 We're seeing a paradigm shift in the way that brands are connecting with consumers, how they're weaving stories around the many products and services that they put out in the market today. But of course there's no denying that it's a clutter out there to break away from it, to really stand out, you do need a helping hand. So enter influencers. These are people who have the power to affect to influence purchase decisions. And they aren't your usual suspects, not your cricketers, not your film stars. These people are products of social media. So our top story this week is tracing the evolution of the influencer and the whole concept of influencer marketing. Celebrities and brands, one of the oldest relationships in the history of advertising. Be it Shah Rukh Khan, who is credited with helping South Korean automobile giant, Hoon De, drive sales when it first entered India in 1996, or John Abraham, who's become the face of the standard chartered Mumbai marathon for well over a decade now, drawing more and more people to run each year. You can't discount the role of these influencers in advertising, and yet it's a short way of getting instant visibility for a brand. But now, with the onslaught of the digital revolution, we are seeing another category of influencers emerge. They are the YouTube celebrities. All of these creators are actually the ones who have the subscribers and fans on social media. They interact with their fans. They are primarily interacting with their fans on YouTube. So we are seeing that really a lot of the outreach of content and the spread of content that is happening is actually happening through word of mouth. YouTube is not just about that video that plays, but it's also about all those thousands of fan interactions that are happening below that, right? So I think all of it is kind of intermeshed. I think word of mouth, fans, community is what actually drives all this growth that we are seeing on YouTube. YouTube started out as the go-to platform for people to connect with viewers when traditional media were beyond reach, prohibitive for the costs it involved. But over the years, it has become a platform for brands to reach out to a much wider audience, and that, at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing channels like TV, commercials, and billboards. The emergence of YouTube stars is thanks to the platform's rising popularity. Despite these two prominent stand-up comics, whose videos often go viral on YouTube, Abhish Mathew and Aditi Mittal, they were seen rapping away with music director Anumalik for a Tata T commercial. And of course, the hugely popular AIB was seen in a commercial for the brand Quicker. So what about them is such a hit with the brands? These influences which have kind of, you know, arrived on the scene on the back of some great content they've created bottom-up are loved by large, loyal base of consumers. They are the ones who have created content around issues which are relevant in consumers' lives, and also they are the ones who actually speak in the consumers' voice today. So we believe that, and actually we've started working with AIB for example, almost two years ago, where we believe there is a lot of synergies, there's a lot of shared values that we share with Quicker as a brand. The Quicker is a new age brand which is entrepreneurial nature, which is a brand which talks about today's youth. Our key positioning is actually Asani Badalna which talks about positive change in one's lives. And we strongly believe that if we can talk about our brand proposition with the help of these influences, it will have a strong resonance, a strong connect with the target audience. And that's one of the primary reasons why we started working with AIB. In fact today, YouTube has become the new age TV. Television is no more the end game for advertisers. Brands are increasingly using these influencers on YouTube to reach target demographics in subtle ways, striking meaningful partnerships with them. A product of such partnerships is brand integrations, be it in short films, are the hugely popular trend of web series like the TVF Pictures and TVF Permanent Roommates, which have had brand messages woven into the plot. Some of the prominent brands seen in these two shows are Uber, Vista Print, Kingfisher, Oneplus One, Ola and Common Flaw. You could have doing like an ad where you suddenly in your story suddenly spell out about the character, your character start talking about the brands as such. So it starts, it puts off the consumer or I would say the viewer or the audience that this ad has started. So the integration idea came from that, if you integrate it in a way in your story, like for example for Common Floor in Season 1 for Permanent Roommates, how you integrate it, the couple is actually looking for a house, so it becomes a part of your story and the brand is a character in the story. So on the go we figured that that's maybe a better way of doing it and it worked with the audience. One can safely say that while brands are flocking to online TV shows and capsules, performers are increasingly finding themselves in a position to influence customer choices. But this approach isn't about a YouTube celebrity's reach. It's about partnering with people who embody a brand. So how do companies go about choosing these influencers? We get specific queries saying that hey I want to meet this specific creator. We have companies that say we want to do something with food creators. So we obviously help in matchmaking as well. Plus I think a lot of these creators are also very savvy marketers. They themselves reach out to a whole lot of people. We also have organized aggregators. We also have multi-channel networks, companies which represent more than one creators who are also actively pitching all of them. So right now it's a good place where anybody who wants to reach out to a creator can do that with minimal problems, unlike in other places where it's very difficult to approach a star or approach an influencer. But on YouTube it's possibly the easiest. But as more and more brands continue to partner with influencers in an effort to enhance their marketing efforts and reach out to their target audience, one is bound to see a higher number of branded series. But it begs the question, will brand-sponsored series with top YouTube celebrities impress Indian consumers in a sustainable fashion? How far will the trend play out? And consumers are very familiar with that particular storytelling format, which is take a finite five episode, 10 episode, 20 episode, 100 episode product and follow the story as it goes. That's what we are used to and it kind of makes a lot of sense to us. We're also watching a lot of sequels for movies and all of that. So I think the web series is poised at that place where it's on a platform like YouTube which makes it so easy. It's very easy to also create and upload content on YouTube. All of our creators are great at storytelling. So I think the web series is poised in that unique space and we are seeing 2016 as a time when all of these web series will really explode. With the increasing reach of the internet and social influencers, a transformation is afoot in the way marketing strategies are being scripted. But this is the age of ideas, one quickly replacing another. So whether or not influencers will keep expanding their reach or plateau is a space we'll be watching. Well, in today's context, we were seeing so much more action concentrated in the online space with e-commerce advertising, much more about driving transactions than building brands. We're likely to see influencer marketing grow leaps and bounds, at least in the near term. But what happens in the future, that's a space we'll be watching. For the moment, we're taking a quick breather. But up on the other side, we'll talk about Sampsonite India and then you campaign for American tourist, Anushweta Invala of the brand is joining us on the show. You stay with us.