wendy_
SocialHwendy_onlineomgguystheseptemberedition
of@adnewsaustraliamagazineis outtoday.
I wasluckyenoughto partnerwiththemonthis
month’sissue aavailnow#ad#sponsoredT
o ref lect this issue’s feature on
influencer marketing, AdNews
reached out to Special Group to
create the cover. AdNews journalist
Paige Murphy spoke with Special
Group about how they found the
perfect inf luencer to create the
‘sponsored post’ – live now on
@wendy_online.
What were your initial
thoughts on the Influencer
Marketing brief at hand?
It’s a super topical subject made
even more interesting in the wake
of Instagram’s recent algorithm
changes. Inf luencer culture and the
impac t it’s hav ing on societ y a lso has
a much broader relevance beyond
just marketing, particularly when it
comes to younger audiences. For
example, in China over half of teen-
agers born post-1995 now aspire to
be inf luencers when they grow up.
Post first brief chat, what
went through your mind(s)
and what were the next steps
you took as a team?
We wanted to create an idea that
would participate in the current
debate, while also understanding
that it shouldn’t really take a side, as
the truth is, there isn’t one side. Our
initial exploration covered a range of
areas from the notion that we’ve
reached the peak amount of inf lu-
encers, to how creativity has evolved
on social media and the questions
surrounding authenticity, accounta-
bility, and even how they get paid.How did you know you’d
landed on the best concept?
We loved the idea of using this as
a moment to demonstrate inf lu-
encer marketing for real – working
with an inf luencer to shoot a gen-
uine, sponsored social post that we
could use as our cover. It shows
how inf luencer marketing has
evolved from personal recommen-
dations, to a marketplace where
you can pay someone to advocate
anything. It gave the cover image
a genuine backstory, and resulted
in a real sponsored post on the day
the AdNews issue appeared – all
created and uploaded by a beauty
and fashion inf luencer with no
personal connection to the brand.Who from the team was
largely involved and what
were their roles?
We pride ourselves on being pretty
stripped of hierarchy in the way we
work, particularly as we always want
to bring in the best-suited brains to
work on something from the get-go.
In this case our strategy director and
account lead (Celia & Rebecca), crea-
tive ( Jack & Nils, Jules & Tom) social
specialist (Lachlan) and production
(Nick) put their heads together from
day one to find the right direction.They then continued to work as one
unit from briefing all the way through
to production, bringing on vital col-
laborators throughout – which in this
case meant a real social inf luencer.What were the biggest
hurdles to making this a
reality? Any challenges?
Finding the right inf luencer was
probably the trickiest thing. We
knew we’d struck gold when we
found @wendy_online, through
‘MAXCONNECTORS’ – a popular
beauty inf luencer with 150k fol-
lowers. She has the right look, and
the right attitude. Oh, and also a
perfect handle to support the idea.Tell us about the actual
creation techniques. How did
it come together?
We wanted it to be as authentic to
the inf luencer production process
as possible. Wendy chose her
makeup and wardrobe, how to
capture the shot along with the
treatment and retouching of the
final photo. She picked the loca-
tion, a café called ‘Social Hideout’
that caters specifically for inf lu-
encers with a variety of back-
grounds and incredibly colourful
and perfectly curated food.Influencers: Authenticity
and accountability
The creative
contingent of adland
is the beating heart of
the industry. To fully
embrace this, and to
create inspiring covers,
each month AdNews
picks an agency to
work its magic.
Credits
Social Influencer – @wendy_online
Photographer – @kimdaoblog
Julian Schreiber – Executive
Creative Director
Tom Martin – Executive Creative Director
Jack Nunn – Creative Director
Nils Eberhardt – Creative Director
Celia Garforth – Strategy Director
Nick Lilley – Producer
Lachlan Stewart – Social Lead
Rebecca Ingham – Business Lead_onlin
HideoutA limited edition
bespoke AdNews
trophy is also up for ‘A’
grabs for the winner.PA I G E M U R P H YWORDS BYBehind the Cover http://www.adnews.com.au | September 2019^8