Brands worldwide are investing billions in influencer marketing without knowing if their money targets the right audiences. KlugKlug, founded in 2022 by Kalyan Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta, addresses this key inefficiency through data intelligence that analyzes not just influencers, but the composition of their followers.

The India-based platform serves consumer-focused brands, agencies, and direct-to-consumer companies by providing thorough data on millions of influencers across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. KlugKlug’s technology determines whether an influencer’s audience genuinely aligns with a brand’s target demographic, a crucial insight often overlooked in creator partnerships.

“In three clicks, I can show you how a company wasted over 70% of their influencer spend,” states Kalyan, KlugKlug’s CEO. “Out of 10,000 influencers, only 3,000 have 70% real and active followers. Out of those, just 1,400 have at least 50% female followers for a beauty brand.”

From Corporate Marketing to Data Intelligence

With degrees from IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta, Kalyan spent more than 20 years in corporate marketing roles at companies including Virgin Mobile and Vodafone, and as Chief Marketing Officer for mid-sized startups like RummyCircle.com, before becoming what he calls “an accidental entrepreneur.”

“Starting my own business was never part of my plan,” Kalyan explains. “I’ve always been a marketing professional.”

In 2015, Kalyan & Vaibhav Gupta co-founded Social Catalyzers, a digital content marketing agency, after a client meeting that Kalyan didn’t even attend generated significant business. “I made a few phone calls. That first client is visiting me from Dubai right now,” Kalyan reflects. “I realized influencer marketing was better than consulting.”

Social Catalyzers quickly expanded into Indonesia, working with major brands such as Unilever and Coca-Cola. The agency developed various versions of influencer marketing technology over a seven-year period, but it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that this technology truly became transformative. As traditional advertising channels were limited during lockdowns, influencer marketing experienced strong growth, revealing key inefficiencies in the industry.

“If you threw a stone down Buenos Aires’s main street … you’d hit 30 influencer marketing agencies saying, ‘We have influencers,'” Kalyan says. “It was commoditized. We needed to move up the scale and deliver data and intelligence as value.”

Redefining Creator Value Through Data

While most platforms evaluate an influencer’s follower count, engagement rate, and content style, KlugKlug examines the demographics and genuineness of those followers. “We’re saying, here’s a product that can improve your influencer marketing by 40% tomorrow,” Kalyan says.

This approach challenges the mainstream view about influencer effectiveness. According to Kalyan, the industry’s fixation on mega-influencers often leads to wasted marketing dollars.

“We made a pyramid that says people with 15,000 followers are the ones I trust because they haven’t sold their souls yet,” Kalyan explains. “Micro and macro influencers extend communication and drive depth.”

The practical impact of KlugKlug’s approach is particularly evident in the rise of direct-to-consumer brands in India. “In the last four to five years, thousands of D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) beauty brands gave L’Oréal a run for its money,” Kalyan says. One case in point was Minimalist, a skincare brand acquired by Unilever for approximately 3,000 crore rupees (roughly $120 million), demonstrating how informed influencer strategies could create notable business value.

“There’s a massive new brand in India called Zudio,” Kalyan continues. “They only have physical stores, but all their marketing is online through influencers from small towns and cities, and they’re thriving.”

These stories illustrate how KlugKlug’s intelligence-driven approach can transform influencer marketing from an uncertain expense into a measurable driver of business growth. Their Center of Excellence has helped multiple D2C brands double their Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) in just four to six weeks by strategically selecting influencers and aligning their audience.

The Four Pillars of Intelligence

KlugKlug’s platform provides four primary functions designed to transform how brands approach creator partnerships:

“First, look at the world,” Kalyan explains. “Who are your top 5, 10, 20 competitors, and what are they doing? Don’t define your intent first – see what the world is doing. Assess your competition and your share of voice.”

The second pillar focuses on insight-based influencer discovery. “Find the right influencers based on your campaign agendas,” Kalyan says.

Third, KlugKlug optimizes content briefs using audience insights. “How do I make the brief better than what the influencer could do?” Kalyan asks. “We say, you may be a mom influencer, but if 23% of your followers like travel and aviation, then for a diaper campaign, you create content around ‘my travel essential.’ That can lift resonance by 5x.”

The fourth pillar centers on performance tracking and continuous improvement. “You track public data yourself,” Kalyan says. “We add analytics that tell you how your next campaign will get better, who to keep, who to leave.”

This detailed approach has attracted major clients across multiple sectors, including agency networks such as WPP GroupM, Havas, and Publicis, as well as e-commerce platforms like Purplle and FirstCry, and D2C brands like GOAT, BlissClub, and Bummer.

Reshaping Influencer Marketing’s Role

Kalyan believes many brands misinterpret influencer marketing’s purpose within their broader marketing strategy. “The answer lies in the word ‘influencer marketing,'” he says. “Influencers should influence. Influence is about credibility.”

“Your metrics can’t just be CPM (Cost Per Mille) and CPVs (Cost Per View),” he emphasizes. “Awareness and interest can come from traditional media. But credibility and consideration, especially for products needing more convincing, is where influencer marketing shines.”

Rather than viewing influencer marketing as simply another media channel, KlugKlug positions it as a unique form of advocacy that requires different metrics and expectations.

“Paid media is content choosing audiences and interrupting their experience,” Kalyan explains. “Influencer marketing is earned media where consumers choose to watch. It’s audiences choosing content versus content choosing audiences.”

The AI Integration and Future Direction

As artificial intelligence reshapes digital marketing, KlugKlug has already integrated large language models to optimize influencer briefs based on audience data.

“We said, ‘Here’s my brand, my category, my brief. What’s the perfect script with a hook that convinces people?'” Kalyan asks. “It then rationalizes using audience data.”

Kalyan sees AI’s impact on influencer marketing developing along two dimensions: data enrichment and content creation. While enthusiastic about AI’s potential to enhance data analysis, he maintains caution around AI-generated content and “virtual influencers.”

“What if everyone looked perfect, spoke perfectly, with perfect music? How much candy can you have in a day? You’ll crave rawness and human connection,” he muses.

KlugKlug is expanding beyond influencer data to provide deeper consumer insights. “We’re calling ourselves a data consulting social media-led intelligence platform,” Kalyan states. “We’re analyzing billions of digitally active consumers.”

This expanded vision enables KlugKlug to address strategic questions beyond influencer selection: Which areas of Southeast Asia are experiencing a growing interest in Korean beauty trends? What ingredients are trending in India? How do cultural factors influence creator effectiveness?

“We’re looking at language-based expression of food and content,” Kalyan explains. “We ask Kellogg’s, ‘Are you a breakfast brand in India?’ Cereals are widely used in Indonesia and the West, but not in India. So are you only targeting an urban premium market, or adapting products for India?”

By focusing on audience composition rather than creator popularity, KlugKlug aims to maximize ROI in an area where effectiveness has traditionally been difficult to measure. What drives Kalyan isn’t following industry trends, but challenging them with informed insights. 

“I love that the industry runs on certain theses, but real intelligence is scarce,” he shares. “That excites me – the arbitrage of smart ideas.”

As influencer marketing shifts from experimental budgets to an essential strategy, KlugKlug’s intelligence platform brings rigor to creator partnerships. As Kalyan summarizes: “Wisdom beyond knowledge will be the value. You have to stay a step ahead.”

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