Tag: celebrity


Recognise the Value of Social Influencers for your Brand 18th January, 2017

Influencer endorsement is not a new concept, it has however taken on a completely new meaning since the emergence of social media.

A celebrity’s influence has become larger and far more valuable with the ability to personalise their endorsement of a brand. Through ‘organically’ integrating products into a social media post, followers become more susceptible to influence, and are more inclined to listen when it is in a celebrity’s own words.

Currently the most liked image on Instagram is a Coca Cola sponsored post from Selena Gomez, with 6.2 million likes and counting. When an influencer seems to genuinely like and use a product on social media it is arguably far more effective to a consumer than traditional advertising, even when that celebrity is featured. What Selena Gomez proves is that when ads are incorporated well, fans respond positively to the brand.

It is this fact that brands have come to recognise and is why paid social media posts are fast becoming celebrities most lucrative asset.

Sponsored content however, is not just for celebrities. Any ordinary social media user with enough followers can utilise their influence to make money from sponsored content.

Users with as few as 100K followers can make significant money from sponsored content, proving fame is not everything when developing a successful social media brand.

Many have found the secret to success is finding your niche and remaining consistent. Repetition is key to successful accounts. Followers respond when they know what to expect from an account and when you stray away from your niche, you lose followers.

Therefore, smaller accounts remain successful for brands to advertise through, as they value follower engagement over sheer number of followers. An account with 100 followers where all followers engage with posts can be worth more to an advertiser than one with 1000 followers where no-one engages.

You can’t make an impact with people who aren’t paying attention. Brands that recognise influential individuals and utilise their reach and personality well will see the results.


#Ad Spells Fear for Brands 24th November, 2016

Use of celebrity endorsements on social media have arguably become one of, if not the most craved sponsorship asset for many millennial-focused brands. Whether it be sport stars, pop stars, or people just famous for being famous, the upper echelon of these role models has such power and influence over society, and brands have benefited hugely from alignments since the social boom.

With certain role models boasting multi-million figures in terms of followers it’s easy to understand why brands are happy to pay out such significant fees to these influencers for product endorsements on social platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, and it has proved a winning tactic dating back to the 1760’s where Wedgwood, producers of pottery and chinaware, used royal endorsements – in a time of divine right you can only imagine the influence that had on society.

The power of having someone you admire and look up to endorse a certain product or service is unquestionable, yet brands understand that to fully maximise the commercial potential there is a need to develop a stronger, longer term association with their chosen influencer so that all endorsements come across as authentic. Hence why brands decide to strike up sponsorship arrangements, partly because it is cost effective but also to change the perceptions of these influencers from a celebrity endorser to more of a brand ambassador.

Through sponsorship, brands can purchase rights to access these influencers across a variety of platforms creating a much stronger connection with the ambassador, which resonates better with the influencers’ audience. Within the terms of such sponsorship agreements, brands will add in exclusivity clauses effectively banning the ambassador from promoting a rival brand whilst contracted, again adding to the illusion that the millionaire role model really does shop at H&M!

However, recently the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) have been clamping down on this clear attempt by brands to subtly influence society – the 21st century version of subliminal messaging. ASA have stated that “if content is an advertisement, it should be obviously identifiable to consumers using the hashtag #ad” and there have already been several high-profile cases whereby brands and celebrities have been reprimanded.

Although this seems like a small formality to add onto the end of a Tweet, Instagram post or vlog, brands now need to ensure that this clause is written into contracts to avoid hefty fines. In addition to this extra bit of housekeeping, the hashtag has the capability to cause a much bigger problem for brands. These two letters have the potential to completely spoil the illusion for consumers and ruin the authenticity that a brand may have invested in for years. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how brands look to counter and gloss over this in future.

Checking-In to Sponsorship with Maps & Social Media 4th July, 2012

With branding and exposure only being part of the modern day sponsorship picture, the focus for brands now lies on new and innovative ways to interact and engage with consumers. Via the use of social media and mapping applications, brands are increasing audience engagement by tapping into their key interests whilst providing the opportunity to play a role and effect change within a campaign.

How are maps and social media being utilised?

Competitions and promotions offer a return for the audience with consumers being tasked with finding clues and unlocking codes in order to be in with a chance to win a reward. The key reason for engagement here, along with the resulting success of the campaign is that this is much more than being entered into a prize draw and getting lucky. Here, consumers are given a platform to compete and earn prizes, rather than simply win them.

Alternatively, games and applications are being used to task the key demographic with using a campaign in order to gain access to exclusive content. Different forms of digital entertainment are generally the ‘bait’ with consumers having the chance to unlock content including videos, music and games.

Example: Competitions

Consumers are now constantly being encouraged to compete with one another in order to win prizes; a great example of this being Evian’s recent campaign surrounding their 2012 Wimbledon Championships sponsorship. The public were given the opportunity to win tickets to this year’s tournament via hunting down a Wimbledon ball boy at large and checking-in via their social media accounts once finding him and receiving a numbered tennis ball.

Clues were posted on Evian’s Facebook and Twitter pages as to the ball boy’s whereabouts with a number being announced as the winner of VIP tickets at the end of each day.

Example: Social Gaming

Thanks to social media, marketers are simply able to launch a campaign and communicate the idea to those closest to the brand, with consumers then doing the leg-work to increase both exposure and engagement.

A perfect example of this would be a campaign mentioned before on the Slingshot blog but a perfect case study all the same: “Decode Jay-Z (Powered by Bing)”.

With Microsoft’s Bing search engine looking to increase their relevance with a younger audience, this campaign consisted of taking pages and scenarios from Jay-Z’s soon-to-be-released autobiography and bringing them to life at the range of locations documented in the book. This included a page printed on the bottom of a Miami swimming pool, plates from Jay-Z’s favourite restaurants and even custom-made Gucci jackets.

With clues being released daily via Facebook, Twitter and Radio, users were then encouraged to find real-life images of each page in each location using Bing’s Search and Maps tools and piece together the story on a dedicated micro-site for the campaign.

By using a relevant subject relating to the target demographic (Jay-Z), Bing were able to truly engage the audience with play time averaging eleven minutes. With Jay-Z’s Facebook ‘Likes’ increasing by over one million and his Decoded autobiography featuring on the Best Sellers List for nineteen straight weeks, Bing witnessed a visit increase of 11.7% in one month.

Why are such campaigns so successful?

Social media and maps are allowing for a whole new category of marketing in which communication of brand messaging is delegated to key brand fans. The most loyal consumers are now working on behalf of the brand in order to spread the word and pull others into the campaign, whilst encouraging these new ‘recruits’ to go out and do the same.

Unbeknown to the consumer, both brand awareness and credibility are being increased and improved via the use of location tagging, posts and tweets, reviews, image and video uploads and more. This in turn creates a buzz among the target demographic, initiating a mass shift in both brand perception and buying behaviour.

By using a relevant point of interest and in turn heavily engaging the audience, a consumer feels that a brand understands their preferences and will therefore cater to these needs and wants upon using their product or service. Trust, and in turn loyalty, are therefore instilled as the brand builds a reputation for giving the people what they want.

Given the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns and their increasing role within today’s sponsorship model, consumers can be sure to look forward to more engaging competitions, rewards and exclusive content from their favourite brands in campaigns to come.