Influencer Marketing Report - Emma, Leanne & Ellie

Influencer

Marketing

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Introduction

Throughout this report we as a group have decided to look at how brands have started to use influencers to promote their products

What is influencer marketing?

The Influencer on including Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube. A recent survey

to a new and younger target audience such as generation Z. We have researched into how the influencer has became so popular and

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that focuses

shows that 47% of online consumers use ad blockers, giving

how different brands are now using it as there main marketing technique to connect to their target consumer. One brand that we were

on using public figures that are very active on social media

brands and businesses even more reason to put their money

really interested in was the Dolce & Gabanna AW17 men’s runway show when they decided to use millennial influencers as the models

platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

behind influencers instead. (Www.forbes.com)

for the show. This was a completely different thing for Dolce & Gabanna to do as they normally use high profile models. After analys-

Influencer’s audiences are commonly very engaged with

ing the research that we found, we have made a proposal as to where we think this trend will go in the future.

their content as the consumer can relate to the influencer,

Although generation Z do not have specific dates, Generation Z are typically born between the mid 1990’s to the early 2000. A main

Brands will use influencers to interact with their consumer

the use of the Internet and social media.

their views and opinions on products including images and

aspect of this generation is how they have been brought up using the Internet. Generation Z are thought to be very comfortable with

as they are a public figure.

audience through the use of social media. They will share

videos so that consumers can feel a connection with the

Figure 5.

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influencer through the products they are using. The influFigure 3.

encers normally have a smaller but more loyal audience compared to celebrities, recent statistics show that the audience of an influencer is 16 times more likely to interact with the post than what they would if it was a celebrity or mega influencer posting it. (www.grouphigh.com) Brands sometimes use more than one influencer to try and appeal to a larger target audience. A lot of Influencers are normally social media stars or bloggers who have a lot of followers who are very keen to follow and connect with the influencer.

They would normally specialise in a certain area for example fashion, beauty or travel. Influencers will use their social media presence to bring awareness to brands/topics that they believe in.

How influencer marketing is becoming more popular?

Influencer marketing is becoming more popular with brands using them a lot more frequently due to the growth of social media. Whether an influencers following is small or large, an influencer will be able to reach potential consumers through social media or their blog that a brand may not be able to reach.

With ad blocking on the rise companies marketing budgets are shifting towards using influencers instead, this way they know it won’t be blocked and will reach a larger audience.

Potential consumers are much more likely to listen to a recommendation from an influencer who they trust than what Figure 4.

Figure 7.

they are from seeing an ad or other corporate messages.

Brands now have a variety of different platforms to do this

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Meet the Influencers Dolce and Gabbana made the decision to include millennial

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the show were a part of Gen Y (millennials) and were used

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the term may be confusing, the influencers who took part in

Figure 10.

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influencers in their A/W 17 Men’s runway show. Although

Influencer Impact

to appeal to a younger generation, Gen Z, hence why they are called “millennial influencers”. This influencer ensemble consisted of well-known names such as Nicole Richie’s sister Sofia Richie, Cindy Crawford’s model son Presley Gerber and pop musician/rapper Tinie Tempah. The catwalk show also incorporated famous millennial musician and actor Cameron Dallas.

Figure 9.

Dallas, who opened the show, has a large social media presence with a combined figure of 22.6 million followers over his Instagram and YouTube accounts, reaching an incredibly large

Dolce and Gabbana have become somewhat pioneers in the fashion industry for using Gen Y influencers to promote their brand to a new generation, to appeal to a new target audience. It appears that the likes of Chanel have adopted this innovative concept

audience daily. (Social Blade, 2017).

by using youthful and less established models such as 17-year-old “doll-sized actress” Lily-Rose Depp in their 2017 Haute Couture

The use of social media influencers on the A/W 17 fashion

show. Research supported by Ellison, (2017).

show was an effective decision made by Dolce and Gabbana as social media is the quickest and most efficient way to get

As stated by Smith, being able to identify the demographics of social media audiences at a granular level is the basis for all

Images above: Influencer and models Lily-Rose Depp, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner walking for Chanel Haute Couture 2017.

Cameron Dallas promoting the Fall 2017 show on his instagram account.

In this instance the D&G’s “millennial influencers” were ap-

Some of the up and coming influencers have a larger social

pealing to the target audience, Generation Z, as this was the

media following than some A-list celebrities. For example,

demographic Dolce and Gabbana were trying to connect with.

Fendi and Chanel fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has 3.6

Generation Z is young people who were born from the mid

million Instagram followers whereas social media influencer

1990’ to the 2000’s, this age group was the first to grow up as

and beauty blogger Carli Bybel has 4.4. million Instagram

technology was beginning, the first pioneering social media

followers. This suggests Dolce and Gabbana, like many

websites were MySpace and LinkedIn which were launched in

other luxury and mid-point brands, are trying to widen their

2000. They were the first to grow up with social media, there-

target audience to a younger demographic as this is a much

fore they are the most tech-savvy generation. The “Millennial

more effective way to appeal to Generation Z than if they

influencers” who took part in the Dolce and Gabbana show

were to use well established industry models or A-list ce-

took to their well-established social media accounts to further

lebrities on their catwalk. Using A-list celebrities or models

show how their online presence can have such a substantial

could disconnect the intended youthful target audience as

impact on this generation. With Dallas raking in a massive

social media influencers regularly post about their personal

1,338,555 million likes on his Instagram post about the show,

life as well as their specific subject field which creates more

this demonstrates the large-scale audience the influencers are

of a personal and undetached relationship.

Figure 14.

targeted marketing and messaging. (2013).

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the brands products or messages to an intended audience.

Collaborations with millennials are becoming a large trend within the luxury fashion industry, proving how influential Gen Y are.

According to Financial Times (2017), “The luxury house Louis Vuitton collaborated with the cult skate punk label Supreme on its autumn collection.” Adopting the trickle up effect, these two largely contrasting brands worked together to create a line that incorporated a luxury brand’s signature designs with a style that developed from the skate punk aesthetic, created by millennials.

reaching out to, making this an incredibly successful marketing tool. (Instagram, 2016).

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Images above: Pieces from the Louis Vuitton X Supreme collection.

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Generation Z

The Future

For the future of influencer marketing, as a group we have pre-

seen in companies such as Missguided, Topshop and Tommy

coming very different to what marketing has previously been

dicted one main change and marketing technique that we see

Hilfiger. Topshop seasonally change their ‘campaign girl’ and

like. According to WGSN in their ‘Marketing to Generation Z’

happening, in order for brands to appeal more to their current or switch between using up and coming or unknown models and Figure 14.

From our research, marketing to generation Z is slowly be-

future target audience, generation Z.

influencers. Whereas Tommy Hilfiger is seasonally bringing out

Our proposal is that we definitely think that there is going to

a collection with Gigi Hadid, who is an influencer and model with

in a way that isn’t too obvious or in your face as Generation Z

be a lot more influencer and brand collaborations as well as

over 31.7 million Instagram followers and is widely looked up to

are said to respond better to ads with people they feel like they

making influencers the current or permanent ‘face’ of their

by generation Z. Another recent collaboration being the Dolce

know and trust WGSN (2016). The difference between influenc-

brands, instead of unknown models or celebrities. According to

and Gabanna X Millennial catwalk collaboration, in which they

ers and micro influencers is that influencers are people with a

Zuercher (2017), using influencers as a marketing technique is

used a mixture of influencers mainly those that would appeal

larger number of followers and overall reach whereas such as

a more successful way of telling a brand’s story, and as a lot of

to generation Z rather than Millennials (making the name of the

popular bloggers or up and coming models. Whereas micro in-

brands already have a social media presence it’s good to work

campaign quite confusing) such as bloggers and Vloggers Mar-

fluencers have a smaller social following, yet are considered to

with influencers who also have built a social media presence

cus Butler, Negin Mirsalehi and Cameron Dallas.

be more relatable and authentic for the audience and also tend

themselves providing the brands with a much wider reach and

However, what we propose is that influencer marketing is going

to produce their own content, Harris (2016). In Trendalytic’s

audience. Again, according to WGSN, generation Z prefer to

to spread more widely across both fast fashion and luxury

recent report of New York Fashion Week (Feb 2017), they re-

buy from brands that are more use more relatable marketing,

companies with almost all brands in some way choosing to use

ported that ‘Rising talent got a boost from powerful influencers

which in this case is influencers and social media.

influencers to market their products and become associated with

talking about them on social during New York Fashion Week’

The use of influencer collaborations has already started to be

their businesses. At the moment, the focus of influencer market-

report (2016), it’s all about using social media and familiar and relatable influencers and micro influencers to advertise products

generation Z’s most favourable marketing tool. Snapchat and

this moving over to the more luxury brands as they start to realise

Instagram are said to be generation Z’s favourable platforms, as they’re considered more exclusive than Facebook according to Fromm (2016). This is why these platforms are being used by

Figure 17.

ing is mainly on e-tailer and high street stores whereas we see Figure 15.

showing that social media and its influencers are becoming

what a powerful tool influencer marketing is. An example of where this could be seen in ready-to-wear fashion is Gucci. In one of their latest campaigns for watches, used internet ‘memes’ to market their products using the hashtag #TFWGucci (The Feel When

er target audience.

Gucci) and artwork from artists across the world, (Thompson,

So far, brands such as Brandy Melville and Missguided have

2017). A meme is ‘a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social

began a to work with influencers and micro influencers on a

idea.’ as quoted by Gil, (2016).

regular basis to help promote their products to their younger

This was an unusual move for a luxury fashion brand and could

target audience, as stated by Carballo (2016) and Bradburn

eventually lead Gucci in the direction of using influencers instead Figure 18.

brands more and more to get to communicate with their young-

(Unknown).

Missguided have shown this through producing regular clothing

of models to market their products and make them more appealing to generation Z, rather than Generation Y or X. The rise in using influencers could also lead to more influencers

collections that are sold alongside the rest of Missguideds

owning and fronting their own clothing brands, which is much

personable and relatable for the buyers as they feel like they’re getting closer to the influencer. Something that Brandy Melville does is use influencers on their Instagram wearing their clothing

more engaging than what’s happening with fashion brands curFigure 19.

stock, for the same pricing. This in turn makes it a lot more

Figure 16.

collections, in which the influencers help to design their own

rently where you more than likely aren’t familiar with the CEO, or anyone behind the brand.

Based on our researching and investigation we propose that this

and styling their own shoots, showing that these people wear

is yet another way that generation Z would feel closer and like

their clothing which in turn makes the influencer’s audience

they can relate more to the company. It’s also a great direction

want to buy that clothing too.

for luxury companies to go in, to make their products appeal to Generation Z, rather than being automatically related to an older, higher class target audience.

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References

Allwood, E. (2017). Lily-Rose Depp scores fashion honour as Chanel couture bride. Dazed. Retrieved from: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/34473/1/lily-rose-depp-earns-fashion-honour-as-chanel-couture-bride Bird, C. (2017). Dolce & Gabbana Toasts Millennial Muses in Los Angeles. Vogue. Retreived from :http://www.vogue.com/article/ dolce-and-gabbana-muses-rodeo-party-2017

Thompson, R. (2017). Gucci posted a load of weird memes and the internet is cringing hard. Mashable. Retrieved from http://www. business2community.com/marketing/next-evolution-influencer-marketing-01789860#MYiDylxIMmsBvjQI.97 WGSN. (2016). Marketing to Generation Z. WGSN. Retrieved from https://www.wgsn.com/content/board_viewer/#/67056/page/1 Zaczkiewicz, A. (2017). Influencers Gain More Power During NYFW. WWD. Retrieved from http://wwd.com/business-news/marketing-promotion/trendalytics-report-nyfw-10812453/ Zuercher, B. (2017). The Next Evolution of Influencer Marketing. B2C. Retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/marketing/next-evolution-influencer-marketing-01789860#MYiDylxIMmsBvjQI.97

Bradburn, L. (Unknown). The Rise of the Influencer. Online Ventures Group. Retrieved from http://onlineventuresgroup.co.uk/therise-of-the-influencer/ Carballo, C. (2016). Social Media Stars Push Brandy Melville To Top Fashion Brand Social Engagement. Footwear News. Retrieved from http://footwearnews.com/2016/business/media/social-media-stars-push-brandy-melville-fashion-brand-social-engagement-215783/ Cooper, S. The Demographics Of Social Media Audiences, And The Unique Opportunities Offered By Each Network. Business insider UK. Retrieved from: http://uk.businessinsider.com/demographic-data-and-social-media-2013-11?r=US&IR=T Chaudry, A. (2017). Influencer Marketing Trends in 2017 - PMYB. [online] PMYB. Available at: https://pmyb.co.uk/influencer-marketing-trends-2017/ [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017].

Digital Doughtnut. (2017). Why Brands Are Turning To Social Media Influencers. [online] Available at: https://www.digitaldoughnut. com/articles/2016/may/why-brands-are-turning-to-social-media-influencers [Accessed 27 Mar. 2017].

Dolce & Gabbana, (2017). Meet the Millennials: DOLCE&GABBANA FRONT ROW IS ALL ABOUT YOUTH. Dolce & Gabbana.

Retrieved from: http://www.dolcegabbana.com/discover/dolce-gabbana-ss17-mens-fashion-show-millennials-celebrities/ Forbes.com. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/12/27/why-influencer-marketing-will-explode-in-2017/#378c03ed20a9 [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017].

Fromm, J. (2016). What Marketers Need To Know About Social Media And Gen Z. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2016/12/19/what-marketers-need-to-know-about-social-media-and-gen-z/#3f6f15b77e65 Gil, P. (2016). What Is a ‘Meme’? Lifewire. Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702 Gonzales, E. (2016) Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 2017 Ads Are Full Of Cool Millennials. Harpers Bazaar. Retrieved from: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/models/news/a18342/dolce-gabbana-millennial-models/ Harris, F. (2016). The Rise Of The Micro-Influencer. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/faye-harris/ the-rise-of-the-microinfl_b_10625136.html Instagram. (2016). Perfects for the urgent, baby I want forever. Cameron Dallas Instagram. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram. com/p/BPQd0CagdQ-/?taken-by=camerondallas&hl=en Mobile Marketing Watch. (2017). 2017: The Year Influencer Marketing Becomes Mainstream - Mobile Marketing Watch. [online] Available at: https://mobilemarketingwatch.com/2017-the-year-influencer-marketing-becomes-mainstream-70251/ [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017].

Porter, C. (2017). Louis Vuitton Meets Supreme: The Ultimate Cult Brand Collaboration? Financial Times. Retreived from: https:// www.ft.com/content/c7ebac82-de83-11e6-9d7c-be108f1c1dce The Drum. (2017). Top ten trends to look for in 2017 as influencer marketing continues to evolve. [online] Available at: http://www. thedrum.com/news/2017/01/09/top-ten-trends-look-2017-influencer-marketing-continues-evolve [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017].

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Image References Figure 1. Image of blogger Samantha Maria. (2017). Samanthamariaofficial.com.

Figure2. Pattern by A Side Project. (2017). Retrieved from Pinterest.

Figure 3: http://www.emtalks.co.uk Figure 4: https://www.instagram.com/inthefrow/ Figure 5: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/393150242455351038/ Figure 6: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/305048574745675349/ Figure 7: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/324048135673654993/ Fig 8 and 9: Cameron Dallas, Instagram. (2016). Perfects for the urgent, baby I want forever. Instagram. [Photograph]. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPQd0CagdQ-/?hl=en Fig 10: Allwood, E. (2016) Lily-Rose Depp walking for Chanel Haute Couture 2017. Vogue. [Photograph]. Retreived from: http:// www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/34473/1/lily-rose-depp-earns-fashion-honour-as-chanel-couture-bride Fig 11: Bella hadid walking for Chanel Haute Couture 2017. Vogue. [Photograph]. Retreived from: http://www.dazeddigital.com/ fashion/article/34473/1/lily-rose-depp-earns-fashion-honour-as-chanel-couture-bride Fig 12: Kendall Jenner, Chanel Haute Couture (2017). [Photograph] Retreived from: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/gallery/23302/8/chanel-haute-couture-ss17 Fig. 13 & 14: Images of Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Supreme 2017. [Photograph] Retreived from: http://www.vogue.com/article/louis-vuitton-supreme-collaboration Figure 14. Image of Vlogger Carli Bybel wearing her Missguided collection. (2016). @missguided on Instagram.

Figure 15. Screenshot of Brandy Melville’s Instagram. (2017). @BrandyMelville on Instagram.

Figure 16. Graph taken from Trendalytics NYFW A/W 17 report. (2017).Trendalytics.com.

Figure 17. Image of Negin Mirasleih backstage at Dolce and Gabanna show. (2017). Screenshot from Negin Mirasleih’s Instagram.

Figure 18. Image Topshop campaign girl Lily Jean Harvey. (2017). Screenshot taken from topshop.com/blog Figure 19. Image of Gigi Hadid wearing Gigi X Tommy. (2017). Screenshot taken from @tommyhilfiger on Instagram Figure 20. Image of blogger Samantha Maria. (2017). Samanthamariaofficial.com.

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Emma, Leanne & Ellie