the country’s leading gaming content creators. This effort is in collaboration with Nazara, a Mumbai-based mobile gaming company that owns a 10.77 percent stake in the influencer marketing platform.

The Nazara-Kofluence relationship

Sreeram Reddy Vanga, co-founder and CEO, Kofluence, says, “We started our relationship with Nazara when we met in 2017 and had a great meeting of minds. As we moved along in our relationship, we realised that the creator economy is turning out to be an interesting area, especially in terms of gamers and their communities.”

According to him, gamers have loyal communities who follow them to understand whether they are streamers or provide tips on how to play a game.

“We were looking for a way to marry the gaming industry and the creator economy and create a platform where game discovery is read by content creators. This moment had us thinking that we have done two decades of gaming and spent about three years building the creator economy. As part of the first step in the relationship, Nazara wanted to become a strategy partner and acquired about 10.77% of the business. As we keep building this network, it will evolve into a more deeper and meaningful relationship,” he adds.

Finding the right match

Brands are increasingly favouring sponsored content over traditional social ads, fueling growth in influencer partnerships and investment. As per a recent study from LTK and Northwestern University Retail Analytics Council (organisation focussed on the study of consumer shopping behavior across retail platforms), 92% of brands plan to up their influencer marketing budgets or increase the role of influencers in their marketing strategies in 2024.

Vanga says that one of the challenges in the Indian influencer marketing vertical is that it runs with the agency-driven approach where the agency unilaterally decides to match its inventory of creators with brands, without much deliberation or customisation.

“In order to keep the list of your creators happy, you need to sell them and that is where a shift needs to come from. This not only helps in building awareness, but also builds performance marketing where brands can track each creator, check how much they paid them and the traction garnered,” he explains.

On September 4, 2023, Kofluence launched its latest product Kofinity that offers guaranteed brand partnerships for content creators and an opportunity to monetise their social influence. Vanga states that the platform is trying to create an infrastructure where each creator, whether small or big, can choose a brand they want to work with and can have their own shopping pages.

“The creators can create a page and put the link in their bio so that their followers can access the brands they (creators) endorse. This way, the chances of their followers clicking on those links, discovering brands, and making a purchase are very high.”

The influencer marketing ecosystem possesses the capacity to blur compliance lines due to its often informal and decentralised nature. However, influencers may inadvertently or purposefully overlook regulatory guidelines regarding sponsored content disclosures, leading to transparency issues. With the rapid evolution of social media platforms and influencer dynamics, regulatory bodies struggle to keep pace, amplifying the potential for non-compliance.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released a consultation paper, proposing a shift from finfluencers as mere influencers to designated informers. Talking about the same, Vanga lauds the government’s decision and says that Kofluence also works as a partner with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to maintain the authenticity of creators.

He notes, “These compliances are quite intense and we make sure we educate creators with everything. We also have conducted workshops on these guidelines. We are also conscious about the authenticity of creators so we note down their KYC, GST filings, and create invoices before collaborating with them.”