The Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC), the industry-led Sector Skill Council under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has signed an MoU with KlugKlug (Klug Tech Private Ltd), appointing the company as its official Influencer Intelligence Platform.
The MoU was formalised during MESC’s board meeting in the presence of Chairperson Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan, CEO Dr. Mohit Soni, and Governing Council members Salim Arif and Amit Behl.
What the MoU sets out to do
The partnership is intended to help MESC scale its creator economy engagements and explore opportunities across genres, with a clear focus on skilling, data-led partnerships and talent discovery. KlugKlug will support MESC in three specific areas:
- Talent discovery across the creator ecosystem
- Authentic partnership building
- Development of skill pathways for creators
The wider goal is to strengthen India’s global footprint in the creator economy by using data-driven intelligence and precision rather than intuition.
The platform behind the partnership
KlugKlug, founded in 2022, operates an AI-powered influencer marketing intelligence platform. It holds a database of 455 million creators worldwide, including 14 million in India across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. The platform provides audience insights, authenticity checks, engagement analysis and campaign intelligence for brands and agencies across India and more than 28 countries.
For a skills council, that capability turns creator development into a more measurable exercise. Instead of only identifying popular faces, MESC can use data signals to spot emerging talent and design programmes around what the market actually needs.
Why this matters for marketing teams
This is more than a partnership announcement. A government-aligned skilling body is putting influencer intelligence at the centre of its creator economy agenda. That is a signal that creator vetting, audience authenticity and data-led matchmaking are becoming core infrastructure, not optional add-ons.
Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan, Chairperson, MESC, described the creator economy as “one of the most dynamic forces shaping media, entertainment, and youth aspirations today.” Dr. Mohit Soni, CEO, MESC, tied the move to the Skill India Mission, saying the platform’s database and intelligence would help identify emerging talent and connect creators with meaningful opportunities.
What marketers can do with this
For brands and agencies, the practical takeaway is to treat creator selection as a data problem. Ask whether a creator’s audience engagement and authenticity signals are verified before committing budget. As MESC builds credentialled talent pathways, marketers should watch for creators who combine creative ability with formal skill tracks and measurable audience data.
KlugKlug Co-Founder & CEO Kalyan Kumar framed the intent simply: use data to skill talent, build transparent partnerships, and elevate India’s global creator footprint.
Source: MediaNews4U
