INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Foreign minister S Jaishankar, who is usually jet-setting across the world and has built quite a reputation for hard-talk with his
counterparts in other countries, was seen in a gentler avatar at an interactive session with influencers last month
Sporting a red tilak on his forehead, he patiently listened as an earnest young YouTuber described his body language and manner as
things heating up for Lok Sabha 2024, the rush is not just towards a TV studio for a traditional fireside chat or door-to-door to shake
Instead, many political strategists are focusing on influencers who can spread the message nestled between tech tips and travel videos
In January, Kamiya Jani, who hosts Sunday Brunch on her YouTube channel Curly Tales and has over 2 million subscribers, discussed Congress
(UBT) on his favourite eating joints in Mumbai.Ranveer Allahbadia had several ministers such as Rajeev Chandrasekhar on his showRanveer
Allahabadia, whose channel BeerBiceps has a subscriber base of 5.67 million, had a bevy of ministers including Jaishankar on his show
While commerce minister Piyush Goyal shared how late PM A B Vajpayee taught him how to play marbles in his childhood, IT minister Rajeev
Chandrasekhar spoke about how PM Modi mentors his ministers and is invested in their success
The channel clarified that these interviews were not a paid promotion.Political watchers say that while the use of influencers, paid or
unpaid, is not new, it has become far more widespread than before as can be seen by an unprecedented rise of senior politicians clearing
their schedules for YouTubers
For instance, YouTuber Raj Shamani did interviews with Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and road transport minister Nitin Gadkari in
quick succession.Political satirist Akash Banerjee, whose channel The Deshbhakt has 3m followers, says that politicians have woken up to the
fact that the youth vote is a crucial demographic
with revenue share of micro-influencers increasing from 9% in 2022-23 to 14% in 2023-24
It estimates that India could become the largest base of influencers in the world
Cheap data and an increase in smartphone coverage has played a part in increasing their reach
government has already taken a step to formalise the arrangement of hiring influencers
On June 26, it issued a notification stating that influencers can get Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh per month for posting government ads on their
Influencers have been categorised on the basis of followers: those with a million-plus following are designated category A, while those with
Zefmo CEO Shudeep Majumdar says that the firm recognised the growing importance of micro-influencers and has since used them at a
hyper-local level in state elections
specialise in political content
Just their ideology should match with that of the candidate, and they should be able to build an ecosystem that will spread the content
Such micro-influencers are paid around Rs 10,000-15,000 per campaign
Macro-influencers can get up to a couple of lakhs.Abbin Theepura from P-Marq (Politique Marquer), which has handled political campaigns
since 2019, says that Covid pushed up the demand for social media influencers
He argues that WhatsApp groups have proved to be too impersonal and instead an influencer posting original content draws a deeper audience
It also yields granular data
Sanjay Kumar describes influencers as just another option in a larger bouquet, and says its impact is being overestimated
popularity of this route is growing, can it replicate the warmth of an in-person interaction or the credibility of a media interview? Time
