Marketing in flux - are influencers replacing advertising stars?

Sachar, what do you actually think of TV advertising?

Good question. Honestly I don’t know (any more) because I haven’t watched linear television in a long time. The exception: football. And there I immediately switch the TV off after the game or at half time because I can’t bear the interviews and the analysis of the so-called experts.

Would you recommend a company switch to TV adverts in your role as a consultant?

I am not an expert in media planning, so I would be wary of making that kind of recommendation. Especially as my media consumption behaviour is not the norm.

But we will stick with TV advertising. Whether its Thomas Gottschalk for Haribo or Jürgen Klopp for Opel - familiar faces are and have been a part of advertising for a long time. What is the difference between TV ads like those and an influencer’s Instagram story?

Jürgen Klopp is first and foremost a football manager and Thomas Gottschalk is or was a TV presenter. Success in their primary jobs led to them becoming beloved and brands wanted to benefit from their popularity. Influencers, on the other hand, are well-known because they are successful influencers. They don’t have another primary job. And another point is very important: generally, collaboration between brands and influencers takes place not on TV but on the influencers’ accounts. These involve more dialogue, are more authentic and most importantly are the influencer’s base and raison d’être. This makes it all the more important that influencer campaigns are designed and implemented intelligently and sensibly.

How did influencers come to replace the well-known advertising testimonial?

I’m not sure that that has actually happened. The face of Opel is still Jürgen Klopp and not Caro Daur. I am a big proponent of thinking of communication backwards. What would I like to communicate to whom? What would I like to happen? If I am to answer these questions sensibly, communicative measures and also any testimonials needed for them are logical.

Advertising with influencers - when done right - is particularly authentic. Can a brand still get by at all without Influencer Marketing?

Of course they can. As I said: it is about the communicative goals. And Influencer Marketing is not the right tool for every goal. Nevertheless, I am sure that lots more industries could benefit from Influencer Marketing than is the case today. To do that we just have to think about the term influencer a lot more than we do at the moment. I recently read a tweet from Panos Meyer, who was recommending a banking app. Panos is not a lifestyle influencer like Bibi or Sami Slimani, he is the Managing Director of the digital agency Cellular. But because of that to me he is an authority when it comes to recommending digital tools. So I also downloaded the app and I actually think it’s good. Most companies do not yet understand that every industry has influencers. They might not be so big that millions follow them. But if they communicate something, they will still have an effect.

What will happen in future with companies that haven’t yet joined the trend of Influencer Marketing?

I don’t think it is necessarily a case of dramatic deteriorations like “then they will go under”. But I would myself why companies would willingly miss out on the potential of Influencer Marketing. It would be as if Manuel Neuer only caught the ball with his left hand. Why would he do that?

If you would like to talk to Sachar and other industry experts on Influencer Marketing and discuss challenges and opportunities, you should get your tickets for imcamp18 soon.