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 to a new and younger target audience such as generation Z. We have researched into how the influencer has became so popular and how different brands are now using it as there main marketing technique to connect to their target consumer. One brand that we were really interested in was the Dolce & Gabanna AW17 men’s runway show when they decided to use millennial influencers as the models for the show. This was a completely different thing for Dolce & Gabanna to do as they normally use high profile models. After analysing the research that we found, we have made a proposal as to where we think this trend will go in the future. Although generation Z do not have specific dates, Generation Z are typically born between the mid 1990’s to the early 2000. A main aspect of this generation is how they have been brought up using the Internet. Generation Z are thought to be very comfortable with
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the use of the Internet and social media.
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Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that focuses
What is influencer marketing?
brands and businesses even more reason to put their money
shows that 47% of online consumers use ad blockers, giving
on including Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube. A recent survey
The Influencer
on using public figures that are very active on social media
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behind influencers instead. (Www.forbes.com)
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platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Influencer’s audiences are commonly very engaged with
their content as the consumer can relate to the influencer, as they are a public figure.
Brands will use influencers to interact with their consumer
audience through the use of social media. They will share
their views and opinions on products including images and
videos so that consumers can feel a connection with the
influencer through the products they are using. The influ-
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 exam-
ple 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 rec-
ommendation from an influencer who they trust than what
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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Figure 8. Figure 9.
fore they are the most tech-savvy generation. The “Millennial
2000. They were the first to grow up with social media, there-
websites were MySpace and LinkedIn which were launched in
technology was beginning, the first pioneering social media
1990’ to the 2000’s, this age group was the first to grow up as
Generation Z is young people who were born from the mid
demographic Dolce and Gabbana were trying to connect with.
pealing to the target audience, Generation Z, as this was the
lebrities on their catwalk. Using A-list celebrities or models
were to use well established industry models or A-list ce-
more effective way to appeal to Generation Z than if they
target audience to a younger demographic as this is a much
other luxury and mid-point brands, are trying to widen their
followers. This suggests Dolce and Gabbana, like many
and beauty blogger Carli Bybel has 4.4. million Instagram
million Instagram followers whereas social media influencer
Fendi and Chanel fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has 3.6
media following than some A-list celebrities. For example,
Influencer Impact
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
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by using youthful and less established models such as 17-year-old “doll-sized actress” Lily-Rose Depp in their 2017 Haute Couture show. Research supported by Ellison, (2017).
Images above: Influencer and models Lily-Rose Depp, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner walking for Chanel Haute Couture 2017.
Images above: Pieces from the Louis Vuitton X Supreme collection.
rated a luxury brand’s signature designs with a style that developed from the skate punk aesthetic, created by millennials.
autumn collection.” Adopting the trickle up effect, these two largely contrasting brands worked together to create a line that incorpo-
According to Financial Times (2017), “The luxury house Louis Vuitton collaborated with the cult skate punk label Supreme on its
Collaborations with millennials are becoming a large trend within the luxury fashion industry, proving how influential Gen Y are.
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influencers” who took part in the Dolce and Gabbana show
could disconnect the intended youthful target audience as
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took to their well-established social media accounts to further
social media influencers regularly post about their personal
Figure 11.
show how their online presence can have such a substantial
life as well as their specific subject field which creates more
Figure 10.
impact on this generation. With Dallas raking in a massive
of a personal and undetached relationship.
Some of the up and coming influencers have a larger social
Cameron Dallas promoting the Fall 2017 show on his instagram account.
Meet the Influencers Dolce and Gabbana made the decision to include millennial influencers in their A/W 17 Men’s runway show. Although the term may be confusing, the influencers who took part in the show were a part of Gen Y (millennials) and were used 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. 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 audience daily. (Social Blade, 2017). The use of social media influencers on the A/W 17 fashion show was an effective decision made by Dolce and Gabbana as social media is the quickest and most efficient way to get the brands products or messages to an intended audience. As stated by Smith, being able to identify the demographics of social media audiences at a granular level is the basis for all targeted marketing and messaging. (2013).
1,338,555 million likes on his Instagram post about the show,
In this instance the D&G’s “millennial influencers” were ap-
this demonstrates the large-scale audience the influencers are reaching out to, making this an incredibly successful marketing tool. (Instagram, 2016).
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Figure 13.
The Future
a more successful way of telling a brand’s story, and as a lot of
Zuercher (2017), using influencers as a marketing technique is
brands, instead of unknown models or celebrities. According to
making influencers the current or permanent ‘face’ of their
be a lot more influencer and brand collaborations as well as
Our proposal is that we definitely think that there is going to
future target audience, generation Z.
cus Butler, Negin Mirsalehi and Cameron Dallas.
campaign quite confusing) such as bloggers and Vloggers Mar-
to generation Z rather than Millennials (making the name of the
used a mixture of influencers mainly those that would appeal
and Gabanna X Millennial catwalk collaboration, in which they
by generation Z. Another recent collaboration being the Dolce
over 31.7 million Instagram followers and is widely looked up to
a collection with Gigi Hadid, who is an influencer and model with
influencers. Whereas Tommy Hilfiger is seasonally bringing out
seen in companies such as Missguided, Topshop and Tommy
brands already have a social media presence it’s good to work
However, what we propose is that influencer marketing is going
For the future of influencer marketing, as a group we have pre-
From our research, marketing to generation Z is slowly be-
Generation Z
with influencers who also have built a social media presence
to spread more widely across both fast fashion and luxury
Hilfiger. Topshop seasonally change their ‘campaign girl’ and
themselves providing the brands with a much wider reach and
companies with almost all brands in some way choosing to use
dicted one main change and marketing technique that we see
audience. Again, according to WGSN, generation Z prefer to
influencers to market their products and become associated with
coming very different to what marketing has previously been
buy from brands that are more use more relatable marketing,
their businesses. At the moment, the focus of influencer market-
happening, in order for brands to appeal more to their current or switch between using up and coming or unknown models and
The use of influencer collaborations has already started to be
is yet another way that generation Z would feel closer and like
they can relate more to the company. It’s also a great direction
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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Based on our researching and investigation we propose that this
anyone behind the brand.
rently where you more than likely aren’t familiar with the CEO, or
more engaging than what’s happening with fashion brands cur-
owning and fronting their own clothing brands, which is much
The rise in using influencers could also lead to more influencers
ing to generation Z, rather than Generation Y or X.
of models to market their products and make them more appeal-
eventually lead Gucci in the direction of using influencers instead
This was an unusual move for a luxury fashion brand and could
idea.’ as quoted by Gil, (2016).
2017). A meme is ‘a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social
Gucci) and artwork from artists across the world, (Thompson,
ket their products using the hashtag #TFWGucci (The Feel When
their latest campaigns for watches, used internet ‘memes’ to mar-
this could be seen in ready-to-wear fashion is Gucci. In one of
what a powerful tool influencer marketing is. An example of where
this moving over to the more luxury brands as they start to realise
ing is mainly on e-tailer and high street stores whereas we see
which in this case is influencers and social media.
like. According to WGSN in their ‘Marketing to Generation Z’ report (2016), it’s all about using social media and familiar and relatable influencers and micro influencers to advertise products in a way that isn’t too obvious or in your face as Generation Z are said to respond better to ads with people they feel like they know and trust WGSN (2016). The difference between influencers and micro influencers is that influencers are people with a larger number of followers and overall reach whereas such as popular bloggers or up and coming models. Whereas micro influencers have a smaller social following, yet are considered to be more relatable and authentic for the audience and also tend to produce their own content, Harris (2016). In Trendalytic’s recent report of New York Fashion Week (Feb 2017), they reported that ‘Rising talent got a boost from powerful influencers talking about them on social during New York Fashion Week’ showing that social media and its influencers are becoming generation Z’s most favourable marketing tool. Snapchat and 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 brands more and more to get to communicate with their young-
So far, brands such as Brandy Melville and Missguided have
er target audience.
began a to work with influencers and micro influencers on a regular basis to help promote their products to their younger target audience, as stated by Carballo (2016) and Bradburn (Unknown). Missguided have shown this through producing regular clothing collections, in which the influencers help to design their own collections that are sold alongside the rest of Missguideds stock, for the same pricing. This in turn makes it a lot more 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 and styling their own shoots, showing that these people wear their clothing which in turn makes the influencer’s audience want to buy that clothing too.
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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 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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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
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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