Brands Prefer Influencers over Celebrities

Brands Prefer Influencers over Celebrities

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Understanding the concept of ‘influencers’ and ‘influencer marketing’, in a digital marketing context
• For which kind of product categories, ‘influencers’ would add value or would complement the firms marketing strategy and why brands approach influencers?
• Whether influencers can replace the celebrities and the precautions that companies should take before enlisting any influencer

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I. Influencers, Influencer Marketing and Affiliate Marketing

1. Who are influencers? Name a few influencers in your life thus far.
2. Whom would you accept as an influencer at a personal level and professional level?
3. Can the influence be both positive and negative? Share a few instances of positive and negative influences.
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II. Influencers and Influencer Marketing in India

1. The base article mentions that, “Shereen Sikka Bharwani is a Maybelline ‘It Girl’ and one of the global influencers for the make-up giant that flew her to New York to capture the zeitgeist of contemporary fashion on America’s eastern seaboard. Dove chose her for its real beauty campaign, while Jet Airways signed her on for the London Fashion Week.”

a. Who is Shereen Sikka Bharwani?
b. How did she become a global influencer for a brand like Maybelline?
c. What is your analysis of the three brands that have chosen her to be an influencer?

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3. How do you think Social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, blogging platforms and personal websites, etc., have contributed to the rise of influencers in India and elsewhere?

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Brands Prefer Influencers over Celebrities

Synopsis

Welcome to the world of influencers and influencer marketing. While for many – for the likes of Shereen Sikka Bharwani, Kayaan Contractor, Trishala Sikka, Masoom Minawala, Miss Malini (Malini Agarwal), etc. – influencing has become a career, it has become a welcome and cost-effective avenue for companies to reach out to their target customers. Several companies from several categories have been engaging influencers to connect and engage with their customers. The jury is still out there with
no concrete evidence to prove either way. This case flyer introduces the participants to the evolving power of influencers, especially in digital marketing space, and getting replaced in place of celebrity brand endorsers. The case discusses about the types of influencers, process of selecting influencers, the pros and cons of using influencers, etc.

Prerequisite Conceptual Understanding/Before the Classroom Discussion

To have an engaging classroom discussion of this case flyer the students/participants should have a conceptual understanding of Social Media and Social Media Marketing. They should also have an idea about the role of celebrities and influencers in promoting a company’s products. They can read the chapter/material related to ‘Online Advertising, Social Media Marketing, and Planning Integrated Digital Marketing Campaigns’, ‘Affiliate Marketing’, ‘Celebrity Brand Endorsements’ and ‘Influencer Marketing’ from the curriculum taught in the Digital Marketing program.

Case Positioning and Setting

This case flyer can be used in the MBA/Post-graduate program for Digital Marketing Course:

• Digital Marketing Course/Module: To understand the role of influencers for marketing a company’s products either to complement or replace celebrities and analyze the pros and cons of the same

Preamble to the Case Flyer Analysis and Suggested Orchestration

This case flyer discusses about influencer marketing and influencers. It also tries to bring out the differences between influencer marketing and affiliate marketing and enumerates the pros and cons of using influencers in place of celebrity brand endorsers. Finally, it analyzes the reasons for the rise of influencers in Indian and the future trends of influencer marketing in India. The case flyer analysis was carried out as presented in Exhibit (TN)-I...........

Case Analysis and Discussion

I. Influencers, Influencer Marketing and Affiliate Marketing

Influencers:

Influencers are people who have the power to affect the purchase decisions of others because of their real/perceived authority, knowledge, position, or relationship. An influencer doesn’t necessarily have to be some sort of celebrity, journalist, or blogger. He or she can be a common man with the right connections and social pull. Only 10% of people trust brands, but 90% of people believe brand recommendations from friends.

During the discussion, the participants named few people by whom they were influenced, some of the names included celebrities. However, many accepted that their friends and relatives were the main influencers at a personal level and their professors, bosses and colleagues were the influencers at a professional level............

Importance of Influencers:

Social Media has become a large part of the marketing activities of a company/brand and has a direct impact on the bottom-line of the company. Consumers, on the other hand, trust and seek recommendations from trusted third parties – friends, family and experts – than from the brand itself. Word-of-mouth has always been a strong purchase driver both online and offline. But of late, reviews and price-comparison sites like Yelp and social networks, are of utmost importance when it comes to purchase decisions............