One brand, many faces: Multiple influencers take off

Rather than one endorser, advertisers today are counting on a number of them to tell their story differently

Earlier this year, cricketer Sourav Ganguly joined LinkedIn as an influencer, following peers such as Sachin Tendulkar, who had taken the step last year. Ganguly and Tendulkar though were not the only ones to go down that road. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, industrialists Bill Gates and Richard Branson, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau are some names, who are part of the LinkedIn influencers club.

While brands and endorsers have enjoyed a fruitful relationship for most part, a new trend of seeking multiple voices is growing. Instead of one endorser, brands today are opting for many faces to tell their story. Besides LinkedIn, advertisers who've taken this route include Google (for Alexa), Fitbit, OnePlus (from BBK Electronics) and Levi’s (from Levi Strauss &Co).

As Jaime Hardley, vice president, marketing, APAC, Fitbit, says, “We are not (about) one story, so our marketing cannot be about one person’s journey.”

Kyle Kiang, head, global marketing, OnePlus, says, “We engage with our fan community using various influencers. Doing so helps communicate the brand’s value proposition better to different sets of people. For example, while Amitabh Bachchan’s endorsement worked for a certain category of consumers in urban and rural markets, comedian Vir Das helped us get through to the urban young.” 

Though multiple influencers could be used on the ground or on digital depending on the media plan and strategy, experts say having influencers in the age of digital consumption has its advantages: People can be hooked easily.

“Today brands are looking for endorsement from subject-matter experts. So, if I am a culinary brand, I want food bloggers to write about me. If I am a fitness brand, I would like experts in that domain to say why I am better than the rest. One needs to be clear that influencer marketing is not the same as celebrity endorsements. The first is aimed at a more committed, more literate audience. The latter is meant for a mass audience,” says Ambi Parameswaran, founder, brand-building.com.

Kiang says that in the case of handsets, a brand's community of users becomes critical. OnePlus, for instance, speaks to its consumers via Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp on an on-going basis to connect and seek feedback.

Brands and experts also believe that audiences are fast discarding unrelatable stories in advertising, opting instead to retain those from friends and family on social media. So, a Facebook or Instagram post about a destination is more likely to get traction over an advertisement showing picture-perfect locales.

K V Sridhar, founder and chief creative officer, HyperCollective, says that people today are hungry for content, especially something they can relate to. “There is a huge audience out there that will consume content that is relevant to them. This helps in building a relationship. So brands that are looking for depth of engagement are choosing to create content with influencers in order to build a bond with that audience, many of whom could be part of their target group,” he says.

Sridhar says the trend of using multiple influencers is not restricted to new-age brands alone. While newer brands have been early adopters, he says, legacy brands will have to follow suit to remain relevant. “As more people jump on to the digital bandwagon, legacy brands will have to evolve in terms of their communication. Take the example of the colas (Coca-Cola and Pepsi) and energy drink Red Bull. The latter has created a niche for itself and its community (of followers) continues to grow. Colas, on the other hand, have become generic and no one brand commands the loyalty it did earlier. New-age communication tactics then could help revive interest (in them),” he says.

Does this mean that the age of endorsers is coming to an end? Experts say the trick is to flip the coin — use the celebrity, but differently. Instead of tapping into Shah Rukh Khan’s star power for a beverage, pen or phone, a brand could, say experts, dip into his passion for books or his role as a father to create content that lasts. The future will be about the power of many.