Brands conduct checks on influencers before hiring

What happens in the background after influencers sign up to partner with brands to promote their products? An external forensic investigation.

- Pratishtha Bagai

MUMBAI: Agencies conducting such checks skim through creators' social media profiles on all platforms, employment history and financial filings. They even look for any criminal record.

"The companies need these influencers to have a certain image that will tie well with their brand recall," Tarun Bhatia, regional managing director of investigations at Kroll, one of Asia Pacific's top forensic consulting firms, told Mint.

"They come to us to check the kind of image these influencers have across social media platforms to ensure that they redirect the value of the brand they represent," Bhatia said. "If there is damaging content, which includes an older video, post, images and likes, then the client is alerted."

Such background checks do help companies avoid potential controversies while working with influencers. That becomes even more critical when creators have come under increasing scrutiny from courts, prompting the government to draft new regulations.