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Regional influencers struggle to break the dominance of actors in brand tie-ups as target audience remains star-struck
- The star worship culture is stronger in south India and some other language belts and influencers will take more time to become hot favourites with brands.
Content creators and influencers in many regional markets, notably south India, continue to be eclipsed by local movie superstars in endorsing brands, unlike in the Hindi-speaking belt, where personalities such as Ranveer Allahabadia or Prajakta Koli have started eating into advertising budgets directed at mainstream film and sports stars.
Media and entertainment experts say this is because the star worship culture is stronger in south India and some other language belts. Influencers will take more time to become hot favourites with brands, although they are gradually making inroads into the social media discourse.
So strong is the superstar fandom in the south that even prominent Hindi actors could get less traction for their social media posts.
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“The fervour for a superstar down south is much more than what it is in the Hindi-speaking belt or north India. A social media post of a superstar endorsing any product in any part of south India will have better engagement than a Hindi film actor’s due to the south star worship culture,” said Hamza Kazi, music head of Dharma Cornerstone Agency, a talent management agency. “Due to this, brands also get more value for their efforts. Owing to this fact, the scope for influencers down south is less compared to the north where there is more aspirational value attached to influencers.”
DCA is owned by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Bunty Sajdeh’s Cornerstone. A lot more people want to become influencers in the north, Kazi added, as that is the natural progression that leads to becoming an actor. In the southern part of the country, people may not have such aspirations.
Second fiddle
South India is characterised by a robust film and star worship culture, with a predominant allocation of brand spends towards local film actors, according to Abhishek Vyas, founder and CEO of MY Haul Store, an influencer marketing company.
“This cultural phenomenon poses challenges for influencers looking to achieve mainstream popularity, as the deep-rooted fan loyalty towards actors often eclipses other forms of influence. Despite this, influencers are gradually making inroads, especially among younger demographics and digital-savvy audiences. Brands navigating these markets often leverage both actors and influencers to effectively resonate with diverse audience segments,” Vyas said.
Sahil Chopra, founder and CEO of marketing agency ICubesWire, agreed.
"In south India, the brand spending split is influenced by the strong film culture and star worship. Actors continue to hold influence, claiming 60-70% of the budget, while influencers and sports stars share the remaining 30-40%. However, influencers face unique challenges such as cultural nuances and intense competition from established film stars, which hinder their path to mainstream popularity," Chopra said.
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Experts point out that the allocation of brand spending among influencers in the Hindi or north Indian belt has become notably impressive, reflecting the region's vast and diverse audience. In contrast, those creating content in other regional languages may find their reach limited.
Mansi Gupta, chief business officer at OpraahFx, an influencer marketing firm, emphasised that Hindi, as the most commonly understood language in India, enables influencers to connect with a broad audience, breaking language barriers in most of cases.
“Most top creators in India are Hindi-speaking, which allows them to build strong connections with their followers. In contrast, influencers from regions like Assam, Bengaluru or West Bengal often create content in their local languages, limiting their audience reach to a dedicated but smaller fan base. Those leveraging Hindi can significantly expand their reach and benefit from the wider acceptance of the language, hence resulting in global or national brands to reach out to them,” Gupta said.
Restrictive reach
When it comes to regional influencers like in Marathi and Punjabi, it can get restrictive when brands aren’t targeting those regions and want creators who have an audience spread across the country. However, they have a very loyal following when it comes to those particular regions, Gupta added.
Across markets, there is an understanding that mainstream film or sports stars may need to be complemented with the presence of influencers to drive stronger messaging. Mehul Gupta, co-founder and CEO of independent digital agency SoCheers, said it is common for brands to start with a star and combine it with a macro or micro influencer for the messaging to trickle down further.
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“Celebrities and sports personalities are still in demand due to their instant familiarity with masses, and larger-than-life image,” said Sandiip Kapur, founder and president, Promodome Group, a marketing agency. “However, by nature, they have limited exposure with brands, reduced to a few days of shoot, and a couple of social engagements, and come with high entry ticket prices. Currently, around 35% of all campaigns still have heavyweight celebs.”
Social media influencers, on the other hand, play a different role and are not seen as direct replacements to a celeb but more as complementary, he added
“About 75% of all campaigns have influencers. They are great to amplify an existing celebrity endorsement and to carry forward the engagement into more day-to-day slice-of-life situations,” Kapur said.
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Business NewsIndustryRegional influencers struggle to break the dominance of actors in brand tie-ups as target audience remains star-struck
First Published:24 Jul 2024, 02:56 PM IST
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