Mediaboss Marketing

Brands have long looked beyond the scope of their influence to borrow someone elses shine - from celebrity endorsers and brand spokespeople to infomercials, influencers, and #sponsored posts.

Its an approach as old as advertising, hoping to drive increased awareness, favourability, or trial. But the catch-22 of borrowing influence has always been brands wrestling with the fear of losing control of the narrative.

In recent years, influencer marketing has shapeshifted into what brands and industry pundits call the creator economy - a rebrand even Don Draper would be proud of. As the current dominance of TikTok moves us from the social media age into a post-social era, brands are scrambling for innovative ways to authentically connect with their increasingly fragmented audiences. How can brands who fear sacrificing creative control navigate the creator economy?

With the rise of the social media influencer over the past decade-plus, brands tested the limits of said influence and learned valuable lessons along the way. The social media age and an influx of brand-sponsored content brought with it new cultural norms and even FCC regulations (#ad), but also put influencer authenticity under a magnifying glass. Brands wanted to control the narrative and used influencers for their reach rather than their taste or talent. An increasingly discerning social audience called BS on the contrived sponsored posts, and influencer fatigue ran rampant as brands struggled to nail the authenticity their audiences desired.

Original post:
Fear of losing control: how brands can thrive in the creator economy ... - Shots