Social media does more than bring celebritiesand fans closer. It has also become a revenue-making tool for celebrities andinfluencers who can reach millions with a single post. Now, if you have everwondered how much the stars get paid for a sponsored update on Instagram, theanswer is billions per post.
Influencer marketing agencies and talentmanagement firms have started putting together fresh contracts or revisingexisting ones with content creators and social media influencers that clearlystate conditions for various kinds of brand promotions.
This comes days after ad regulatorAdvertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said it has actively startedmonitoring social media platforms for defaulters of its newly formulatedguidelines, which include disclosure of paid partnerships, prominent tagging ofposts with promotional tag and transparency with the advertisers.
“Our agreement with creators registered onour platform gets governed by general terms and conditions in tandem withinfluencer specific terms and conditions, which have been in line with globallyaccepted influencer marketing practices. Post introduction of ASCI guidelines,we have updated the terms to reinforce them in our campaign guidelines by theaddition of new clauses," said Ritesh Ujjwal, founder and chief executiveofficer (CEO), Kofluence, an influencer marketing agency.
The country’s biggest influencer Virat Kohli,the captain of the Indian cricket team, had put a post endorsing a privateuniversity, but it did not have the tag of a paid post. Virat got trolled onsocial media. ASCI sent the notice, after which Virat edited the post and putthe tag of ‘paid post’.
After this all the big celebs have becomecareful and are also putting a disclaimer of paid partnership in the paid post,but it is also true that if small influencers violate the rule, then no onegoes unnoticed, but big celebs like Virat are trapped.
Dr. Sandeep Goel, Managing Director ofRadifusion and Chief Mentor of Indian Institute of Human Brands said that ASCIis a toothless body. Its guideline is not legally binding, but according to theConsumer Protection Act, if it is proved that the matter of mis-leadingadvertisement, then a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh in the first instance and up toRs 50 lakh for repeated violations.
Devanshi Sodhani and Aditi Kanakia, foundingpartners of digital marketing agency Abridge Entertainment Ventures, say thatbeing tagged ‘paid partnership’ reduces the appeal of the post. It may be thatinitially the paid posts will be reduced, but after some time everyone willstart getting comfortable with it and its benefits will also be visible.Advertisements in social media will also start looking like traditional media.A level playing field will be formed. Brands will feel free to add on socialmedia and be more responsive about their claims.