The content creators or influencers will have to use disclosure labels such as #ad, promo, sponsored for any branded content, since the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) wants influencers to make it clear to viewers if any content is promotional in nature or is branded content, which could make things tricky for content creators.
Neel Gogia, co-founder, IPLIX Media, an influencer marketing agency explains how.
“If an influencer did content on different use cases of Amazon Alexa which is a paid association, a brand would like to go as a content piece because the creator is adding value to the content. Why should such content be treated like an ad? Every content that goes out, the influencer has a narrative that he/she decides. If you treat it like an ad it will have a negative impact both for audience as well as creators.”
Tech Burner - a YouTube channel run by Shlok Srivastava has more than five million subscribers. Shlok pointed out that on YouTube a review cannot be called an advertisement.
“A review is not a positive video. We make sure we give correct image and brands come to us to get the right message out to the audience.”
He added that “there will be an impact in terms of brands coming to influencers because the classification is not appropriate because to classify a piece of content as an ad it has to be produced by the brand. But when an influencer makes content for a brand it is more like a collaborative effort. It is the creator who guides the brand how they can reach the market and how they can put out the product.”
