The new breed of digital influencers can bring a greater sense of accessibility, particularly to luxury brands, according to L’Oreal marketer Maya Kosovalic (pictured, centre).
Speaking at the Festival of Media LatAm 2015, Kosovalic – digital and media comms manager, L’Oreal Travel Retail Americas – outlined how the company is using influencers to push brands such as Lancôme and Yves Saint Laurent.
She was addressing the delegates in a session entitled ‘The Secret’s in the Scale’, alongside Reed Berglund, CEO of fullbottle, and Mary Redondo, managing director, Havas Sports & Entertainment.
The audience was offered a showcase of fullbottle’s platform, which allows influencers to pitch to brands through a content management system, with marketers then selecting whichever content they believe will be most appropriate and effective.
While L’Oreal has a raft of A-list ambassadors such as Julia Roberts and Penelope Cruz, Kosovalic admits they can feel “untouchable” to ordinary consumers.
“They are iconic and recognised the world over. But they are so iconic they are untouchable. They don’t have an Instagram account, why would they?” she says.
“For the rest of us mere mortals, we are spending more and more time on small screens. How can brands better address this? In come the ‘goddesses of the small screen’.
“It is an actual person that you relate to and invite into your home every day to consume their content. And Latin America is a big opportunity, because you can work with global influencers as well as local influencers, making French brands relevant in markets.”
Referencing L’Oreal’s partnership with fashion bloggers like Caroline de Maigret and Camila Coutinho, Kosovalic also said working with influencers can bypass issues around ad viewability: “Viewability is a very hot topic, and when it comes to working with influencers there is no issue. You know they won’t scroll away,” she said.
However, there is a down side, not least in the amount of resources needed to ensure the right influencers are selected for each brand.
“It poses a lot of challenges. First of all, fit. Finding the right fit can be very challenging, and very resource-intensive. And there is the question of control; we need to maintain some control for our brands. How do I manage ROI, and link it back to sales?
“I’m sure you’ve had the same internal dilemma. What’s the answer? You need help – but there is help and hope, and that is where the agency comes in.”
