Celebrities, especially sports stars and movie stars, have been used to endorse the brands. The trend is, however, changing in favour social media influencers. An A-Lister movie star charges Rs.8-10 crore for a commercial. Character artists may charge a notch lower. As against this, the influencers with 20000-50000 followers charges Rs.7000-8000. Those with 50000-80000 followers usually charge Rs.15000 per post. Social media celebrities with 2.5 lac to 5 lac followers would charge Rs.50000 per post. Instead of spending money on mega starts, corporates get four or five influencers, which results in a wider reach in diverse sections. Brands are engaging influencers, achievers, OTT actors and even stand-up comedians.

These are the days when consumption of digital media is more than that of TV and print. Advertisers too are shifting to digital content creators to appeal to the millennials.

In addition, we today have a discerning audience. It will not be swayed by the more presence of a celebrity.

Brands have a whole new breed of endorsers. The process is accelerated by higher mobile penetration into the interiors. Some brands have been built upon the Instagram influencers and YouTube vloggers.

The Khans and Akshay Kumar are the last superstars the movie industry has seen. The sheen of superstardom is wearing off. It is time to make use of the new age digital endorsers in brand building.