Netflix's Kho Gaye Hum Kaha lays bare influencer marketing, what now?

We navigate the film’s portrayal of the harsh realities of social media influencers and its impact on audiences and brands.

Netflix’s Kho Gaye Hum Kaha offers a narrative into the Gen Alpha’s fixation on social media and how the young are navigating life through its lens. Many young people are speaking about how the movie truly depicts how they consume social media.

It tackles a number of contemporary issues and also has a very strong narrative about social media influencers. A brief plot revolves around the life of a social media influencer ‘Lala’. A classic ‘Tiger Baby Production’ style narration during this plot decodes the life of this influencer. 

“Your job is to watch me and wish your life was like mine. However, the problem is, this is all fake. These hotels are not booked by me, nor are these clothes mine. I have one million followers because I buy them, I apply beauty filters on my face and not the makeup I sell you. You are the consumers and I am just an ad,” says the narration.

With this and other smaller depictions, the film lays a brave commentary on the ‘influencer’ culture.

We decode how this impacts the perception of brands and audiences on ‘influencers’. According to the leaders in the influencer marketing industry, while the movie does portray some realities, everyone cannot be coloured with the same brush. 

One must note that influencer marketing took off as an industry because audiences found a bunch of people to be highly relatable as compared to celebrities. However, over the years, this seems to have changed. 

Need for authenticity

Over the past few years, the scrutiny around influencers has also increased. For example, From the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, authorities are trying their level best to safeguard the public against any misinformation and misleading ads.

Divisha Iyer, associate vice president - solutions and business head - influencer management at Schbang feels influencers will definitely continue to be relatable despite the sponsored tags on their posts. 

“The sponsored tag that is now mandatory has given consumers the transparency which earlier wasn’t there.” 

Shivam Agarwal, co-founder, Kromium, emphasises the need for authentic content in such an environment where consumers have a hard time telling apart sponsored posts from organic content. He says, compared to how it was a few years ago, it's easy for audiences today to identify with influencers who are relatable to them. "Which is only possible if the influencers are true to their lives."

Tarini Shah, a Gen-Z digital content creator, feels that the movie showed how different ‘reel’ and ‘real’ lives are. “I think it will add an extra curiosity amongst our generation to be aware when consuming content and being able to find the line and separate reel from reality.”

She adds that while the movie does make it seem that everything is staged for the purpose of content, the audiences of creators/influencers have been looking for authenticity and that is one thing that cannot be staged. She states, "If you are not yourself, people are smart enough to spot it in the long run."

Impact on brands

According to a Statista study, India's influencer marketing sector was estimated to be worth around Rs 1,200 crore in 2022. It is estimated to grow by another 25% in the coming five years. Another study by influencer.in suggests that almost 85% of brands in India are using influencer marketing as a part of their marketing strategy.

Agarwal says the movie's narrative challenging the relatability of influencers could indeed have an impact on influencer marketing. He says brands often collaborate with influencers because they are seen as authentic and relatable figures who can connect with their audience.

“If the movie suggests that influencers are not as genuine as they appear, it might make brands and audiences more cautious about the influencers they choose to work with or follow. However, the influence of a single movie on an entire industry is likely to be nuanced, and other factors, such as ongoing trends and the overall sentiment toward influencers, will also play a role,” he states.

On the other hand, Kalyan Kumar, co-founder and CEO of KlugKlug, feels there is a certain truth to the movie’s depiction of some influencers. He says there are cases of influencers actually writing to the hotels asking if they can come and stay in exchange for a few posts/videos.

“The overall situation is that everything is about content today, and a lot of holidays and trips are made up. It also makes sense because the brands are ready to pay for it, and if a barter is on the line, it is not really free, right?”