Key Points

The report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), launched at the mega ‘WAVES 2025’ event here, showed that creators in the country today influence more than $350 billion in consumer spending annually. The number is expected to triple to over $1 trillion by 2030.

At the same time, the creator ecosystem’s direct revenues are projected to expand to $100-125 billion in 2030 from the current $20-25 billion.

“India's creator economy has the potential to significantly influence consumer spending, with creator-led spending set to account for 25-30 per cent of India’s total consumer spend by 2030,” said Vipin Gupta, Managing Director and Partner, BCG.

“What began as a Gen Z and metro-focused phenomenon is now resonating across age groups and smaller cities, unlocking new avenues of influence and engagement. Categories like fashion, beauty, and entertainment are leading the charge, while emerging monetisation models -- such as live commerce and virtual gifting -- are redefining how creators and brands drive value together,” he added.

Further, the report showed that short-form video dominates content consumption with comedy, movies, daily soaps, and fashion being the top genres.

It called on brands to adapt faster content creation, greater creative freedom, enable diversified targeting, always on outcome testing, and build specialised teams essential to win with creators.

Monetisation avenues are diversifying with new consumer funded revenue streams gaining ground e.g. virtual gifting, live commerce and subscription.

Creator marketing is increasingly becoming a cornerstone of brands' marketing strategy, with budgets towards creator-led marketing expected to increase 1.5 to 3 times over the next 2-3 years.

“To fully leverage this potential, brands must trust creator-led outcomes, streamline decision-making, embrace agile content strategies, and invest in long-term creator partnerships," Gupta said.

- IANS