Dubai: Think celebrity endorsements are way too costly for your brand to engage with? Then try the “influencers”, the select few whose every word and action are closely tracked by their legions of followers on social media.
Local and regional brands are cottoning on to the possibilities of working with these influencers to try and get a favourable impression by association. It’s already happening in the West, and brands here are just as intent to get into the virtual chatter crowding on the many trending social media platforms.
You can see these influencers crop up dictating fashion and fitness norms. Brands believe that if these influencers were to mention them — in a favourable context, of course — it will help them score with that individual’s followers as well.
City Walk — the upmarket mixed-use destination developed by Meraas — recently had a who’s who of influencers to spotlight its Dubai Summer Surprises’ campaign. These included Bin Baz (with 1.8 million followers), Saleh Al Braik (over 77,000 followers) and Anas Bukhash (48,000 plus followers), among others.
More brands will be trying to get influencers’ to sway opinions their way.
“Over the last few months, there has been a global move towards brands — and their creative agencies — engaging influencer marketing to better understand how best to strategically build celebrity and influencer programmes around their long term objectives,” said Maurice Hamilton, CEO of The SMC Group. “This has resulted in a slowdown in the old approach of, “Let’s just hire a celebrity and see what happens”.
“We believe that celebrity endorsements only perform when rooted in concrete business objectives that clearly outline how the relationship will be leveraged across the company’s key areas of business.
“We do (see endorsements by influencers), and this is a good thing. The power of association works across many different levels.
“Influencers are being used across every industry. Fashion is one of the more popular, but F&B, Travel and consumer electronics are just a handful of the categories we use influencers in.” (But brands need to be careful in not turning influencers into outright vocal proponents. It will only put off the target audience. The messaging has to be far more subtle.) Hamilton — a former DJ at London’s Choice FM — knows a thing or two about influencing via star power. In the early part of the last decade, he had a behind-the-scenes hand in multiple high-decibel acts in Europe, including Shaggy, Nelly Furtado and Sean Paul. The SMC Group itself has listed brands such as Gucci, Pepsi and Nike as clients.
For brands looking to win endorsements for fees less than what a bona fide celebrity would command, influencers are the way to go. But don’t keep waiting for too long.
“The pricing of celebrity and influencer engagements is vast and can start from as low as $1,000 and can sometimes go as high as $10 million,” said Hamilton. “Pricing mainly depends on the brand’s deliverables and the social standing of the talent.
“We recognise that some brands don’t have the level of expenditure required to contract a George Clooney or Balqees Fathi, and welcome the opportunity to create sometimes less costly associations that directly benefit our clients.
“Some brands have been badly affected by inexperienced agencies and consultants that have recklessly advised them in the celebrity space.”
Anyone with a point to make can influence
The influencer action is all digital, “since most influencers — including bloggers and vloggers — have big digital footprints, as do the majority of celebrities nowadays,” said Maurice Hamilton of The SMC Group. “Digital platforms as a whole has become much more important, so regardless of the type of influencer or celebrity, digital is always going to be key in any activation.
“In 2016, everyone has social media platforms that can deliver quantifiable results. In our experience, it’s not always the case that social media based influencers are less costly. I’d always recommend the option with multiple touch points, versus a one channel choice.”
