It comes as no surprise that Indian cricket Captain Virat Kohli and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, who have 38.3 million and 43.4 million respectively join the 2019 Instagram rich list.
Chopra charges $271,000 (roughly Rs 1.87 crore) for a sponsored Instagram post, according to the list released by Hopper HQ. Kohli, on the other hand, comes in at 23rd and charges $196,000 (roughly Rs 1.35 crore) for every sponsored post on Instagram, as per the latest list. This prestigious list was formulated through a meritorious effort based on “internal data, agency rate cards, and public information.”
There is no one who possibly understands the benefit of Insta mileage better than Priyanka, whose catchphrase on her account, reads, “Because every picture tells a story… look carefully… can you tell?” She has worked Insta to her advantage from posting PDA rich images of her romance with pop star hubby Nick Jonas to pictures of various international (and sometimes random) magazine covers. Priyanka sure knows how to walk the talk. The page itself is almost like online photo-soap opera with images that focus on all elements of her life: Romance, family, social work, media images, exotic vacations, red carpet appearances and a sometime movie promotion.
Social media influencer Thara Nandikkara feels that influencer-marketing is a relatively new way of advertising and requires more strategy. “Brands don’t really know where to put their money and how to exploit influencers correctly. Influencer-marketing has turned Instagram into a numbers game. All brands care about is the number of followers on individual accounts.”
Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma
“Perhaps that is why Virat Kohli believes in the ‘carpediem’ philosophy (his tag line on Insta) and has spouts sporting lexicons like ‘positivity attracts positivity. Your choice defines your outcome.” Cleverly dancing in designer athleisure — no better way to get mileage for the brand with over 7,023,527 views for this post alone. Then there are the political correct pictures of the team huddle post world clap, with a thank you note to all fans. In acknowledging their disappointment and emphasising on how the team gave their best, he appeals to the EQ factor in all Indians. Now wonder he is a hot favourite with many family brands and of course having his ultra glam actress wife Anushka Sharma (her images smartly took a backseat while the WC season was on) by his side and dedicating many mushy posts to her, he is also the poster boy for romance in India.
The joke doing the rounds is that even when the celeb is not keen on posing and posting pictures on Insta, their manager or spouse, forces them to do so, as it helps their brand command a higher price!
Mumbai-based lifestyle blogger, Shrima Rai, who has 19.9K followers, says, “The more followers you have, the more you will be paid as brands then perceive the celebrity as having more reach.” Today, even former superstars have joined the bandwagon. For instance actress Madhuri Dixit has 15.3 million followers and is prone to showcasing various designer outfits on her dance shows. Television’s most successful actress Divyanka Tripathi Dahyia who has 10.7 million followers actively promotes her international promotional vacation — like her recent holiday in Macao with loved-up images with her hubby actor Vivek Dahiya.
Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty, Malaika Arora, Katrina Kaif, Ranveer Singh and many others, if you notice, are now so active on Instagram, posting not just pictures about themselves but also commenting on others’ posts. Every time they do it, what stands out is the number of followers they have. And this gets them the attention from other prospective advertisers. “When you are collaborating with somebody, you know that you are getting mileage and brand awareness out of it. It’s something you calculate in your head; it’s like a barter, you understand that I may not get money but I might get that kind of mileage and press that will generate sales eventually,” adds Sharnamli Mehra Adhar, co-founder & creative director, The Pink Post Inc.
