2019-09-01 AdNews

MARIAM CHEIK-HUSSEIN

WORDS BY

GLENNDALTON,

HardhatECD

I’minfluencedbyauthenticity,whichiswhyI hatemost

influencermarketing.Influencersarebigrightnow.

Literallyhalfofthemhavebigmusclesorbigboobs,

orsometimesboth.Whatmanyaren’tbigonthough

isbelievability.Brandsneedtobecarefulaboutwhich

influencerstheypartnerwith,otherwisetheonly thing

people will see in the post is the paycheck.

KATIEMORRIS,

TheRoyals,SocialMediaManager

It canbegood,bad,ugly,

andjustplainembarrassing,

butthere’snodenyingthat

influencermarketingworks

whenit’sdoneright.Asthese

adsshow,it’snotalwaysabout

a bigbudget,orhowoften

youshowtheproductfor

brandrecall.Attheheartofit,

ouraudiencesarelookingfor

authenticity– notnecessarily

relatability.Showthemit’s

authenticfortheinfluencer,

andthey’llassociateit with

thatlifestyle,whetherit’stheir

currentone,oran aspiration

for the future.

The influencer effect

Tocontinueourlookintoinfluencermarketingwe

askedtheexpertsfortheirthoughtsoninfluencer

postsforbrands.Wefoundthepolarisation

influencerscausecontinuedinthesereviews.Note,

just one of these posts were clearly disclosed as ads.

PAULSWANN,

TheWorks,ManagingPartnerandCreativePartner

Increasingevidenceoflinkstomentalhealthissues,

Instagramreviewinghow“likes”aredisplayed,the

cullingoffakefollowers– isthisthebeginningofthe

endofinfluencermarketing?I don’tthinkwe’rethere

yet,quitesimplybecauseofourfascinationwithhow

otherpeoplelivetheirlives.However,changeismost

definitelyafoot.Theriseofmicroinfluencersshould

shape the next phase of influencer marketing.

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