The decade gone by should select the word ‘influencer’ as a word that changed the way we see and perceive celebrities in the world. In the past decade we saw how influencers slowly and steadily captured celebrity spots, mostly because of their social media presence and fan following. Of course, the biggest and most influential of influencers were the ones who actually had some concrete content to their credit, albeit commercial or philanthropic, and who managed to change the way things work.
I belong to a generation that grew up watching and following traditional celebrities mainly from films, hence getting my head around the fact that ‘Influencers are the new age celebrities’ was initially difficult. I was taken by surprise when thousands of fans brought the city to a standstill when some prominent YouTube sensations organized meet-and-greets with their fans. Recent statistics from influencer marketing platforms show that 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement. New York Fashion Week runway show, featured several popular fashion bloggers—including Chriselle Lim and Arielle Charnas—as models. Brands and corporations are carefully watching this shift and are providing platforms to foster partnerships between their brands and influencers.
Amongst the rising tide of influencers are names from society, who, because of their strong presence and wide fan-following, have the power to influence mindsets of thousands and even millions of followers. The world faces massive technological changes, political uncertainty and cultural shifts that determine the world we leave for our grandchildren; social influencers may have a major say in how all of this plays out.
Frieha Altaf, one of the most influential figures in the Pakistani fashion and entertainment industry, with three decades of experience in events & PR, was recognized in the category of Most Influential Entrepreneur. She was also applauded for the #meinbhi movement in Pakistan that raises voice against sexual harassment and for Catwalk Cares, the CSR division of her company, that lends support to various causes including breast cancer awareness.
Besides Frieha, there were few other Pakistanis who made it to the list.
Makeup guru Nabila was recognized under the ‘Creative’ category for her revolutionary Zero makeup, which is an all-inclusive palette with five different beauty essentials. Nabila’s effort to ensure that the supply chain of her product doesn’t involve any child labour and causes no harm to the environment or animals is worth mentioning here.
Momina Duraid, the power tower of Hum Network, Mushk Kaleem, Shamira Mitha and superstar Sheheryar Munawar also made it to the list of Masala! Most Influential Global Achievers. It was quite inspiring to see Pakistanis being celebrated amongst the big wigs of the region. Each of these names became incredibly influential by breaking through barriers, outworking their competition and by being just brilliant.
“Masala! has always been a true representative of South Asian success in the UAE,” Editor Masala, Lekha Menon spoke at the event.“This year’s Most Influential list was quite challenging to curate but we wanted to feature not just Pakistanis in the UAE but also acknowledge successful individuals based out of Pakistan who have a strong connect to the region. Frieha Altaf has been a very powerful voice in the entertainment industry for decades while personalities like Sheheryar Munawar and Mushk Kaleem have made waves in the last few years. It was just the right time to bring their achievements to a global platform.”
– Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainment journalist. He is also an Instep and Something Haute correspondent and can be contacted on his page fb/sidsaidso.