The Age of Influencers – Get the Whole Picture at DMEXCO
Gen Z is growing up and, in the USA, are spending most of their money on products they see on Instagram and Snapchat. The power of influencers is shaping consumer choice, but have they got a future?
Record breaking influencer with e-commerce
This is the year where record breaking Kylie Jenner, the influencer who, with Shopify, flipped the e-commerce model, not only got the most likes on Instagram but was confirmed as the youngest billionaire ever by Forbes magazine. With the launch of @shop in May, the Instagram community of sellers and shoppers is likely to grow and continue to disrupt the established internet retailing model. The influencer has challenged the traditional celebrity endorsement brand promotion model and now has the potential to become a competitor to the brand itself. Digital is always disrupting and as Bob Greenberg, advertising guru and chairman of R/GA, in his podcast for DMEXCO, claims, transformation at speed is needed to adapt.
Transformation at speed
Just as discussion in the digital community on the best model for influencer marketing develops, another change comes in. Recent reports emerge that Instagram may remove the ‘likes’ measure. According to Instagram, this is being tested in Italy, Ireland, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan. It is not only social media but the rise in use of mobile and time spent on apps that is pushing consumer expectations for access and purchase possibility anywhere, anytime, on any platform and from anyone. This tech driven convergence is creating challenges across the commercial and marketing mix and solutions can’t be seen in isolation. Kylie Jenner Cosmetics have recently been opening brick and mortar pop up stores. Harvey Finkelstein, COO of Shopify, and speaker at DMEXCO, in an interview with Yahoo finance predicts that the future for retail will be both online and offline.
Future for influencers?
Gen Z mobile natives are entirely at ease in a digital world where they trust influencers more than any mass media advertising from the broadcasting world but will the rise in artificial intelligence soon upset this? Shudu is a world famous supermodel with her own Instagram following. Shudu is not a real human, she is the creation of James Cameron Wilson and each image of her takes him three days to create. The consequences in the fashion and beauty industry can be as far reaching as Kylie Jenner Cosmetics. Alexandra Bondi de Antoni, Vogue.com and James Cameron-Wilson,The Digitals will be on a panel at DMEXCO to explore this future trend and Mathilde Burnecki, Instagram, will be on a panel on ‘How to reach Gen Z’.
Trust
Will this trust in influencers remain? Trust is an issue that has affected influencers in the past as Unilever announced last year. It is an issue that is running throughout the digital industry. The consumer may want access anywhere or anyhow but they don’t always trust the tech. This is why, according to Dominik Matyka, chief advisor to DMEXCO, the EMEA leading tech summit in Cologne has chosen ‘Trust in You’ for their motto in 2019.
2019 Tech Trends - what’s real today
Artificial Intelligence and augmented reality are technologies that will affect a whole range of industries. This year the buzz is still high but what will be the actual impact in the digital community? According to a DMEXCO survey of their community Artificial Intelligence is considered to be a significant future trend but not yet part of operative business. Personalization customer experience and programmatic advertising are top priorities for international decision makers. To get the whole picture, DMEXCO is hosting over 40 000 visitors over two days 11 & 12 September in Cologne and in line with digital innovation have launched a new app with new networking features and option to personalize your agenda.
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