Is Influencer Marketing A Scam?

While I agree that influencer marketing isn't perfect, it's still at a very young phase where people (both brands & bloggers) are just about figuring out things.

Vir Sanghvi also took a jibe at youngsters who want to become "an influencer" as a career option.

SO.. i get it where he's coming from. There are scammers in every field. BUT I think the onus also lies on the brands to pick the right influencers for their marketing. Brands are just focussed on number of followers and likes/views... which can be easily bought. They are least bothered about content OR how the influencers write or blog - the kind of language, expressions they use. So, if that's how they are judged, then i am not sure what other options genuine influencers have but the succumb to the "game.

There's also enough data/ case studies to show how influencer marketing has really paid off. So, just talking about negative side of things seems like a very biased point of view.

More so, it's bizarre how he has used the terms "conning" or "doping" without substantial facts or figures. His article, in fact, took a lot of references from an American journalist's report on influencers on medium.com

Article link: https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/the-taste-with-vir-sanghvi-how-bloggers-and-social-media-influencers-are-conning-luxury-brands/story-x8BKI6UggcPDWV9awn836J.html

What do you think of this? DO you agree with him?