When multiple agents started pitching brand deals in his name without his consent, Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner and popular creator Elvish Yadav posted an Instagram story stating that he is exclusively managed by Kelly Gabriel through IP India, bringing brand attention to a growing concern that has remained largely unaddressed in the influencer marketing ecosystem for far too long.
The issue is becoming more visible as creators like Yadav take to social media to clarify who officially represents them, pushing back against a pattern where multiple agencies and individual agents claim authority without any formal agreement or documentation to prove their standing.
Multiple influencer marketing (IM) agencies often float the same creator's name during early-stage brand discussions, and while that might seem harmless at first glance, the situation shifts dangerously when false representation claims enter the conversation.
Experts estimate that influencers lose nearly 30% of valuable brand deals due to misrepresentation and around Rs 450 crore is lost overall every year, often without even knowing such opportunities existed or slipped away during negotiations that never reached them in the first place.
In several cases, managers make unexpected demands—such as requesting a vanity van, a personal bodyguard, or a private car with a driver—without consulting the influencer, leading brands to walk away quietly to avoid unnecessary complications.
Such instances not only cost creators lucrative deals but also damage their professional image, as brands begin to associate them with unreasonable demands or unreliable communication, even when the influencer had no knowledge of the conversation.
Access Not Same as Authority
Himanshu Arora, Founder and CEO of Creators Network and BookYourCreator, agencies pitching a creator is common, but falsely claiming representation without authority breaks the line between access and actual control, a distinction most fail to maintain.
“There is no universal verification registry that brands can turn to, which means most verification efforts are informal, based on direct networks, old emails, or relationship history that often do not reflect real-time management shifts that occur in fast-moving creator careers,” he said.
Arora noted that to create a more structured ecosystem by only listing verified creators and clearly naming their official representatives to reduce backchannel noise and prevent wasted communication loops that rarely lead to campaign closures. He designed an app called the BookYourCreator web-based platform.
Another player working to fix the broken representation system in the influencer marketing space is Gautam Madhavan, Founder of Xley.ai. His platform offers a tech-driven solution that verifies every representation claim and ensures creators remain in control while brands gain transparency. “There’s only one real answer: a tech-led system that verifies every representation claim, automatically. A platform that acts as a neutral, secure bridge—where creators are in control, and brands get full visibility.” According to him, 36% of influencer budgets are lost to fake engagements.
There are other similar apps which are doing the same like Hashfame. They help brands to reach creators directly and creators to check on brand deals posting and pick according to their comfort.
According to Himanshu, brands facing losses in this chaotic environment include inflated pricing structures due to multiple layers of middlemen and campaign delays that kill momentum, affecting product launches, promotional timelines, and advertising season strategies which depend on quick turnarounds.
“On the creator’s side, misrepresentation can mean missed campaigns, not because they were unavailable, but because pricing was manipulated to a point that brands quietly walked away without ever speaking to the talent or their real management.” he noted.
In an industry where budgets are tight, timelines are short, and credibility is currency, these silent dropouts hurt more than what appears in top-line metrics or vanity numbers shared in marketing reports and quarterly brand reviews.
Reputation Risks Rising for Creators and Brands
A spokesperson from the influencer marketing agency, who wished to remain anonymous due to ongoing collaborations with multiple creators, explained that false representation exploits gaps in verification and the absence of industry-wide tracking that can confirm real-time agency affiliations.
“Creators risk reputational harm when deals are made in their name without their consent or knowledge, especially when the campaigns misalign with their public image, community values, or past collaborations, which can confuse loyal audiences,” he said.
Brands that unknowingly route deals through fake representatives lose more than time or money—they risk diluting the impact of a campaign by failing to secure the engagement levels associated with the creator’s authentic presence and trust capital.
While platforms and verification tools help at a micro level, Arora says the onus is also on creators to clearly mention their manager or contact in their bios and ensure their profile details are updated across all digital touchpoints to reduce confusion.
Agencies, on the other hand, must resist the temptation to falsely position themselves as exclusive managers, even if they have access through past campaigns, because misrepresentation at the start often snowballs into deeper trust issues during final negotiations.
According to an IM expert, the Advertising Standards Council of India is slowly stepping in with guidelines, and legal recourse is now available to creators who wish to hold impersonators accountable, though adoption and enforcement remain inconsistent across regions and campaign sizes.
The industry, once informal and community-driven, is now moving toward a contract-first approach, where access must follow disclosure, and every stakeholder is expected to be upfront about their level of authority and intent in any campaign pitch
.jpg)
