At a panel discussion at the e4m Pitch CMO Summit 2025, marketing leaders and content creators explored the evolving dynamics of influencer marketing, emphasising the shift from vanity metrics to measurable business outcomes while addressing the challenges of creator fatigue and authentic storytelling in an oversaturated market.
The panel featured Nidhi Rastogi, Marketing Director at Uniqlo; Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing, Policybazaar; Shantanu Chauhan, Director - Marketing, Noise; Pratik Gour, Co-Founder, footprynt; and Lakhan Arjun Rawat, Content Creator and Blogger. The session was moderated by Niti Kumar, Chief Operations Officer at Starcomm India.
Kumar opened the discussion by highlighting the current market dynamics. “There are so many influencers today; everyone can become a creator. It’s a really dynamic space,” she noted. “Brands are jumping in with various expectations, not just awareness. Now, it’s also about conversions and ROI, and how creators are actually driving sales.”
Kumar then turned towards the panellists and asked Rastogi how Uniqlo balances its global image with its hyperlocal storytelling for India through influencers.
Rastogi answered, "We are a global brand, but we believe that we're local at heart. Our concept is life wear, which means that our clothes are meant to make people's lives better," she explained. She emphasised the importance of working with creators who are already brand advocates, stating, "A lot of influencers we work with are already brand fans, they already have tried Uniqlo, they already love the brand, so that makes it easy for us to do that authentic storytelling."
Using their current Bra Talk campaign as an example, Rastogi noted, "Most of the influencers we want to collaborate with have already used the product. And they swear by the fact that you can be braless and wear a top which has a bra inside. These stories in themselves are so strong that we don't have to work very hard."
From the creator's perspective, Rawat highlighted brands that have successfully leveraged influencer partnerships. "Recently, I worked with Samsung, and they were very open to doing anything that the creator thinks will work for their audiences," he said.
He also praised moment marketing strategies, sharing, "What I see currently is that brands like Instamart are picking the viral moments and they are doing moment marketing. Some of the tech brands have done very well in this space, and they have used the potential of creators and the bond that creators have with their audience."
Addressing the challenge of creator selection beyond follower counts, Gour emphasised the maturity of the influencer marketing landscape. "Influencer marketing is now not in its nascent stage in India. It has matured a lot. Brands themselves started to realise what they want," he observed. He noted that intelligent brands are moving away from chasing top-tier creators without strategic reasoning, explaining, "Instead of giving 50 lakhs to a creator, I would rather get 10 creators or 20 creators who are using my brand."
Gour cited successful long-term brand strategies, highlighting, "There are three or four brands in India which have been using influencers in the best way possible. Nykaa and Sugar Cosmetics are examples of such brands. They have very well chosen influencers over a period of time and created content which stood with their brand ethos."
The conversation then shifted to the process of vetting creators. Chauhan shared Noise's practical approach. "The first thing which we do is a simple manual research. You go to a page, take five minutes and read out the comments. That tells a lot of insights about that creator, what kind of audience is actually following them," he explained. He also recommended unconventional research methods, suggesting, "Go on Reddit and talk about that creator, you will get to know everything from tip to toe."
For engagement evaluation, Chauhan emphasised looking beyond surface metrics: "I don't see followers these days. I look at what the likes-to-comments or shares ratio is. If the likes are 50k but the comments are 5, it generally tells you exactly what's happening."
Addressing categories that don't naturally lend themselves to short-form content, Sethi from Policybazaar explained their strategic approach. "A very short format reel might not exactly work because it is not the most interesting subject. People don't generally like to talk about insurance after having a drink," he acknowledged.
"Our communication largely for categories like term insurance, health insurance, is about why you need the category in your life. To communicate that concept, you need a certain bit of duration, which is why we have seen YouTube work very well for us."
The discussion then turned towards ROI measurement and conversion expectations. When asked whether brands should expect conversions from creators, Rawat provided a balanced perspective: "It depends from brand to brand. If a brand is focused on conversion, then the first thing that matters is storytelling. It would not be fair for a creator just to be judged on the basis of the conversion, but it would also not be fair to the brand to completely ignore ROI. The brand is paying money, they want something in return."
Contrary to Rawat’s balanced approach, Gour strongly advocated for conversion accountability, arguing, "It's absolutely fair to ask the creator about conversion. Influencers are a part of the digital marketing ecosystem and they have to drive ROI."
However, he emphasised context-dependent expectations, noting, "If you're expecting a humour-based influencer to sell Skoda immediately, you are being naive about it."
Sethi outlined Policybazaar's measurement approach, explaining, "For every marketing channel that we activate, there are unified metrics, one being the amount of sales and the other being the number of leads. We do the exact same thing for television advertising or any other medium.”
He added that influencer marketing has become a very meaningful part of the business now, so it needs to be measured in the exact same way.
On content quality versus conversion metrics, Rastogi emphasised storytelling authenticity. "As brands, we need to tell a story. Content creators are the ones who can help us create that brand story. Our ROI is usually on the content quality. The first question we ask is, does it look genuine? Does it look like he or she is speaking authentically and it's not a brand speak?"
When the conversation steered towards creator fatigue and consistency challenges, Chauhan shared Noise's long-term partnership strategy using their collaboration with athlete Neeraj Chopra. “We thought, why not build an entire narrative around it? So, we created a series that followed his training journey, where he naturally showcased his progress using our watch. I never had to ask him to tag the brand repeatedly; the authenticity came through on its own.”
He emphasised the importance of organic integration, explaining, “It’s important to maintain a relationship with your endorsers. For example, we recently launched earbuds in collaboration with Bose called Masterbirds. Taapsee has been endorsing our smartwatches for a while. She genuinely loves the product, and her post about it was completely organic. What you do with that content afterwards is up to you."
Chauhan also addressed the importance of avoiding creator fatigue, stressing the need for a more thoughtful, relationship-driven approach.
“There needs to be a balance. While creators are expected to use all the standard hooks that are now considered hygiene, the real question is ‘How do you build credibility?’ It starts with choosing influencers for long-term partnerships and consistently engaging them in organic storytelling. When the content reflects their real lives, authenticity and effectiveness follow naturally.”
.jpg)
