Instagram said it’s the platform’s first campaign in India aimed at marketers and advertisers and will look at measuring the business impact of influencer marketing.
As part of the campaign, brands are invited to submit their briefs in the ‘Love Runs Deep challenge’, and five of them will be chosen to have access to 25 creators to work with them for free, in addition to support of $25,000 worth of ad credits to run their campaigns.
The brands could be from all over India and could be either big or small businesses, Instagram said.
The jury will include Prabha Narasimhan, executive director – Home care for Hindustan Unilever and vice president – Home care, Unilever South Asia; Asim Warsi, senior vice president and head e-commerce, Samsung India; Harish Narayanan, CMO, Myntra; Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM, South Asia; Rajdeepak Das, CCO and MD, Leo Burnett, South Asia; and Neha Markanda, head of business marketing at Facebook India.
Instagram said the selection would be done on the basis of originality, creativity, suitability for mobile and expected business outcome.
The platform has roped in creators such as Masaba and Neena Gupta, chef Ranveer Brar, Kusha Kapila, cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, Savi and Vid from Bruised Passports and Sakshi Sindwani from @stylemeupwithsakshi.
Sandeep Bhushan, director and head of global marketing solutions at Facebook India said there’s a natural affinity among users to interact with public figures, creators and brands on Instagram.
“We want to spur this interaction between creators and brands, in a way that redefines the ecosystem, and allows stories to be told with greater business impact,” he added.
Instagram said the campaign is set in the backdrop of the insights of the BCG-Facebook ‘Turn The Tide’ report, stating that digital influence has increased significantly in urban consumers – up to 70% for mobiles, 55%-60% for apparel, and up to 20-25% for the non-food CPG categories. Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM, South Asia said as the economy unlocks and brands look to capitalize on the resurgence in consumer demand, influencer marketing will play a vital role in telling brand stories in an ‘effective’ way.
The campaign kickstarts from Thursday and the entries close on November 13.