iWorld
India’s influencer market explodes in 2025, three times bigger than expected
NEW DELHI: India’s influencer marketing engine is far bigger and faster than anyone imagined, according to a fresh industry analysis by KlugKlug. The company claims the real market has already crossed Rs 10,000 crores in annual deployment, a number that dwarfs the familiar Rs 3,000–4,000 crore estimates that brands and agencies have repeated for years. The revelation has already set off a lively debate across marketing circles, exposing how outdated measurement systems have been left miles behind by a rapidly expanding creator economy.
The report struck a nerve because it highlights a truth that many insiders privately knew. Only one quarter of India’s influencer spend flows through visible and organised channels. The remaining 75 per cent moves quietly through direct deals between brands and creators, internal teams, founder-driven pushes, and the enormous world of unpaid seeding that still delivers high earned media value. None of this activity shows up in traditional models, but all of it moves the needle.
D2C brands, meanwhile, have rewritten the rulebook. KlugKlug’s analysis notes that more than 100 emerging and established players now invest upwards of Rs 20 crores each year through in-house creator teams instead of agency-led structures. This silent shift has created an underground economy of micro and nano influencers who fuel product discovery, drive commerce, and keep the spend wheels turning without ever appearing in conventional market reports.
Explaining the significance of the findings, KlugKlug co-founder and chief executive officer Kalyan Kumar, said influencer marketing has transformed in the age of automation and precision tools. He said agile new-age brands are rapidly capturing market share across categories, powered by data-scienced creator strategies. With platforms such as KlugKlug stepping in, he noted that brands finally have visibility into what actually works across the creator landscape and that the industry has already grown far larger than previously recognised.
Klug Tech Private Limited co-founder and chief product officer Vaibhav Gupta, added that the long-standing gap in India’s influencer numbers exists because the industry relied on narrow, agency-facing data that never captured the real activity. He said the new analysis aims to correct the narrative while pushing the ecosystem toward more transparency and better measurement.
The report’s most striking takeaway is how thousands of smaller creators have quietly become the backbone of digital commerce. Their collective impact, combined with the rise of internal creator engines and founder-led content pushes, has accelerated the industry beyond the reach of older tracking methods.
The noise around the report suggests something bigger than a simple spending update. It hints at a sector that has outgrown its measuring tape and now demands a framework built for its true scale, speed, and economic influence. The creator economy is no longer a side story in India’s digital advertising landscape. It is the story, and the industry may finally be ready to measure it with the seriousness it deserves.
iWorld
Netflix cuts jobs in product division amid restructuring
Layoffs hit creative studio unit as leadership and strategy shifts unfold.
MUMBAI: The streaming wars may be fought on screen, but the latest plot twist is unfolding behind the scenes. Netflix has reportedly begun laying off several dozen employees from its product division as part of an internal reorganisation, according to a report by Variety. The cuts are believed to have primarily affected the company’s creative studio unit, which works on marketing assets such as in app trailers, promotional visuals and live experience content for the streaming platform.
The company has not disclosed the exact number of employees impacted.
According to the report, the layoffs were not tied to employee performance. Instead, the restructuring eliminated certain roles while other employees were reassigned to different teams within the organisation.
The roles affected are understood to include designers, producers and creative specialists responsible for marketing and brand experience initiatives.
The job cuts come as Netflix adjusts its leadership structure and reshapes its product and creative teams. Last month, Elizabeth Stone was promoted from chief technology officer to chief product and technology officer, giving her oversight of product, engineering and data operations across the company.
Earlier, in December 2025, Netflix also appointed Martin Rose as head of creative for global brand and partnerships, a move seen as part of a broader restructuring of the company’s brand and product functions.
Despite the layoffs, Netflix remains one of the largest employers in the streaming sector. The company is estimated to employ around 16,000 people globally, with roughly 70 percent of its workforce based in the United States and Canada. In 2023, the company reported approximately 13,000 employees, indicating that its headcount had grown significantly before the latest restructuring.
The workforce changes arrive at a time when Netflix is navigating a shifting financial and strategic landscape in the global entertainment industry.
The streaming giant recently secured $2.8 billion in additional cash after receiving a breakup fee from Paramount Skydance following its withdrawal from a deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Netflix co chief executive Ted Sarandos explained that the company had evaluated multiple scenarios during the negotiations but chose not to match the competing offer once it learned that a higher bid had been submitted.
Netflix had capped its offer at $27.75 per share and ultimately stepped back rather than pursue Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition deal, which included a personal guarantee.
Sarandos also cautioned that the financing structure behind the Paramount Skydance transaction could have ripple effects across the entertainment industry.
According to him, the debt heavy deal could trigger significant cost cutting, with David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, expected to eliminate about $16 billion in costs and potentially cut thousands of jobs as part of the integration process.
For Netflix, the current restructuring appears to be part of a broader attempt to streamline operations while continuing to invest in product, technology and global content even as the streaming industry enters a new phase of consolidation and financial discipline.
