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- Influence Weekly #344 - Smosh CEO Alessandra Catanese Reveals How The Comedy Brand Stays Relevant In 2024
Influence Weekly #344 - Smosh CEO Alessandra Catanese Reveals How The Comedy Brand Stays Relevant In 2024
White House Turns To TikTokers To Save Biden’s Campaign? August Conference Revealed
Nii Ahene
July 05, 2024
Spotlight Stories
Smosh CEO Alessandra Catanese Reveals How The Comedy Brand Stays Relevant In 2024
White House Turns To TikTokers To Save Biden’s Campaign? August Conference Revealed
Why Cannes Lions became an influencer hotspot
CreatorFest: The Event Promising To Bridge The Creator-Entrepreneur Gap
Great Reads
Smosh CEO Alessandra Catanese is leading the digital comedy brand through challenges in the creator economy. With a background rooted in the early days of content creation, she is modernizing Smosh's approach while maintaining its core identity. Catanese emphasizes talent diversity, platform adaptation, and ambitious projects. She views platforms like TikTok as valuable for organic marketing and talent development.
While embracing new formats, Smosh remains committed to ambitious projects appealing to long-time fans and attracting new audiences. Catanese advocates for increased transparency between brands and creators, seeing it as crucial for advancing partnerships. She envisions Smosh undertaking increasingly ambitious projects, driven by the company's creative talent. Her insights offer a perspective on how established digital brands adapt to remain competitive in 2024.
New research from influencer marketing agency Influence shows the key to effective influencer campaigns lies in evoking emotional engagement from viewers. The study analyzed data from over 9,200 respondents across 50 campaigns involving 17 brands. It found that emotionally engaging creator content significantly boosted brand metrics like awareness (up to 645%), trust, perceived quality, brand memory, and consideration. Sustained heightened emotional intensity further improved brand outcomes.
Creator content also drove positive subconscious brand associations and increased favorability, consideration, purchase intent and recommendation likelihood. The report emphasizes developing compelling narratives with emotional triggers by deeply understanding target audiences and carefully selecting creators. Case studies showcasing successful emotional resonance campaigns for brands like Health-Ade and Costa Coffee are highlighted.
Former investment banker Andrew Franz is shaking up the influencer marketing industry with his startup Panel. Launched just over a year ago, Panel facilitates sustainable brand-creator partnerships through data-driven strategies and performance-based compensation models. Rather than flat fees, Panel structures deals tied to metrics like engagement, app installs or purchases - ensuring creators are well-compensated for high performance. The company provides detailed analytics to optimize campaigns.
Franz predicts a shift toward long-form creators and live streamers having the most sustainable careers, while short-form advertising prices will decline. He advises brands to follow the data versus preconceived notions when selecting creators. Looking ahead, Panel aims to give marketers direct access to their data and creator network. Franz's innovative vision for aligning incentives and leveraging analytics is gaining traction among brands and creators seeking more effective influencer collaborations.
Campaign Insights
The White House plans to host a conference with internet influencers in August, potentially aiming to bolster President Biden's appeal among young voters. Topics include data privacy, creator compensation, AI, and mental health. The move comes as Biden faces challenges energizing his base, with recent polls showing a tight race against Trump.
Wells Fargo's influencer marketing strategy goes beyond traditional influencers with large social followings. Nicole Dye Anderson, the bank's SVP of media relations and influencer strategy, engages "media influencers" - experts who are sources for shrinking newsrooms. Anderson sets clear objectives upfront, measuring awareness, engagement, conversions, and approvals.
To mitigate backlash, she aligns goals transparently with influencers from the start, making it a collaborative effort. As the creator economy expands to include everyone from college athletes to virtual influencers, Wells Fargo takes an inclusive approach while focusing on authenticity and managing expectations proactively.
FINRA continues its crackdown on firms using social media influencers. TradeZero, a retail trading platform, agreed to pay a $250,000 fine for failing to supervise influencers' posts, which contained misleading claims and omitted risk disclosures. Key violations included not pre-approving posts considered "retail communications," not preserving records, inaccurate privacy notices to customers, and sharing customer data with third parties for marketing without proper disclosure.
TradeZero revised policies, implemented influencer post reviews, and corrected privacy notices. As scrutiny increases, firms must ensure compliance with FINRA and SEC rules governing influencer marketing to avoid sanctions in this enforcement focus area.
Arts and crafts retailer Joann is launching a new "Jo-And" brand campaign targeting Gen Z, leveraging influencers, social media, and commercials to highlight the joy of hands-on creativity. Coming shortly after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the rebranding aims to introduce younger consumers to Joann as a one-stop source for crafting tools and inspiration.
With over 100,000 SKUs across fabric, sewing, and various crafting categories, the retailer seeks to drive traffic both in-store and online through the experiential marketing push. Analysts view the happiness-focused messaging as a solid strategy but suggest Joann will need a multi-pronged approach investing in stores and ranges to fully revive its fortunes.
TikTok announced a partnership with Bookshop.org for the 2024 TikTok Book Awards UK & Ireland, supporting independent bookstores. The #BookTok community continues driving book sales, with this year's shortlist determined by industry experts across categories like Book of the Year.
Bookshop.org will assist its network of local bookshops in creating in-store TikTok Book Award destinations and an online storefront for nominated titles. Public participation is invited through in-app voting, with winners to be revealed on July 25th, including a TikTok Shop Book of the Year based on sales data.
This election cycle has seen the rise of "accidental influencers" - young social media users whose amateur political content is unexpectedly going viral and reaching audiences comparable to major parties' posts. Driven by algorithms promoting engaging content, some videos from these teenagers and 20-somethings have over a million views, collectively exceeding 15 million.
While giving youth a platform for political expression, the phenomenon raises concerns around oversight, misinformation risks, and the content's ability to sway voters. Platforms claim increased efforts to promote reliable election information, but faked videos and misleading posts from influencers illustrate ongoing challenges. As social media's role in elections evolves rapidly, striking the right balance between enabling democratic discourse and mitigating harmful content remains an imperative.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, traditionally focused on advertising and marketing, has become a hotspot for influencers and creators in recent years. Brands like Eos, Amazon, and Popsockets flew out top creators, hosted them, and featured them on panels, recognizing their power to drive sales and audience engagement.
Creators valued the networking opportunities and being treated as creative partners rather than just promoters. The festival introduced a creator-specific pass to attract more digital talent. This shift signals the growing influence of creators in the marketing world and brands' increasing efforts to collaborate with them beyond sponsored posts.
AirAsia has launched the "Go Somewhere Different" influencer marketing campaign featuring travel content creator Devin Halbal, known as the "Kudasi Girl" for her selfie stick videos. Halbal is touring destinations like Malaysia, Kazakhstan and the Philippines sponsored by AirAsia to inspire Gen Z travelers.
The airline aims to attract visitors from North Asia and promote unique destinations across its network. AirAsia's marketing approach emphasizes creativity over data and the importance of authenticity in influencer content to forge human connections with consumers. The campaign aligns with the company's vision to provide affordable travel while showcasing untapped destinations through influential creators.
The Seattle Interactive Conference (SIC) and Thece have launched a timed social media challenge for advertising and marketing professionals. Participants have one hour to create a 15-to-60 second video showcasing their work and desire to attend SIC, gathering as many likes as possible.
The top 50 submissions with the highest engagement will win over $20,000 in prizes, including conference tickets, sneakers, subscriptions to AI tools, and discounts on press release services. Led by SIC co-founder Brian Rauschenbach and Thece CEO Zachary Rozga, the contest celebrates creativity and innovative tools supporting today's digital professionals until July 12th.
Interesting People Brought To You By Sintilllate Talent
Fashion influencer Joy Kisinja has overcome adversity to build a thriving career by staying authentic and relatable. Despite a dysfunctional upbringing, she persevered through therapy work to pursue her passion for fashion after the 2020 lockdowns. Kisinja carefully aligns with affordable brands like Boohoo and Shein that match her values while fostering an engaged audience.
After signing with Sintillate Talent, major opportunities opened up, including celebrity events and consistent paid brand deals. Looking ahead, Kisinja sees modest midi and maxi dress trends inspired by minimalist styles. As she prepares for motherhood, she plans to share the journey candidly while continuing to create attainable yet stylish content for her loyal followers.
"SheRatesDogs" creator Michaela Okland offers insights into the challenges and opportunities of full-time content creation at VidCon 2024. Despite her viral success, she faces lack of job security common in the field. Okland emphasizes authenticity, adaptability, and continuous inspiration for sustainable careers. Her journey exemplifies the dynamic creator economy's evolution.
Jess Hunt, the 27-year-old influencer and co-founder of Refy Beauty, has launched a new campaign featuring over 1,000 real customers wearing the brand's new concealer instead of professional models. Called The Refy Project, the campaign aimed to showcase the product on diverse, unretouched skin tones. Hunt, who has millions of followers on social media, co-founded Refy in 2020 after struggling to find an all-in-one brow product.
The brand quickly gained popularity, securing shelf space at Sephora within a year of launch. Hunt attributes part of Refy's success to her background as a long-time content creator, a career she began over a decade ago.
Former Olympians Samyr Laine and Ayanna Alexander-Laine launched Freedom Trail Capital, a venture capital firm investing in consumer brands, particularly celebrity-backed businesses. With an initial fund, they've already invested in seven startups, including Issa Rae's haircare line Sienna Naturals, Kaley Cuoco's pet product company Oh Norman!, and Ciara's rum brand Ten to One.
They're now raising a $50 million fund, focusing on talent-led businesses with strong product-market fit and celebrity founders significantly involved beyond endorsements. Laine brings operational experience from Westbrook and Roc Nation, aiming to provide strategic support to their portfolio companies.
Hannah Rose, a 24-year-old Minecraft content creator and streamer, has carved out a niche in the competitive online gaming world. Despite facing early skepticism about her gaming skills, she has cultivated a substantial following across Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok. Rose attributes her viral success to her unique trolling approach in the Minecraft mini-game Bed Wars.
She emphasizes the importance of resilience, organization, and a strong support network for aspiring creators. Rose advises newcomers to focus on gradual improvement rather than waiting for perfect conditions. As she looks to the future, she plans to reinvigorate her YouTube presence and hints at an exciting launch in early July. Rose's journey offers valuable insights into the creator economy's opportunities and challenges.
Kiki Quesada, a 20-year-old creator, is redefining entrepreneurship in the beauty industry. As the founder of Kikiz Cosmeticz, she strategically balances content creation and business operations. Starting at 16 during the pandemic, Kiki faced legal and financial complexities while developing a structured content approach.
Her brand offers nourishing lip glosses, and she separates personal and business income. Kiki is invited as a featured creator at VidCon 2024, hosting a meet-and-greet, participating in a panel, and selling products. She aims to inspire young entrepreneurs through her journey, promoting self-love and pursuing dreams. Kiki provides insights on consistency, celebrating milestones, and defying misconceptions about content creation as a profession.
Industry News
The creator economy is rapidly evolving, with increased competition and market maturation. Patrick Israel, founder of Stem Media, is launching CreatorFest to bridge the gap between content creation and entrepreneurship. Set in Orlando from August 15-18, 2024, the event promises to empower creators with business acumen, covering monetization, legal considerations, and sustainable practices.
CreatorFest distinguishes itself by focusing on the business side of content creation, offering a comprehensive look at building sustainable enterprises. As the lines between creator and entrepreneur blur, the event emerges as a catalyst for transforming creators into business-savvy entrepreneurs.
Instagram is developing new "Chat Widgets" to enhance engagement within direct messages (DMs). The three potential widgets include a countdown timer, timezone displays for participants, and quick access to pinned content. These informational elements added directly into conversations could drive more engagement, aligning with the broader trend of private sharing over public posting on social media.
For brands, using features like countdown timers may present new opportunities for engaging customers through time-sensitive offers within DMs. Instagram's focus on private sharing tools like this caters to the shift in user behavior towards more intimate connections on social platforms.
The influencer marketing agency All That Matters, founded by former beauty execs Andy Hochbichler and Kathi Donaczi, is transforming creator campaigns in Germany. Drawing from their brand experience, they build tailored "creator ecosystems" integrating influencers with brands' digital strategies using a data-driven approach focused on efficient growth and lower cash burn.
Their services include consulting, campaign execution, and interim team roles. With a vast network of German creators and expertise navigating regulations, All That Matters is driving impressive results by rethinking traditional influencer collaborations.
Decked Media CEO Adorian Deck is challenging conventional wisdom around platform prioritization for creators. At VidCon 2024, Deck shared insights on navigating long-form vs short-form content across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and more. He revealed some creators make more money on Facebook than YouTube, defying the "YouTube-first" mindset. Decked Media helps creators syndicate content to maximize reach and find new audiences.
Deck believes authenticity is key to the creator economy's rapid growth, allowing deeper audience connections than traditional media. He encourages newcomers to experiment, be persistent, and embrace incremental progress.
Looking ahead, Deck sees the creator economy offering sustainable careers for more people but highlights challenges around platform power and policy instability. He stresses the need for more creator control and support from platforms. Despite this, Deck is optimistic, stating "If you are someone who's on the fence of creating something, take the freaking steps. I'm telling you, you will change your life for that."
TikTok has introduced a new feature allowing creators to download videos without the platform's watermark. However, users must first post the video on TikTok before accessing the watermark-free download option.
This change aims to ensure content created using TikTok's tools is initially shared on the platform. While it addresses challenges creators face when sharing TikTok content on other platforms, it also impacts those who previously utilized TikTok's editing features without posting. The new option is available in the latest app version's Save menu.
A new report reveals a striking gap in earnings and engagement between human and AI influencers in social media marketing. Human influencers earn an average of $78,777 per post, a staggering 46 times more than the $1,694 earned by AI influencers. While 37% of human influencers generate income through brand partnerships, only 8% of AI influencers rely on this traditional model.
Human influencer posts receive an average of 414,754 likes, nearly 6 times more than AI influencers' 71,491 likes. The study highlights AI influencers' challenges in replicating the nuanced human touch that drives engagement and builds audience trust. However, as AI technology advances, virtual personalities may become more adept at providing personalized interactions.
Twitch has launched Creator Clubs, a new feature aimed at fostering communities for streamers with shared interests. The initial rollout includes clubs for DJs and IRL (In Real Life) streamers, with dedicated Discord servers offering resources, support channels, and toolboxes focused on monetization, engagement, and content strategies.
Additionally, Twitch introduced the Streamer Achievement Awards program, recognizing Partner streamers who reach significant viewership milestones with "Bleed Purple Statues." The platform also showcased updates to its mobile app, extended duration for Stories features, and improvements to Clip creation tools at the recent TwitchCon Rotterdam event.
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Top influencer talent management firm Night is laying off the leaders of its in-house production studio, Night Studios. Head of Night Studios Alex Piper and VP of development Jared Jacobs are departing as the company shifts away from a focus on developing premium content for streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon.
Night CEO Reed Duchscher stated that most top creators no longer see premium distribution as the ultimate goal, though the company still sees opportunities to extend creator brands and revenue streams beyond YouTube and TikTok. Duchscher will oversee Night Studios' remaining development slate, but the restructuring reflects the challenges in bridging the worlds of digital creators and traditional Hollywood entertainment despite previous efforts from Night and other firms.
TikTok has fueled a new "drop culture" in the makeup industry, where brands like Milk Makeup, E.l.f. Beauty, Huda Beauty, and Benefit Cosmetics are optimizing products and marketing for virality. Hot items like Milk's Cooling Water Jelly Tints and Huda's Easy Bake Powders have gone viral, selling out within hours and earning millions in earned media value on TikTok. This has accelerated product development timelines from years to under a year, with an emphasis on creating instantly visible, camera-ready effects. Brands are centralizing operations to restock viral hits quickly and maintaining closer marketing/operations sync. While virality is unpredictable, brands aim to catalyze it through tactics like limited drops, collectability, and capitalizing on TikTok trends and feedback. The need for constant newness and agility has ushered in a new era of frequent, hyped releases in the makeup space.
The creator economy is adapting to economic shifts, but investors remain captivated by innovative startups in the space. While hype and investments slowed in 2023, promising upstarts like ShopMy, WorkWeek, and Chamberlain Coffee have raised funds this year.
Venture capitalists like Inspired Capital's Kamran Ali are closely tracking creator brands and tools that help them break through noise. Firms like A* Capital, Intuition, and LightShed are betting on AI tools to augment human creativity. Overall, 11 key VC firms highlighted are cutting checks for startups tackling creator monetization, discovery, independence, and economies outside just content creation as the industry's next phase unfolds.
Social media makes young people accidental election influencers