D2C Brands Should Use Influencers Only After Finding PMF: Emami’s Dhruv Aggarwal

D2C brands should scale influencer marketing only after establishing product-market fit, as creator-led campaigns cannot compensate for a weak product, according to FMCG major Emami’s chief growth officer Dhruv Aggarwal.

“Once you know that you have a product that everyone should be using, then having influencers drive it works very organically,” Aggarwal said at Inc42’s ‘The D2C & Retail Summit 2026’.

However, he cautioned that influencer marketing cannot compensate for shortcomings in the underlying product.

Aggarwal was speaking during a panel discussion titled ‘The Consumer Reset: Winning Gen Z, Bharat & Premium India’.

The panel also featured Deconstruct founder and CEO Malini Adapureddy, Soulflower founder and CEO Natasha Tuli, and Base.com India CEO Pradeep Sekhar. It was moderated by Karan Saraf, MD-Deals at PwC India.

Brillare’s Influencer Playbook 

Aggarwal said Emami had significantly scaled influencer-led content for Brillare, its personal care brand offering haircare, skincare, and grooming products. 

“I was doing about 15 videos a month on Brillare. We doubled the revenue and moved that to 2,000 videos a month through an equal number of influencers,” he said.

However, brands must closely monitor customer acquisition costs and pause campaigns when they are merely buying sales instead of creating sustainable consumer demand, Aggarwal cautioned.

The effectiveness of influencer marketing, according to him, also depends on identifying creators relevant to different consumer groups and building multiple narratives around the same brand.

This high-volume approach can help brands respond quickly to cultural moments. Aggarwal said brands should aim to have an influencer feature their product within 24 hours of a relevant event or trend.

It is pertinent to mention that Emami has been expanding its portfolio of new-age beauty and personal care brands. In May, the company agreed to acquire a 60% stake in IncNut Digital, the parent of D2C brands Vedix and SkinKraft, for up to ₹321 Cr. It plans to acquire the remaining 40% over the following four-and-a-half years. 

Emami’s D2C portfolio also includes The Man Company, Brillare, nutrition brand TruNativ, and pet care brand Fur Ball Story, in which it has acquired full or partial stakes over the years.  

Brands are also experimenting with different kinds of creators to integrate themselves into consumers’ everyday content. Pradeep Sekhar, India CEO at ecommerce software company Base.com, said brands are working with creators such as stand-up comedians to reach Gen Z consumers. 

“The beautiful thing is that, especially with Gen Z, brands are doing some crazy things, like engaging with stand-up comedians to integrate with your daily life routines,” Sekhar said.

Fragmented Product Discovery 

Besides creators, consumer brands are increasingly using social content and online communities to reach audiences fragmented by age, geography, purchasing power, and digital behaviour.

Instead of relying solely on traditional advertising or bottom-funnel performance marketing, brands are using creator-led content to build familiarity and trust before consumers reach ecommerce or quick commerce platforms.

Adapureddy also pointed to Gen Z consumers and buyers in Tier II & III cities as important customer groups for Deconstruct. 

Meanwhile, Tuli said consumers increasingly discover products through social media feeds and online communities such as Reddit and Discord before completing their purchases on quick commerce platforms.

As product discovery becomes more fragmented, influencer content is emerging as an ongoing channel for consumer education, trust-building, and cultural relevance, rather than merely a short-term customer acquisition tool. 

The post D2C Brands Should Use Influencers Only After Finding PMF: Emami’s Dhruv Aggarwal appeared first on Inc42 Media.