Emami urges D2C brands to establish product-market fit before scaling influencer marketing

Emami’s Dhruv Aggarwal said creator-led acquisition should follow proven product-market fit and CAC discipline. He cited Brillare’s scale-up from 15 to 2,000 creator videos a month, alongside rapid-response product development and fragmented digital discovery.

— Source published Wed, 19 Aug, 2026, 19:14 IST · First seen Wed, 19 Aug, 2026, 19:56 IST · Source Inc42 · Buzz

What happened

Emami’s Dhruv Aggarwal said D2C brands should establish product-market fit before scaling influencer marketing. He cited Brillare’s expansion from 15 to 2,000

Key facts

  • 15 videos per month
  • 2,000 videos per month
  • Revenue doubled
  • 60% stake in IncNut Digital
  • Up to ₹321 crore
  • Remaining 40% stake
  • Four-and-a-half years
  • Within 24 hours

Why this matters

Potential D2C partners or targets should be screened for demonstrated product-market fit, disciplined acquisition economics and an operational ability to turn fragmented digital signals into rapid launches.

What to watch

  • D2C brands publicly prioritizing profitability, contribution margin or CAC payback over GMV growth.
  • Growth in affiliate, commission-based and creator-whitelisting deals versus fixed-fee influencer campaigns.
  • Increases in repeat purchase rates or lower blended CAC following creator cohort pilots.
  • Beauty and personal-care launches explicitly sourced from social listening, creator feedback or review analysis.
  • Agency reports of reduced experimentation budgets from early-stage brands and larger retained budgets from established D2C operators.
  • Define product-market-fit gates before creator scale-up, including repeat rate, gross margin, refund rate and CAC payback.
  • Run small creator cohorts by audience and product use case before increasing monthly content volume.
  • Link creator content to attributable landing pages, affiliate codes and post-purchase cohort tracking.
  • Build rapid-response product and merchandising processes around recurring creator and customer feedback.
  • Shift creator contracts toward performance bonuses, usage rights and evergreen content repurposing rather than one-off reach buys.

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