Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and technology, said that any ad campaign using a government logo should not be seen as an ‘endorsement’ from the authorities.
Chandrasekhar clarified on Twitter in response to an ad that was published across multiple leading dailies. The advertisement, a campaign on digital safety, featured YouTuber and finfluencer of financial influencer CA Rachna Ranade as its face, along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and G20 logos.
In his response, Chandrasekhar stated that he has advised such campaigns to be more careful when using government logos. He added that the government stamp is not an endorsement of any person on a social media platform.
“Given that these types of advocacy ads could be misinterpreted, I have advised more careful use of government logos in these campaigns by private platforms,” the minister said on Twitter.
Just to be very clear – this is not an endorsement of any person or any social media platform. @suchetadalal @GoI_MeitY encourages all digital platforms to create awareness of Safe&Trust And Accountable #Internet and is supportive of all genuine campaigns/advocacy for this but… https://t.co/WqfcGPLeXu
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) June 26, 2023
Finfluencers are new-age personal finance consultants who create digital content on social media. Their genre is one of the fastest-growing content universes online.
Recently, there has been a universal call for tighter regulations for finfluencers who have taken over the internet. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman cautioned consumers against finfluencers and Ponzi schemes. She mentioned that Ponzi schemes are on the rise and every consumer should do their own research before investing their money. She also mentioned that we should be wary of finfluencers since there isn’t any proposal currently regulating them.
It is to be noted that the government is working on a new set of guidelines that will regulate endorsements put out by finfluencers.
In an exclusive interview with Storyboard18, Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, said that they are working with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to frame guidelines for finfluencers.
“It is currently being worked upon. We are an umbrella organisation, and SEBI has already done some work. We are working closely with them to frame guidelines for finance influencers,” he shared.
Over the past two years, the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector has upped its influencer marketing game by adding these finfluencers to their marketing mix, using them to drive engagement and generate leads both online and offline.
Brokers, BNPL (buy now pay later) brands, banks, non-banking financial companies, wealth management companies and mutual fund apps are increasingly deploying influencers in their marketing. Brands like Motilal Oswal, Cleartax, Uni Cards, Navi Group, PolicyBazaar, CTA FX, Smallcase, Groww and CoinSwitch Kuber, among many others, use influencers to promote their offerings and drive traffic to their platforms.
Collaborations, product placement and dedicated content creation are some of the popular formats used to drive engagements through influencers, with brands shelling out up to Rs 15 lakh for one video. While paid partnership fees for these influencers start at Rs 25,000 per video, a lot depends on the individual influencer’s platform preference, content mix and, above all, follower base.
The content mix for these influencers ranges from stock tips, insurance planning and financial fraud awareness to even lighter subjects like planning one’s first international holiday. Regardless of the subject being discussed in the video, financial influencers make a conscious effort to plan their content in a way that it has a theme, a storyline and sometimes even fictional characters with comic undertones. It has to be digestible and shareable.
For any influencer, the largest portion of their earnings comes from brand collaborations. According to industry estimates, they can get paid anywhere between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 5 lakh per post. Any popular influencer does a minimum of two branded posts a month. According to experts, an influencer with 50,000 to 60,000 followers gets paid around Rs 1 lakh per post. Influencers with around half a million followers charge around Rs 2 lakh per post. And those who have crossed 1 million followers on social media charge a minimum of Rs 5 lakh per branded post. This pay rate remains more or less the same across Instagram and YouTube. However, very popular influencers have their own pay scales.