“Combine that authenticity
with the brand’s ability to source
this content at speed, volume and
low cost means it has the potential
to change the face of digital
advertising.”
Bacardi has already used con-
tent from the platform for its out-
door advertising campaign, prov-
ing that inf luencers’ potential is
beyond social media. Elsewhere,
LandRover has approved 98 pieces
of content from 98 different con-
tent creators on Tribe.
Tribe has paid out more than
$14.5 million to its content crea-
tors, with the top earner making
more than $170,000. The agency’s
model rests on the idea that crea-
tors make content for products
they already own, rather than
requesting free samples from
brands or recommending products
they don’t use, ensuring authentic-
ity is “baked” in.
Weed, possibly the industry’s
biggest, or at least loudest, critic of inf luencers surprised many when he
revealed Tribe to be his first investment after leaving his post as Unilever’s
top marketer. This move injected some credibility in the space and, like
Lund, Weed thinks inf luencers are the answer to marketers’ increasing
demand for content, driven by social media.
“When it comes to content, there are three key aspects for marketers.
Quality, speed and cost,” Weed says.
“Usually, you can find a way to check two of those boxes, but it is very
hard to check all three when it comes to content-heavy campaigns. Tribe
changes that for marketers by providing a cost-effective marketplace to
curate high-quality organic content at scale.
“Everyone now has a high-quality phone that takes great photos right
in their pocket, and if you can get consumers to take photos of products
against a brief, it unlocks a whole new era of content.”
Lund echoes this, saying the arrival of high-quality technology
to people’s mobiles means anyone can create content that matches
creative agencies.
“With personalisation, marketers have never needed digital content
more in their lives,” Lund says.
“Existing creative solutions fall short, yet it’s the first time in history
that a brand’s own customers have the tech and the talent to generate
the variety and the volume required.
“Who better to craft content your customers love, than your customers
themselves.”
Sha r y n Sm it h, Socia l Soup CEO, has a lso recog n ised f u r t her potent ia l
for inf luencers.
“Inf luencers are not just content creators but often the early adopters
in a category and have access to live feedback from their audiences,”
Smith says.
“Inf luencers can be an incredible bridge for brands to understand
what the market wants from new products and how to communicate a
message to market about their category of inf luence.”
To help close this gap Social Soup recently launched ‘Influential
Insights’, a way to connect inf luencers and brands to co-create new prod-
ucts and services.
We’ve already seen brands recognise inf luencers’ insights and decid-
ing to partner with them for brand collaborations. For example, Sammy
Robinson joined a list of inf luencers in collaborating with fashion brands
to produce their own clothing collection, with her Princess Polly x Sammy
Robinson collection selling out.The value of influencers for big tech
For years Facebook has been watching as brands bypass it to work directly
with inf luencers, meaning it misses out on extra advertising revenue.
After years of letting inf luencer marketing grow, it swooped in and
tweaked its algorithm to encourage brands to pay for greater reach, after
so many become reliant on social media.
Instagram is free to swoop in once again and make the platform pay-
for-play as it did with Facebook.
The signs for this happening are already here. In June Instagram revealed
it would be making it easier for advertisers to promote organic branded
content posts, which it says has been one of the biggest requests from brands.
Natalie Giddings, Managing Director at The Remarkables Group, says
these new features will give inf luencer marketing a significant boost from
brands, propelling it even further.
Giddings says brands want to reach more people and inf luencers’
content attracts more favourable results than when brands amplify their
own content.
To Giddings it shows that Facebook and Instagram now see inf luencer
content not just “effectively organically”, but as “advertising content”.
“Our data repeatedly shows audiences respond up to three times
better to inf luencers’ content, outperforming the brands own content
almost always,” Giddings says.Follow14,358
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TELCO 19:30Investigation