Social media influencers who have built a career doling out health and fitness-related advice to their followers are looking at a sharp fall in engagement and revenue post the release of the updated guidelines by the Advertising Standards Council of India pinning increased responsibility on them. Srijib Mallik, head of business for Samsung at Cheil India, says, “A huge transfer of endorsements, from one influencer to another, will start taking place.”
ASCI recently mandated that the category influencer must have relevant qualifications such as a medical degree or be a certified nurse, nutritionist, dietician, physiotherapist, psychologist etc, depending on the specific advice being given. Emphasising the significance of the recent changes, ASCI CEO and secretary general, Manisha Kapoor, says, “Improper advice given by health influencers through advertisements can cause serious harm to consumers. Influencers showcasing their qualifications while promoting health products, especially in areas such as disease reduction, cure, and medical treatments, will ensure consumer safety and increase credibility.”
The beneficiaries will be those who have relevant qualifications. “This is the Super Bowl season for certified health content creators. Others will lose credibility as well as their followers’ trust,” points out Raghav Bagai, co-founder of Youthbeat.
The increased scrutiny shall also ensure that influencers are more thorough with the brands that they choose to promote, experts say. For brands, the costs of collaborating may become steeper as the number of influencers would significantly lessen, and those that remain could charge more (Currently, there are over 2,607 health influencers in India on Instagram with between 1,000 and 10 million followers, according to StarNgage). Smaller brands will be most affected by this, pointed out Mallik. Moreover, existing campaigns would need to be reworked and restrategised as well.
The space has many more challenges to tackle. Ambika Sharma, founder and MD, Pulp Strategy, says that even though the norms increase scrutiny on who is promoting the products, they must also carefully observe how these products are being promoted. “There is a need to look at communication and messaging such that it holds its own with stricter scrutiny. There must be potential limitations on exaggerated claims as there is a need for increased transparency,” she says.
Ramya Ramachandran, founder & CEO of Whoppl, points out that the types of certifications pursued also hold significance. “The authenticity of the certification source must also matter — whether it is endorsed by an accredited university or holds any actual educational value.”
“Also, measures must be taken to discourage self-medication,” says Nisha Sampath, managing partner at Bright Angles Consulting.
Imposing restrictions is the easier part of the deal. Samit Sinha, founder and management partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, says given that ASCI is a self-regulatory organisation with limited control over digital channels, it is bound to face roadblocks in implementation.
Many influencers have taken it in their stride and hope to wok “alongside the developing norms”. “Social media is the new reality we live in, and for those in the healthcare industry, there are opportunities for growth that never existed before. But the core principles of healthcare still apply here — transparency, clear communication on benefits and risks, responsible research, and doing no harm. One should work within these ethical parameters,” says Sid Warrier, a doctor specialising in neurology and a health influencer with over 157,000 followers on Instagram.