Opinion
Sheth: Traditional PR firms have no idea how to work with influencers
“We started an influencer marketing unit where we realized that more than creators, it was actually brands that needed more guidance and help with who they need to work with. Because the PR companies that they were working with had no idea about it. They were f…”
Insight
Sheth: Creators cannot make good content without financial security
“It's been a notion that an artist always performs better when he's hungry.
That's actually just a very Bollywood and filmy way of looking at things.
but in today's time, if the artist doesn't have money in the bank, he won't, he or she won't be able to create…”
Insight
Sheth: Not every startup must change the world; profit-focused businesses are valid
“We over glamorize startups too much. Not every startup has to change the world. Some startups could purely be built for a profit basis, which will in fact, you know, help the financial crisis of a lot of households. It will give financial liberty to a lot of h…”
Assertion Contradicted
Sheth: Indian talent management represented only film and cricket stars in 2017
“There was no representation for digital creators back then. The representation was only happening with Bollywood stars and cricketers.”
Insight
Sheth: Influencer marketing campaigns must be creator-led, not brand-led
“One big mistake that brands usually make is.
They make it a very brand led idea and pitch, right?
Whereas if you're working with influencers, it has to be influencer led and the brand has to be integrated within that content piece.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Sheth: Early-stage D2C startups will become the next P&G within 20 years
“I know that these guys are the ones that are going to you know, sort of be the next PNGs and HULs in the next 20 years.”
Assertion Supported
Viraj Sheth: Brands sign top creators for ambassador-level endorsements
“Ambassador-endorser-level deals are already happening now in the influencer space, which was only reserved for cricketers or Bollywood stars previously, right? Every time a brand used to think, I want a big, massy face, they used to think Amitabh Bachchan Shah…”
Prediction Held up
Viraj Sheth: Influencer deals will shift toward equity and hybrid compensation
“I feel like then this has been a chatter since a long while that this long form of association will now move on from just cash led deals to equity led deals where a lot of brands will start considering creators as partners in the very true sense of it, where t…”
Insight
Sheth: Creator tiers depend on category ranking, not absolute subscriber count
“Now if someone in the self-improvement or motivation space has only 500 K subscribers, there's a possibility they could be category A because they may not have as big an audience As the fourth highest or fifth highest creator in the comedy space because comedy…”
Opinion
Sheth: Tanmay Bhat is a top-tier creator in the Indian ecosystem
“Tanmay Bhatt would definitely be cate because he has multi-platform presence. He's, I think, qualified on, on all platforms. He gets a good amount of viewership coverage across all platforms. His PR is very strong. He's been featured on all of the biggest like…”
Insight
Sheth: Niche tweets attract quality followers while relatable tweets drive reach
“When you're tweeting very niche stuff you might not get as much reach, but you will get the quality follows. As opposed to that if you want to get the massive followers also once in a while tweet about very relatable stuff.”
Insight
Sheth: Founders should start companies with people they know personally
“My personal two cents on this is usually build it with someone you know, personally, or you know, have been around with socially as well.”
Assertion Supported
Sheth: Monk Entertainment exclusively represents 45 to 50 creators
“In terms of influencers we exclusively represent about 45 to 50 creators.”
Assertion Supported
Sheth: Monk partnered with Mamaearth and WOW at early funding stages
“The likes of a Wow, SkinSense, or a Mammoth, or a Flow Mattress, or all of these guys, we worked with them when they were on their seed stage or a Series A at best.”
Insight
Sheth: PR functions require seasoned hires because PR relies purely on relationships
“And with something like PR, you need someone who has that experience because it purely works on relations. And someone like us, we've only been in the industry for two or three years. So I realized that it's important to fill in those gaps.”
Disclosure
Sheth: Monk Entertainment is completely bootstrapped without venture funding
“We're not venture back. We're not funded. It's a completely bootstrap business.”
Disclosure
Monk Entertainment charges exclusive creators fixed commissions and manages all deal communications
“With the exclusive creators we have a fixed commission fee that we charge.
and the reason we call it exclusive is all the all the deals that go through are through us.
So we have access to the emails and it's a completely transparent system.”
