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Frances Wasem ► Frances Wasem is a writer and creative consultant working with luxury brands on influencer marketing strategies and creative concepts, as well as VIP securement and event production. She is a former editor at Harper’s Bazaar and both a PPA and Hearst award-winning journalist. Clients include Crème de la Mer, Clinique, Bulgari, Tod’s and Somerset House.
To understand the power of the influencer, we need to take a quick trip back in time. Not far, but back to 2008, when Anya Hindmarch’s marketing strategy included gifting a new season bag to each magazine fashion editor. I remember how friends swarmed my way at ‘film night’, intent on checking out the latest-season bag for themselves. Anya was clever indeed. It was influence… on a dozen or so girls in a small corner of London. Fast forward to 2018 and the new digital influencer is queen. But instead of reaching 12 women, she reaches 12 million women – across a global market. Be in no doubt, this is big business. One influencer friend earned £25,000 in affiliate sales commission in one month alone. Even micro-influencers can earn hundreds of pounds for one Instagram post. Many influencers now employ their own managers or assistants and hire photographers. Luxury brands should be – and are – part of this brave new world. Fashion and Beauty Monitor report that 73 % of luxury brands are now active in influencer marketing, with more brands planning to explore the market in 2018. The high-end jewellery sector is dipping a toe in the water, too. De Beers (UK) launched its first influencer campaign in December 2017, and Bulgari (UK) is working on its first influencer omni-channel campaign. ►
