The infamous video campaign featured Jenner who appears to diffuse tension at a protest by handing a police officer a can of Pepsi. Among other shortcomings, the video appeared to downplay the difficulties of social struggles by implying the problems could simply be solved with a can of soda.
Yet, the practice of turning to online celebrities for marketing campaigns, which is commonly referred to as influencer marketing, is continuing to grow. Brands maintain that thoughtful use of influencers who have trusting followers can yield strong results. Technology firms have taken notice and are rushing to offer platforms that can help automate campaigns that have professional spokespersons.
Social media stars who can incorporate a brand's products within their online postings can be highly influential, especially if content appears natural and sincere. With that in mind, brands seek out influencers who have natural connections to certain products, such as athletes who may endorse nutritional supplements or sporting goods.
The challenge doesn’t stop, however, simply at finding influencers. Like other promotional content, influencer campaigns need to be targeted to appropriate audiences, key performance metrics must be evaluated, and other administrative functions, such as compensating individuals for their endorsements, must be performed.
To that end, advertising agencies are building out technology that helps automate influencer marketing. Perhaps one of the most well-known tech firms to automate influencer marketing is Los Angeles-based Influential, which offers its Social Intelligence platform.
According to Forbes, approximately 25,000 influencers use the Social Intelligence platform, which uses artificial intelligence from IBM Watson to monitor their social media postings. By doing so, Influential matches influencers with brands’ campaigns and attempts to predict the outcome of marketing initiatives. Its clients include BMW, Coca-Cola Company, Hyundai, Johnson & Johnson MillerCoors, Nestle, Fox TV, General Mills and Sony.
Other firms are trying to muscle into the territory. Digital branding company Fullscreen, which is owned by Otter Media, is one example. According to MediaPost, FullScreen has just acquired Reelio, which is an influencer marketing platform that assists with brand integrations, placements, and services on YouTube. The sales price was not disclosed, but Reelio had previously raised approximately $8 million in multiple funding rounds.
In another indication of growing interest in technology for influencer marketing, Milwaukee-based influencer marketing platform Lumanu recently raised $1 million in seed funding, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Lumanu offers a platform that tracks the results of social media postings by influencers. It has primarily pitched its technology to agencies, but it is now expanding by offering its services directly to brands in the beauty, fashion, hospitality and consumer packaged goods industries. As part of the push, it will hire an additional four to six people for its technology and account management teams. The company already has eight employees.
According to the same article, around 70% of marketers who responded to a survey from WhoSay said their influencer marketing budgets will increase in 2018.
Japanese firm Patron is also planning to roll out a website and app that will facilitate influencer marketing. It is seeking to make it easier for brands to tap influencers internationally, reports CoinIdol.
The firm has already raised $15 million in private and pre-sale funding and plans a public token generation. It has pitched to company in the U.S., Saudi Arabia and in other countries.
