Ice cream brand Go Zero has decided to discontinue its influencer marketing budget, opting instead to invest in full-time, in-house content creators. Founder Kiran Shah announced that the brand will hire two dedicated creators-one producing content in Hindi and the other in Kannada-to strengthen its regional storytelling.
According to Shah, the decision stemmed from the company’s inability to accurately measure the return on investment (ROI) from influencer collaborations. While Go Zero regularly partnered with around 30 influencers at a time, the brand found it difficult to link paid campaigns with actual business outcomes.
Shah described influencer marketing as a short-term approach where brands pay for visibility on someone else’s audience, rather than building long-term owned content assets. The new strategy shifts the focus towards creating original content that lives on the brand’s own platforms.
To recruit the creators, Go Zero has introduced an unconventional hiring process. Instead of submitting resumes, applicants are required to create a 30-second video promoting the brand in either Hindi or Kannada, post it on LinkedIn and tag Go Zero.
Shah also said the company will publicly share the initiative’s performance on a quarterly basis, signalling its commitment to testing a creator-first, in-house content model as brands increasingly rethink traditional influencer marketing strategies.
