Influencer marketing has
been a hot topic in the past few months with media companies increasingly
hiring influencer managers to help build brands. Influencers can bolster trust
between a brand and its consumers but there is risk associated with this
strategy.
Anyone who has been
online within the past week has probably heard of the Fyre Festival fiasco.
What was supposed to be an exotic music festival experience, complete with
celebrity endorsements, quickly soured. From the cheese sandwiches and lack of
alcohol to the questionable lodgings (literal disaster relief tents) in the
Bahamas, the “once-in-a-lifetime musical experience” had guests scrambling to
book flights back to the U.S.
Not only does this
reflect poorly on the event organizers, including rapper Ja Rule, it also harms
the credibility of the celebrity influencers who have been promoting the festival
for months. AdWeek reports that it is expected for consumers to be more wary of
influencers’ endorsements. So how can brands avoid potential fallout when using
influencer marketing?
Devon Wijesinghe, CEO of
InsightPool, recommends for brands to develop relationships with influencers
rather than simply paying for a product post. Shared values between a brand and
an influencer result in more authentic, trustworthy endorsements. Jennifer
Aniston’s long-term partnership with Aveeno is an example of a successful
celebrity endorsement.
It is important for
brands to remember that while an influencer can be paid to promote something,
it won’t always have the intended outcome.
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