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As India’s festive season gathers pace, brands are unlocking bigger advertising budgets with influencer marketing placed firmly at the heart of campaign strategies. Industry experts describe this period as high-pressure but high-reward, with collaborations surging 30–40% and deal values climbing 15–25% compared to regular months.
Top creators are navigating bandwidth crunches, fielding 15–20 campaign requests a week, while micro and regional influencers are witnessing a sharp rise in demand as brands chase relatability and cultural resonance.
According to a Kantar report, 67% of consumers trust influencer recommendations over traditional ads. Influencer-led content also commands stronger attention—users watch it 2.2 times longer, with skip times averaging 17.8 seconds versus 7.9 seconds for branded assets. In today’s crowded digital landscape, this edge is proving decisive.
Bigger Budgets, Sharper Targets
Categories such as fashion, jewellery, beauty, home décor, and FMCG continue to dominate festive influencer spends, while quick-commerce and fintech brands rapidly scaling up. Pricing models have shifted too, with surge-style festive rates or 20% hikes becoming the norm. Experts note that beyond immediate gains, well-executed festive campaigns often convert into long-term retainers, cementing this season as a strategic milestone for both brands and creators.
Manali Deshpande, Brand Solutions Head at Clout Pocket Aces, observed, “After a muted first half of the year, marketers are front-loading spends to capture consumer attention in a shorter festive window. Industry trackers suggest festive ad expenditure is expected to rise 10–12% year-on-year, with consumer-facing companies guiding a sharper 15–20% increase. What’s driving this confidence is the fact that 9 out of 10 Indians plan to maintain or increase festive shopping this year, with an average budget of around ?16,500. Even more importantly, nearly two-thirds of shoppers are still undecided on which brand to buy, making influencers an ideal lever to sway those choices.”
The Indian creator economy, pegged at ?3,600 crore in 2024, is on track to expand by 25% this year. Diwali, Navratri, and Durga Puja remain the most aggressive campaign phases. Agencies report that 4 in 10 brands have already earmarked higher festive allocations for influencer work compared to last year.
“E-commerce platforms are leading the charge, accounting for nearly a quarter of influencer spends, followed closely by FMCG, consumer durables, auto, jewellery, and fashion. Quick-commerce players Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto have emerged as heavyweights, scaling creator collaborations to push instant festive deliveries and deals,” Manali mentioned.
The recent viral campaign was a collaboration between Amul and Zepto, not Blinkit, where Zepto delivered empty butter boxes to customers on Krishna Janmashtami with a card reading, "Oops, Maakhan chor got here before you!".
Creators See 25–35% Jump in Deals
For creators, these projections are already translating into busier schedules. Beauty, fashion, and lifestyle creator Shreemayi Reddy, described her calendar as “packed.”
“Festive season is definitely the busiest time for me and also my favourite because we can get creative with campaigns. I usually see at least a 30%-35% jump in brand deals compared to the rest of the year. It’s that time when every brand wants to be part of people’s celebrations whether it’s beauty, fashion, lifestyle, or even food and celebrate culture through sales and gifts from them. That naturally means a packed calendar for me.”
She added that she treats these campaigns differently from routine ones. “During festivals, campaigns feel a lot more creative, sales and gifting driven which makes it so fun! For me, that often means more festive beauty looks, styling content, and lifestyle partnerships that fit into the mood of the season very different from the more routine or product-focused campaigns I get during the rest of the year. Festivals are always special because my content feels more connected to my own celebrations. I do treat partnerships a little differently at this time. I put in extra effort with styling, production, and storytelling to make it feel more celebratory and relatable for my audience.”
Ankur Agarwal, whose content has drawn over 2.2 million followers, echoed this spike. “During the festive season, the number of brand deals I receive is significantly higher compared to the non-festive season. It’s understandable, as we Indians love to spend on festivals and gifts.”
He witnessed a 25-30% increase in collab deals. He also observed multiple types of brands coming in for collaborations during this time, even those that don’t usually advertise on social media start doing so. It makes sense, because festivals are when people spend the most.
The Category Shift
Industry observers confirm the concentration in sectors. Duresha Memon, Senior Talent Manager and Communications Head at NOFILTR, said, “We usually start planning creators’ charts 2–3 months in advance with calendars and date blocks, because once the season hits, negotiations move at lightning speed. With the flood of campaigns, quality control becomes crucial and saying yes to everything can dilute a creator’s long-term brand value. Bandwidth is another big and important factor, some of our top creators receive 15–20 requests a week at peak, so we have to be selective to avoid burnout. Pricing also shifts, we may use a surge-style model with packaged festive rates or a 20% hike to balance demand, which most brands now see as a norm now.”
She explained how category play shifts dramatically. “While the rest of the year sees a balanced mix across categories like tech, lifestyle, beauty, and food, festivals bring a strong concentration in a few key sectors. Fashion, Beauty, Jewelry tend to dominate, accounting for almost a major chunk of collaborations, while FMCG brands with gifting propositions see a big jump. Home décor and electronics also spike with the shopping surge, and traditional categories such as ethnic wear, sweets, and festive foods emerge strongly. Quick Commerce & E-commerce platforms and fintech players, especially those in the lending and buy now pay later space & festive sales/discounts space also become extremely aggressive during this period. Another major difference is in the storytelling, brands move away from purely product centric content and lean into more emotional narratives built around family, traditions, and celebrations.”
ROI and the Micro Shift
Rishabh Chawla a lifestyle content creator underlined how brand strategy has evolved in recent years. “Deals increase during the festive season. Previously, the uptick was very high, but this has recently moderated. Brands are now more selective focusing on ROI and favoring micro creators over macro ones. Nevertheless, collaborations do ramp up as brands seize seasonal opportunities.”
According to Manali Duresha, “What’s interesting is that it’s not just the volume of collabs that increase but the deal values also see significant uplift, often 15–25% higher than regular periods. Our top-tier creators often find themselves having to turn down opportunities due to bandwidth constraints during this period. Even for micro and regional influencers, this is when they see a big jump in deals because brands want more relatability and local connect during this time.”
Deshpande also noted this tilt. “While celebrity and macro creators are still very important to create the buzz for the brands, the bulk of deals are flowing to micro mid-tier and regional creators. With shoppers increasingly consuming content in local languages and celebrating region-specific festivals, briefs now routinely mandate that 25–30% of a campaign roster includes regional talent. Agencies say requests for vernacular creators have jumped by nearly 40–45% this year.”
Quick Commerce Joins the Festivities
Satirist and infotainment storyteller Vividh, known as The Kurta Guy, has noticed a shift in brand categories. “During the festive season, I’ve personally seen a big spike in collaborations with quick commerce brands over the last couple of years. It makes sense, festivals often come with last minute needs, whether it’s pooja essentials, gifts, or festive supplies, and these brands tap into that urgency with their ‘delivered in minutes’ promise. For creators and audiences alike, this works beautifully because the content feels organic, people genuinely look for convenient solutions during those crunch moments, so the brand message aligns naturally with what the audience needs in real time.”
Still, he is cautious about overselling. “Naturally, there’s a noticeable spike in brand deals compared to the rest of the year except for IPL season, which is practically a festival of its own. Personally, I limit myself to one branded piece a week; two only if the deadlines are extremely tight. Overloading your feed with sponsored content can dilute engagement and defeat the whole purpose of a brand collaboration, which is to create real impact and audience connection, not just visibility.”
For stand-up comedian and entrepreneur Aanchal Agrawal, the season remains lucrative, if not central to her creative process. She explained with the help of an example. “Ganesh Chaturthi is coming up, so there is an increase in campaigns from skincare, fashion, and beauty brands as these festivals are all about dressing and looking vibrant and traditional. With Navratri and Diwali also around the corner, the demand will only increase.”
According to her, beauty and fashion brand campaigns are much higher in number during the festive season. Nowadays, not only beauty and fashion but people also spend a lot of money on electronic brands and quick commerce brands have also increased their campaigns.
She also advised creators not to build their content calendar adhering to upcoming events or festivals. “I only create content when I find something hilarious or aspirational. I do think it's fantastic that creators create content around festivals, I think it's a great way to increase relatability with the audience.”
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