Author: Shubhranshu Singh - Vice President, Marketing, Commercial Vehicle Business, Tata Motors
In the realm of consumer influence, the supremacy of celebrities once dictated consumer preferences, utilising their fame across billboards, magazines and screens to shape brand perception. Their endorsements, broadcasted through traditional media channels, wielded substantial power, becoming the cornerstone of brand marketing strategies. For years, brands heavily relied on the magnetic pull of these public figures, leveraging their star power to drive consumer behaviour. However, the seismic wave of the digital era has revolutionised this landscape, fundamentally altering the dynamics of influence. Social media has birthed a new breed of influencers, transforming individuals, like you and me, into powerful advocates who redefine how brands connect with their audience.
It may seem as a tool for commercialism but the growth of the “influencer-content creator” is a revolution. What began as blogging, advisory and ‘aficionado commentary’ is now a global, multibillion-dollar industry touching every aspect of our lives and society. Blogs, social media personas and their associated technologies of self-commercialisation have enabled a repertoire of tools that allows people to monetize their digital presence. Its profitable self-expression that is branded by authenticity.
The influencer industry is a complex ecosystem, comprising influencers, intenders, technologists, marketers as brand builders and sponsors, social media corporations and many more. Together, they have negotiated the meaning, value and practical use of digital influence. A commodity has been branded with a personal signature for the social media age.
They produce, evaluate, and market “influential” content.
It has upended how we interact with our world and make sense of it. It has demolished traditional barriers and empowered millions of individuals. It has created vast new sectors of our economy while transforming, even demolishing legacy institutions.
This is not some energised fad but arguably the greatest and most disruptive change in modern capitalism.
Everyone looks at Big Tech and the power they wield. But it’s not new tools but new habits that create change.
The business of Big Tech is not algorithms and innovations. It is about being a platform for creation and connect. From the first amateur blog to the newest Instagram sensation, it has created rich content and collective attention.
Influencers have revolutionized entertainment, advisory, fame and ambition in the twenty-first century.
The internet based influencer dynamic has changed in the twenty-first century and changed the world with it.
This transition is accelerating as the online and offline worlds merge. Users change how tech envisages its offerings.
Online creators don not just produce content; they define the norms and dynamics of their medium. As a marketer I have the chance to create a better system that amplifies independent voices and rejects the flaws of traditional media, conventional advertising and legacy channels and institutions.
This story began when the internet lowered the barrier to publishing, allowing independent authors to gain a following directly and serve communities who were previously overlooked. Social platforms emerged and lured average people online, teaching them to post for an audience. As the platforms scaled, they introduced public metrics, rolled out new content formats and attracted advertisers, laying the groundwork for users to redefine fame and take advantage of significant new economic opportunities.
Platforms now partner greedily with their top users—YouTube first and most notably—and have been rewarded handsomely.
The COVID pandemic brought “creator economy” into the mainstream of the business world and rewrite the playbooks.
The rise of social media has meant an expansion of opportunity for the creators with rise of social esteem and material rewards.
In my two stints in the automotive industry, earlier as a global CMO of an iconic and timeless British motorcycle brand and now currently at Tata Motors’ CV business I have developed the role of influencers. The positive results are all in the public domain. In the commercial vehicle industry, customers rely on word of mouth and recommendations from trusted sources to a great extent. A diverse array of influencers have built unique relationships with customers.
An industry has emerged out of nowhere, with almost no guardrails or method.
Content creators are the new media.
No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you are in their online world too. The smart phone is a multimedia studio all on its own. The internet has made all the world a stage more than ever before. The most powerful online creators build such a bond between themselves and those watching their videos, reading their posts, listening to them talk. They advise, perform, sell, display and build a connect Influencers are neither “a flash in the pan” nor “a bubble about to burst,” but indicators of a paradigm shift in the way we think about each other and ourselves.
Published: 21 December, 2023 | Autocar Professional
