On his Watch by Robin Swithinbank

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. ►

Walpole

British Luxury

Previous page & right ► Journalist Simon Crompton’s collaboration with Private White VC – the design sold out in one day.

Below right ► Photographer Jonathan Daniel Pryce featured in a film for GQ and AX Hybrid Smartwatch.

Top ► Shini Park’s recent film for Maison Margiela Fragrances.

► Vincent Reynes, Bulgari’s Managing Director UK, believes influencers “bring a unique, independent voice through their own style and vision”. This is what all luxury brands need to understand. Influencers have built followings (often over a period of several years) through the popularity of their own editorial voice. But it’s not that influencers are cut from the same cloth as traditional magazine editors. They’re the whole magazine team combined – from the editorin-chief to the advertising department. Give them creative freedom (too much control kills energy) because they know how to engage and inspire their followers. The sheer number of influencers now in the market is disorienting. So much so that even established influencers are taken aback. The Danish/Australian influencer Sarah Mikaela has been blogging since university and feels “Instagram is saturated with photos of girls in different outfits, drinking coffee”. Instead, the new breed of content creator – whose vision and creativity is driving the industry forward – is inspiring her strategy for 2018. Shini Park’s recent film for Maison Margiela Fragrances (waves crashing and ropes twisting artfully capture her memories of sailing) set a new industry benchmark. Influencers working in traditional professions are also on the rise. Make-up artist Violette curated a trio of lipsticks for Estée Lauder, photographer Jonathan Daniel Pryce featured in a film for GQ and AX Hybrid Smartwatch and journalist Simon Crompton’s collaboration with Private White VC – the design sold out in one day. With so much happening so fast, there are swirling rumours of a bubble burst; even influencers mention it in hushed tones. Be assured, a seismic shift – although I don’t think the bubble will burst – in the industry is definitely in the air. With no auditing system (reflecting traditional media, where audience numbers claimed are vetted) it’s frankly a Wild, Wild West out there. Brands have inflated that bubble by paying wildly excessive budgets. Influencers have been known to buy followers and engagement, affecting the integrity of the industry overall. But as technology catches up, this sleight of hand will become easier to spot. The influencers with integrity, a proven return on investment and editorial vision will be the ones that rise to the fore. Instagram incidentally culled ‘paid followers’ a couple of years ago (some influencers lost 100,000 overnight) but another ‘reaping’ is needed. Be careful not to throw money into influencer marketing without a long-term but flexible strategy in place. This industry shifts at speed as platforms rise and fall – last year (late 2016/early 2017) Instagram Stories took over from Snapchat within months. Equally a new challenge now faces the luxury industry. Instagram has introduced a much-needed ‘paid partnership’ sub-heading in an attempt to be open and transparent. It’s still in trial stage, but it’s commenced at a time when luxury brands are beginning to invest budget. It doesn’t really say ‘exclusive and aspirational’ if you’re one of 12 paid posts in the past fortnight and, even worse, your paid content comes straight after eBay’s or indeed your main competitor. Don’t build your campaign in isolation and do discuss what other paid content is scheduled. Equally, it’s important for the luxury industry to build an authentic, long-term relationship that gives any paid campaign substance. When the British influencer Lydia Millen got engaged she just happened to be wearing the Bulgari Serpenti Forever shoulder bag she’d bought for herself. Millen subsequently talked about the Serpenti Forever as her ‘spirit bag’. The video of her surprise engagement garnered 380,000 (out of a 470,000 subscriber base) views. That’s a narrative with integrity that no budget could ever buy.

Robin Swithinbank

Robin Swithinbank is the founder and editor-inchief of upmarket men’s lifestyle media brand The Jackal. Robin has been covering the luxury watch industry for 15 years and is a contributor to The New York Times.