conferences-and-events
Come with Us to the Influencer Marketing Show 2021
Published: 22/10/21 - Updated: 21/03/24
On Thursday, Oct 21st, two members of our influencer marketing team, Lottie and Amanda, Influencer Marketing Manager and Influencer Marketing Assistant respectfully, visited the Influencer Marketing Show in London. The Influencer Marketing show is where brands, agencies, tech providers and influencers can gather and listen to speakers within the industry and network.
Here are some of their key takeaways from the day:
Amanda
IMS 2021 was such a valuable experience! Before going to the event, I was extremely excited to see some talks from industry people, specifically Saif Islam of Creed and Culture’s speech about diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the influencer space. He made some incredible points about where marketing had some serious pitfalls when it comes to D&I in their strategies. Saif recommended using influencers to ask their audiences what they would like to see out of campaigns. Something as simple as just asking the questions can keep brands and influencers out of harm’s way.
Another incredible talk was with Emma Harman, Chief Client Officer at Whaler. Emma spoke about the idea of creating a long term partnership with influencers. In their study, Whaler found that after three exposures to an influencer promoting a product or brand, those studied were found to respond more positively to both the influencer and the brand. So, when thinking about ambassador programs or long term relationships with influencers, there can only be positive outcomes.
Lottie
There were three particular stand out moments for me.
Firstly, the Disability in Influencer marketing panel, hosted by Aime Hunter. Fatima Timbo, Dan Edge, and Mesha Moinirad took us through how to approach disability within the influencer space. Conversations around disability are so important – the insight and stats shared were insightful and thought-provoking. It was my favourite discussion of the day, and I encourage everyone to check out the speakers across their social media channels.
As someone who often deals with influencer contracts, usage rights and the like, I really enjoyed the panel discussion ‘Are Influencers the New Creative Agency? Navigating Licensing, Rights and Usage.’ The influencer industry is growing so quickly, that in many ways, it’s still finding its feet. Things that are confidently established in other industries are still somewhat emerging. I am looking forward to putting what I learned into practice!
And finally, Paws in Work were there. Pupper therapy, with a mission to create ‘better lives for people and pups.’ Need I say more?
Overall, the experience was super valuable for our team, from talks on D&I, to long term partnerships and licensing. You will be seeing us implementing what we learned. Thanks for having us!
Want to learn more about Kaizen’s influencer offering? Get in touch.
Amanda Easter
With over 6 years of experiences in Social Media Management both at agencies and in house, Amanda brings her knowledge from brands in the UK, US and Europe. Since joining the team in 2021, Amanda has scaled up our influencer offering and co-founded our Social Media department, diving into building unique strategies for our clients and leading the team in implementing these across all social channels.