Can YouTube’s Open Call fix influencer marketing’s mess?

New Delhi: When YouTube quietly unveiled its Open Call feature at the  Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025, the announcement did not follow fireworks. However, it might just set off significant explosions in India’s booming influencer economy. 

The idea is deceptively simple: brands drop a brief inside YouTube BrandConnect, any eligible creator pitches an idea, deals get struck, and content gets made. What once involved endless WhatsApp groups, frantic agency calls, and spreadsheet acrobatics now promises to happen inside one neat, shiny YouTube workflow. 

But as with anything that sounds too tidy in the chaotic world of creator-brand deals, the real question is whether Open Call fixes the mess, or just moves it around?

When this question was thrown among the industry players, be it brand strategists, agency heads or data platform founders, they all agreed on one thing: Open Call is a big signal. But whether it’s a true game-changer depends on how brands, creators and agencies evolve in response.

New signal or just another inbox?

For Danish Malik, Founder and CEO, Boomlet, Open Call is a signal of maturity. “It’s understood. YouTube intends to streamline collaborations between brands and creators. It lowers the entry barrier for emerging creators and brings structured access to campaign briefs. From a macro lens, I can say it’s a validation that influencer marketing is evolving from chaos to code.”

Agreeing with Malik, Aman Narula, COO, Mad Influence, said, “This levels the playing field by giving mid-tier and micro-creators a fair shot at brand campaigns.” 

According to Chandan Sharma, Digital Media Strategist, Adani Group, this will not just help creators but also brands. Sharma noted that with the feature, brands get a better shot at discovering “fresh talent beyond the usual influencer list,” and  called it “a smart move” as  “YouTube gives more power to creators while also making things easier for brands.” 

Samriddhi Katyal, Founder and CEO, Influns, highlighted that the keyword is still “eligible.” She pointed out that while “it does democratise access, it only does it for a very specific subset: creators already in the YouTube Partner Program. That still excludes a massive pool of nano and emerging creators, especially in India.” 

Ajay Kulkarni, Business Head, Ykone Barcode, framed it as a double-edged sword, spotlighting that “strategy still drives outcomes,” and that some things are irreplaceable. “It encourages proactive storytelling, not just execution. But even in a tech-driven format, human judgment, context, and creative handholding remain irreplaceable. Tools can open doors, but strategy still drives outcomes,” he noted. 

Aligned with what Kulkarni said, Kalyan Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, KlugKlug, hinted that not everyone is sold that more access equals smoother execution. 

Sharing his thoughts on the matter, Kumar commented, “Think ‘software update’, not ‘game-over screen.’ Open Call widens the funnel by letting any YPP creator raise a hand, but the heavy lifting - vetting authenticity, forecasting ROI, stitching YouTube into a larger TikTok-Instagram mix - still needs grown-ups in the room.” 

Agencies: Obsolete or upgraded?

What Kumar pointed out is in the direction of the most obvious question the industry is grappling with: If brands and creators can now engage directly, do influencer marketing agencies risk becoming redundant?

What happens to the army of agencies that have acted as matchmakers, negotiators, and fixers in the old model?

The short answer? They are not going away. But, they are about to get a new job description. 

“Agencies won’t be replaced. They’ll evolve into curators of quality. The volume of inbound pitches will grow, but brands will still need partners who can filter the noise, vet ideas, validate brand guidelines and drive performance,” said Malik. 

Kulkarni sees this as a shift in stature rather than relevance. “We’ll move from being facilitators to becoming creative consultants and cultural curators. The platform can connect creators and brands, but identifying the right voice, tonality, and fit still requires experienced partners,” said Ykone Barcode’s Business Head.

Katyal, while echoing the sentiment, added a cautionary tint to the lens. “If agencies are only doing matchmaking, they’re going to lose relevance. But if they evolve to offer creative direction, multi-platform strategy and performance consulting, they’ll still have a role,” she told BestMediaInfo.com.  

Narula, summing and summarising the evolution, said that agencies will (or should) transition from intermediaries to creative partners and facilitators. They should amplify value through expertise in “content strategy, talent grooming, and campaign orchestration beyond the tools YouTube’s Open Call provides.” 

Discovery becomes easy, but delivery? Still complex

If Open Call solves anything overnight, it’s discovery. The days of brands relying only on agencies’ contact books may be numbered. But delivery? Deadlines, compliance, ROI, and real-world execution? Well, that is the real sticky subject. 

Making sense of the matter, Adani’s Sharma concurred, “Brands will receive many ideas, and sorting through them can take time. Without agencies, they might face issues with timelines, contracts or tracking results. Open Call changes the way things start, but brands will still need support to finish campaigns smoothly.” 

Kulkarni advocated that while Open Call might simplify things at the top, the execution still remains messy. “Evaluating hundreds of pitches, ensuring timelines, and maintaining quality control is not plug-and-play. Human intervention and experienced project management still hold the ecosystem together. Open Call is a great entry point, not the complete solution,” he said. 

Kumar from KlugKlug offered a nuanced view of things. He challenged the discovery aspect, putting it under the light of being an enigma for creators. 

Elaborating on this subject, he said, “Centralised briefs and native analytics sound transparent, but remember: the house always controls the mirrors. YouTube’s algorithms nudge discoverability and CPMs in ways even seasoned creators can’t decode.” 

According to Kumar, third-party, platform-agnostic benchmarking is the only way to sanity-check rates, spot view-botting, and prove incrementality. Creators and brands can expect clearer dashboards, but they should keep their independent compass handy, he suggested. 

Who owns creativity now?

With brands initiating briefs, are creators gaining power, or will they just optimise for brand-safe templates?

“It feels like empowerment on the surface, but the real dynamics lie in who approves the pitches. Brands will retain more control, and creators may start optimising pitches to fit algorithm-friendly formats. This could lead to homogenised content unless platforms enable collaborative brief iterations,” Katyal said. 

Boomlet’s Malik sees a hidden opportunity for agencies. “We’ll see agencies act more like creator incubators, helping talent pitch better, align with brand thinking and sharpen storytelling,” he chimed in. 

New world of measurement

One thing nearly everyone agrees on is that Open Call’s built-in performance tracking will push the industry to raise its game on reporting and analytics.

Kulkarni anticipates a shift in the brand-agency dialogue. “The conversation will shift from ‘what performed’ to ‘why it worked’.”

Katyal, however, sees a deeper layer missing. She said, “Open Call improves surface-level attribution. Yes. But ROI in influencer marketing is more nuanced. What’s the earned media value? How many users converted elsewhere after watching the video? We need full-funnel attribution frameworks.”

Narula warns that agencies now need to be fluent in analytics, not just buzzwords. “Agencies must become fluent in YouTube analytics and deliver strategic analysis, not just reports. Otherwise, creators or agencies that fail to meet benchmarks risk being sidelined.”

Price and pitches

Possibly the most disruptive element of Open Call? The way it unhooks pricing from vanity metrics. It signals a move away from static rate cards to pitch-based pricing. In theory, this means ideas win, not just follower counts.

Kulkarni called it “fluid pricing driven by ideas,” while Narula sees it as “pitch-based pricing tied to proposal strength, performance forecasts, and audience alignment.”

“When creators pitch concepts upfront, the focus shifts from follower count to how good the idea is. That’s healthy as it rewards originality and storytelling,” said Malik. 

Sharma seconded it, highlighting fair chances for small and mid-level creators. “A creator with a unique pitch could earn more even if they have fewer followers. This gives small and mid-level creators a chance to shine,” he said.  

Still, there’s room for caution. “Without context or negotiation support, creators might underquote or struggle to communicate value. Pricing could become volatile without guardrails,” warned Katyal. 

The answer lies in the middle of it all

So what does this all mean? Will Open Call be the industry’s chaos to code moment? Or just more inbox clutter wearing a shiny new logo? According to experts, the answer is somewhere in the middle. 

It places the creative mic in the hands of thousands of eligible creators, forces agencies to reinvent themselves as strategic partners, and signals the rise of platform-led programmatic influencer marketing.

Discovery may get smoother. Pricing may get sharper. ROI tracking might get clearer, but the real magic still happens between people, strategy, and stories that land.

If anything, Open Call has made one thing abundantly clear - In the creator economy, access is easy, but excellence is earned.