9 minute read
Positive Social Influencers
harrison
matt will
Social
Influencers Positive
Harrison, Matt and Will are three Old Caterhamians with an ambition to make a difference in the world of advertising. They have launched an agency, addvert, that works with ethical brands and forward-thinking ambassadors to build positive social campaigns, as a force for good.
Photograph: PaulaDeegan.co.uk
What is addvert? Addvert represents a new era of influencing. By uniting progressive brands and forward-thinking ambassadors we inspire social users to consume better.
We build bespoke social campaigns + partnerships, with impact in mind. Through the donation of half of all campaign profits to charitable causes, addverts spread positivity behind the screens.
Zuckerburg said in 2016 that he intended Facebook to “bring people together, not push them apart”. A few rigged elections, a privacy scandal or two and a few hundred billion dollars in ad revenue later… We don’t trust him.
We want to set a new standard for how social can be used as a positive force for good. Uniting people against shared problems, to build a constructive dialogue about solutions. Using social media ambassadors to provoke thought, emotion and action.
Change the world,
Our values are as follows: Positive: Purpose-led social campaigns, donating half of their profits to incredible causes. Positive content driving positive impacts. Real: Rebuild trust and loyalty between consumers, ambassadors and the brands they represent. By transparently sharing #candid content about the products we believe in. Different: Make the best brands stand out from the negative media and fake news that have become resident on social.
How did the idea for addvert come about? Looking at the financial reports of Facebook we saw that they are making over $15 billion a quarter, and it was the realisation that that is through selling our time commercially. The subtleness of advertising is becoming quite scary – Facebook is selling our time to brands, to make us buy stuff we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t even like. Social media has become a heavily sponsored vanity contest. Constant comparison to airbrushed ideals is so unhealthy for society, especially young people. It is the current comparison > dissatisfaction > consumption cycle that is damaging us and the planet, so it has got to change.
The phenomenon was perpetuated by the rise of influencer marketing, the integration of ads into the vanity contest itself and it was often used for all the wrong reasons. Pushing so many solutions to our insecurities (insecurities we didn’t have until we compared ourselves to the sexy people selling the products) like teeth whitening, protein, make-up and now even cosmetic surgery.
There is not sufficient regulation in the space, so there needs to be a cultural shift where we, users, make the change. Using social media for good, not just a quick dopamine hit.
with what you buy and now even what you ‘like’ on social media. We can change the course of even the biggest businesses by showing them a new, more sustainable, demand for them to supply.
To encourage social influencers and ambassadors who have their own mass media channels to communicate through them positively. Empower them to make a real difference.
To convince people to make small changes in their lives, which together create a big difference in the world. We are living in a time when brands are coming out with incredible solutions to everyday problems such as plastics in the ocean, deforestation, climate change and social issues such as inequality.
What inspired you to become entrepreneurs? Will recollected, “Experiencing the 17:30 commute home from London, where so many commuters were sighing and looked fed up – it was so draining, I realised then that I didn’t want a job that would be the same everyday. Plus, I know that I would kick myself in ten years if I didn’t try.” Matt admitted, “I just don’t like being told what to do!” “Working for someone else, they will only ever pay you whatever they can get away with. Corporates have a tendency to promote you and just give you a title rather than a pay rise.”
What jobs have you had prior to this? None of us has had a salaried job before this. During university Matt earned money in the holidays doing
one ‘like’ at a time.
These problems can be corrected in the same way that they were created: small acts, carried out consistently by many. For example, we worked with a great organisation called Ecosia. They are just like Google but they plant trees with search advertising revenue. Oh, and they respect your privacy… it is simple swaps like this that add up to change the world.
What have been the highlights for addvert so far? Convincing Harrison to come on board as our chief ambassador.
It is early days but it has been a great journey so far – really hard work, but we are finding it rewarding and can’t think of doing anything better at the moment.
Our maiden campaign was for World AIDs Day with Doctor Care Anywhere, it was a huge success and validated our business case, giving us the confidence we needed to move forward. The campaign raised £20,627 for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation – an amazing charity doing crucial work fighting against HIV and AIDs. local gardening jobs from putting flyers through doors and worked for a catering company for a short while. Will gained work experience in his final year at university at a turbine company, focusing on renewable energy. Harrison’s acting career is keeping him busy, but a career in acting is not the usual 9 to 5.
What are the challenges you can be faced with as an entrepreneur? We have already experienced plenty of ups and downs and have needed patience reaching out to lots of companies and not hearing back – everything takes longer than you expect.
You need to put yourself out there and be confident especially in our industry where we are trying to engage social influencers who are public figures, consequently initially meeting new clients was intimidating. One of our earliest meetings was with MTV and Viacom and it was a little daunting coming face to face with TV personalities such as Jamie Lang, but it gets easier the more we do it.
What do you enjoy most about working for yourself? The freedom. Although with nobody telling you to work hard, there is a danger of putting too much pressure on yourself.
It is important to learn selfcontrol. The hours are long, if the need requires we work all night. There is always more to do and there is no one to cover if you go on holiday – it just stops. On the up side the work is varied, it is not always sitting at the computer, there is a lot of brainstorming and we can have meetings in bars or cafés, as well as borrowing office space from friends. It is satisfying being part of the process from beginning to end, not just a cog in the machine – every bit of work you do, you see the results.
What has been the most surprising thing to you about being an entrepreneur? Surprised how slow corporates can be. We can build a campaign brief in one day – they have need to go through a process of approvals and can take months to come to a decision.
What traits do you need to be successful as an entrepreneur? Perseverance. Life doesn’t usually happen the way you expect it to. Positive outlook. Always keep a bounce in your step – enjoy the ups and downs – when something goes well, enjoy it and when it doesn’t try to see the positive outcome that has been learnt from that failure.
Good judgement of character. It is important to find the right people to work with.
Personable. People do business with people. The ability to articulate ideas in a way that is meaningful/ relatable to the person or people you are talking to is invaluable.
How do you think Caterham influenced you and your career path? Caterham has a good mix of different types of people, we have made friends from different walks of life which has opened up our eyes to a variety of opportunities – and the possibility that your career path doesn’t necessarily have to be one thing. We appreciate how lucky we were to be at a school like Caterham, it prepared
Find out more about what they are doing at addvert.org
Photograph: PaulaDeegan.co.uk
us not only for exams and university, but opportunities after as well. Will remembered, “my parents reinforced the importance of doing a job that makes you happy, rather than focusing on the wrong goal (money) and not enjoying the journey to it.”
What is your favourite memory of your time at Caterham School? Will: “Being accepted into university was a highlight for me, as it stood for all the work over the years paying off. And, just making great friends and laughing a lot. I also really enjoyed playing rugby for my humble captain Mr Carter.” Matt: “Boarding was a massive part of Caterham for me, my boarding friends became a second family we are all still in touch now. It was a unique opportunity to build close relationships with a diverse group of people. After school, we would hang out in each other’s rooms, or have evening sessions of football and British Bulldog.” Harrison: “I loved the lunches – always tried to get seconds of dessert! Lining up for lunch was a high point in the day.”
The friendships – our year is a close-knit community – even those we weren’t necessarily close to during our time at school we still get together now.
What advice would you give to other Caterhamians wanting to start up their own business? Go for it! If you are prepared to do the hard work and doing your own thing makes you happy – then being an entrepreneur will be your thing. Even if it doesn’t quite work out, you will learn lots of invaluable lessons. Regret is far more painful than failure – better to have tried and failed than not tried at all.
See failure as the Lego you use to build success.
