A Nestle influencer marketing campaign has reached more than three million people through 40 pieces of original content. The two-month activation was pushed out on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, receiving nearly 35,000 likes and 400 comments.
The campaign was created with the support of Hypetap, a platform which uses data to pair social influencers to agencies and brands. Last month, it launched its creative service arm as it looks to support users through the entire campaign process and push growth in Asia.
Having a presence on social media platforms has become vital to brands as audiences spend more time in the ecosystems of Instagram and Facebook. Influencer marketing enables the organic integration of ads, which is why legacy brands such as Nestle are getting on board.
Nestle head of media Antonia Farquhar says the company’s influencer strategy filled a “hole in its marketing mix”. The brand has uses influencers as an amplifier for its other marketing tools, such as TV.
“It’s not one over the other; TV often acts as a multiplier, so in turn, enables digital to work harder. As digital evolves at a rapid pace we want to ensure we trial then roll out opportunities like influencers across the Nestle business,” Farquhar says.
Hypetap has been working with Nestle for 18 months. It was one of the first brands to use Hypetap’s creative offering, taking part in a six month trial period as part of an invite-only process for select agencies and brands. Nestle utilises the full spectrum of the agency’s offering across its various verticals, such as its baking range, and sub-brand Nescafe.
Since working with Hypetap, Farquhar says Nestle has been successful in building brand advocates and positive reviews for new products.
“We know word of mouth and recommendations are highly influential when it comes to people selecting products, so it makes sense to be a component in our marketing plans. We have seen how influencers can add value when launching a product, or help regenerate an existing one,” Farquhar says.
Hypetap is seeing increased interest from brands as influencer marketing booms. In 2014, spend on influencer marketing reached $70 million, found PwC. With personality-driven marketing expected to hit $240 million in 2019, Hypetap is seeing more brands implement an influencer strategy.
Hypetap cofounder Detch Singh says interest has increased both in new brands coming on board with influencer marketing, but also existing clients expanding their influencer presence.
“Audiences have reached a tipping point and it’s important for brands to do influencer marketing properly, beyond product placement and inorganic campaigns. This is why we built the creative side of our agency to provide advice on how to build advocates of your brand, rather than basic product placement.”
“As the media mix changes overtime, audiences have moved away from push advertising and are instead subscribing and following influencers,” Singh says.
“Audiences have reached a tipping point and it’s important for brands to do influencer marketing properly, beyond product placement and inorganic campaigns. This is why we built the creative side of our agency to provide advice on how to build advocates of your brand, rather than basic product placement.”
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