Influencer marketing has been the topic of discussion in the media and advertising industry as of late. It’s not a new term or experience that people have to learn from scratch; it has become something that is normal, often time being a part of a big marketing campaign. A lot of brands have included influencer marketing into their marketing mix, so it’s no surprise that it’s a space that a lot of people want to get into.
One of the biggest perks of using an influencer’s network and influence lies in the creativity of their content. As every influencer is an individual, they have their own way to express their creativity through their content; it’s their platform to do content their way. They also best understand their audience, so they are the experts to go to when it comes to wanting to capture the attention of their audience. However, while that’s a great perk, brand sentiments are often overlooked over here simply because of the individualistic approach each influencer interprets their brief; all content has no single unifying factor that ties back to the brand they are promoting, besides the captions or hashtags they use.
In order to give room for these influencers to still have creative freedom in their content, yet still contain brand sentiments, we will need to inject an overarching visual direction as a guide for these influencers as a guiding pole. This can also be one of the ways to inject more creativity into influencer-led campaigns to level up the overall aesthetics of a branded campaign; something that is often overlooked especially in influencer-led campaigns. Having a visual direction also assists influencers in seeing the brand’s vision much clearer and more cohesive, as such they will also be able to put their own creative spin without compromising on the branding aspect. From setting topline directions like colour palettes to use in influencer’s content (such as the colour theme of wardrobe, the colour scheme of the overall content, etc), mood board of content direction and etc, that in itself already assists in making the influencer content look visually more cohesive from a branding standpoint.
However, that’s not the only role creativity plays in influencer-driven campaigns! Aesthetic value is often overlooked for influencer-led campaigns, but there’s a superpower in it that really helps to elevate the influencer content as well! Imagine opening a PR kit with a truly amazing user unboxing experience, of which is then featured in the influencer’s posting. Not only does that level up aesthetically in terms of the content, but it also helps in branding, which is a win-win! As a case study, to really make a My Little Pony PR Kit stand out in terms of an unboxing experience, we decided to create a bespoke card game to be featured in the PR kit. This fully branded card game is then used as one of the main points of content for the influencers that receive the PR kit, further streamlining their content in terms of stronger branding sentiments, while looking aesthetically pleasing.
Creativity and design are everywhere around us. It’s very easy to overlook good design; which only means that the design has done its job. Good design is something you wouldn’t notice because it’s supposed to feel natural as if it’s meant to be there. This can of course be applied to influencer-led campaigns as well. It’s not outrightly noticeable but it makes all the difference for the experience.
