PETALING JAYA: Influencer marketing is making headlines as marketers beef up their strategies by capitalising on influencers to deepen their brand presence in the market.

       Globally, influencer marketing has been picking up fast and marketers are not wasting any time to bank on them for effective brand penetration, thanks to the buzzing social media.

       Although this marketing concept is not new in the industry, it has widely gained popularity in the last few years.

       Influencer marketing is the promotion and selling of products or services through online influencers who have the capacity to have an effect on the character of a brand.

       Commenting on influencer marketing, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) president Andrew Lee told StarBiz this concept of marketing is getting important with the growth of eCommerce and online shopping.

       “As more commerce is moving online, influencers play a much larger role as they are first movers and early adopters compared with the rest of the consumers.

       “They can help brands to transform their communities and businesses. And when influencers are selected to match the brand image, the campaigns create lasting brand relationships with the people through shared values, experiences and stories,” said Lee, who is also Havas Malaysia group managing director.

       Furthermore, he said influencer marketing would continue to grow since businesses wants to market to the new generation of consumers – the Gen Z.

       Mediha: Marketers and consumers in the ecosystem should practise self-regulation and disclosure.

       This group of consumers generally discovers products on Tik Tok and Instagram, and looks to influencers for inspiration and information, he said.

       “Brands will use product reviews by influencers to overcome the prevailing online trust issues and use them to create authentic content to engage with their followers and other trendsetters,” Lee noted.

       Aravind Menon, who is managing director of Xaxis and INCA, said some brands were early in identifying this channel to reach consumers and have been working with influencers for many years.

       Xaxis is the programmatic division and INCA is the influencer and content division of GroupM Malaysia.

       He said there is high interest and rapid growth in influencer marketing over the last 24 months. Almost all brands have an influencer marketing strategy and are prioritising it as a key activity in their marketing plans with an increase in budget allocations year-on-year.

       “Malaysia is a market with high social media penetration and we will continue to see this growth with increased connectivity, digital penetration and 5G rollout.

       “With this high penetration and social content consumption, we are also now seeing more people turn their talent, interests, and hobbies into careers as social media stars.

       “Each day, we are discovering more YouTubers, Instagrammers, and TikTokers who join the ecosystem to form and develop successful careers as influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs).

       “The influencers or KOLs create engaging content and attract a following who enjoy and consume their content daily,” he said.

       As for any challenges in adopting such marketing, Aravind said there are several important factors that must always be assessed when identifying and selecting an influencer including relevancy, follower profiles, historical campaign activities, brand safety, fraud checks as well as performance.

       “We have a highly talented team and our own proprietary platform called INCATech which we use to conduct robust value checks to ensure we recommend influencers that will deliver the desired outcomes expected by the brands. We work on a specific metric with brands and deliver on the set expectations,” he noted.

       Didi: We are looking at collaborating with the influencer at the ideation level.

       Datuk Johnny Mun, who is senior adviser of 4As and Oxygen Advertising managing director, said with with rising costs of traditional media, making it rather prohibitive for smaller businesses, influencer marketing could be the more viable option as a communication vehicle.

       Affordable entry levels and versatility of this medium certainly seem the obvious choice at least in the short term.

       “There is also the opportunity for the advertiser/brand to be more targeted rather than the traditional media’s shotgun effect making it a cost-efficient option,” Mun said.

       Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS) executive creative director Didi Pirinyuang said what the agency is looking at, moving forward, is not just influencer marketing.

       It is also the rise of the “creator” economy where the opportunity to create has been democratised significantly with the rise in social media app use and its rapidly changing the landscape, she said.

       According to mobile data and analytics tracker App Annie in its “The evolution of social media report” released in late 2021, last year alone, consumers downloaded more than 9.2 billion apps and were expected to spend 740 billion hours on them. That includes an estimated 548 billion hours spent live streaming – in top apps including TikTok, Twitch and Instagram.

       Didi said: “One of the biggest things that we are looking at is to collaborate with the influencer at the ideation level itself so that they can take an active role and be part of the creative process.”

       “On a longer term, MBCS is rolling out a bespoke influencer tool which will support us internally in terms of discovery and management, so we can really deliver on our influencer campaigns end-to end.”

       Tan Kien Eng, chief executive officer of dentsu Malaysia said transparency and truth are key elements to consider when it comes to influencer marketing.

       “In recent times, people (consumers) have become far more interested in authentic/unfiltered content.

       Mun: Influencer marketing could be the more viable option as a communication vehicle.

       “Influencers are also taking the initiative to listen to their followers, observe consumer trends and learn from case studies. Consumers want to feel relatable – they want to be able to see the raw side of life, the reality and not a life that is unattainable.

       “ECommerce brands, especially, can reach out to more people through influencers, but only with the ones who are able to share their authentic experience and thoughts. Highly filtered ‘perfect’ content has the tendency to expire within two seconds,” he said.

       Tan believes the biggest challenge for this concept of marketing would be the selection of influencers who can best represent a brand and deliver the marketing messages they intend to convey. This can be challenging because a lot of research and data is required when selecting the right influencers for the project and brand, he said.

       “Another thing that should be considered is the risk associated with the public image of the influencer. Should there be a controversy, by extension, it has the potential to harm the reputation of the brand they represent.

       “At dentsu, it is important to not only utilise the right analytical tools, but also do a stringent check on their profile, media exposure and lifestyle before engaging them.

       “We also spend time designing playbooks to train the influencer on the product and brand plus monitor the quality and relevance of content created by the influencers,” Tan pointed out.

       One of the major drawbacks in this marketing concept is when influencers are not held to a similar high standard that’s expected of advertisers i.e. for all advertisements to be ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’, according to Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF) executive director Mediha Mahmood.

       While this form of marketing is effective in brand promotion, marketers and consumers in the ecosystem should practise self-regulation and disclosure, she added.

       She said self-regulation could help influencers avoid the inevitable backlash that occurs when irresponsible behaviour is exposed.

       One mistake could undo all their good work and annihilate their reputation, effectively ending future opportunities to make a living out of their influence, she noted.

       “Disclosure rules allow followers and consumers the benefit of making an informed choice, and protects influencers from being manipulated by advertisers who use them to flout advertising rules.

       “It also encourages brands to tap into the power of word-of-mouth social media marketing without eroding the trust that it is built on,” Mediha said.

       She said one of the focus areas is for all influencers to disclose when they have a commercial relationship with brands. Disclosure is actually a best practice globally as advertisers need to be identifiable and this requirement for disclosure is media-neutral, she said.

       On whether influencer marketing should be further regulated, she said there is the Content Code, which underlines the best practices and guidelines with regards to content, including advertising content.

       Last year, the CMCF identified the need for influencer marketing to be better regulated and advocate for self-regulation. She said this is where marketers and influencers (among others) take it upon themselves to ensure that their actions are aligned with best practices and bear in mind their responsibility to consumers and followers.

       “As such, pursuant to a nationwide public consultation exercise we conducted last year, several revisions are being proposed to the content code to better empower influencers and safeguard consumers from the risks of misleading ads.

       “Although there is already a provision in the code that requires advertisements, we intend to make this requirement even clearer by revising the code to specifically spell out the requirements for disclosure and detail out how it should be done,” she noted.

       In social media, she said when an influencer talks about a particular brand, it’s not self-evident whether it is their independent opinion or if they’ve been incentivised by the brand. This is why it’s important for influencer ads to be clearly distinguished from other posts, she said.

       Essentially, Mediha said followers of influencers, who are potential consumers, must be given the opportunity to recognise such sponsored content before engaging with it.

       Mun felt the drawbacks would mainly be on the imagery of the influencers.

       “Social media can be a cruel medium and any wrong personal portrayals by the influencers could negate whatever goodwill built for the brands.

       “Like it or not, influencers are public figures too and have a responsibility to be the ideal representation of the brand and set the right example to their followers,” he said.