Understanding Influence

MANILA, Philippines — In the not-too-distant past there was actually a time when it was more than socially acceptable to smoke inside bars and night clubs. As a result, even if you yourself were a non-smoker, you’d leave the place smelling like you rolled around a heap of ash. And, if you needed to bum a smoke, bartenders would always have an ample supply of their favorite brand, the same way you need a recommendation for a cocktail, bartenders are always ready and willing to tell you what to order. They were natural influencers. While they didn’t consider themselves one by their own standard, they had the most influence over the nightlife community.

It wasn’t too long before tobacco brands decided to take advantage of these bartenders. They weaponized the local bartender with a carton of cigarettes and the rest is decidedly a contemporary phenomenon – the rise and subsequent analysis of “influencer” marketing.

While it is interesting to see how such a phenomenon evolved to an entire industry. However, never has it been more evident today, most if not all our decisions are crowd-sourced – thank you, Mark Zuckerburg!

In today’s speak, a brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is. It is the other way around, specifically, it is what consumers tell each other it is. That’s how Scott Cook, chairman of Intuit, would put it.  In a Facebook-run society, opinions drive today’s economy. And, more than ever before, marketing is entirely all about people —someone else’s opinion leads to both awareness and trial.

Truth be told, the process of brand-building has evolved. No longer is it a top-down approach. Moreover, no longer does it involve taking the product directly to the customer via whatever means necessary, nor perhaps, ensuring the customer is aware of your brand at the point of purchase. On the other hand, it is motivating customers to seek out your brand in an active and relational process. Because, in many categories, the single most powerful impetus to buy is someone else’s advocacy.

Social media for that matter is greatly instrumental, most especially in the Philippines. Using it is the number one digital activity among us Filipinos. In recent developments, however, more than using it to share details about our entire life, social lends itself to other purposes. And, among the many other motivations to use it, shopping has now become a major social motivation. Precisely 47.60 percent of Filipinos use it to research and purchase products online. Facebook posts and Instagram are now the new billboards and magazine prints, respectively.

Within Dentsu Aegis Network, our Social Media Command Center D+GILITY currently handles over 100 brands with at least two platforms each – a Facebook and an Instagram page specifically. The overwhelming rise in following, and the countless conversations among the brands we handle show how different brands are very welcome and accepted on social.

In a recent study, online ads surpass the ones shown on TV 49 percent to 48 percent. While it isn’t much, the likely shift (apart from their migration to digital) is due to the fact that more Filipinos are (re)discovering brands through people specifically endorsements by celebrities or well-known individuals, vlogs, and posts or reviews by experts. This is further fortified by thought-leaders managing and actively pushing their advocacies within communities and echo-chambers. Thus, for Filipinos, social motivations today heavily include shopping and influencers have become today’s tastemakers.

How do we measure influence given an entirely social archipelago? Mind you, it isn’t as easy as pasting-the-face of a well-known online personality to a certain product. We look at three different vectors when properly considering an influencer:

Reach – is defined as online followership and popularity, it can be determined by the number followers and the gravity of conversations around that online personality.

Relatability – is the affinity towards a certain category through the number of posts that a particular influencer has and also checking the number of engagements his or her followers have towards a certain post or specific number of posts. This should show how engaged their current fanbase is towards their content.

Relationship – know when to use them to address your desired goal, whether awareness and engagement, conversion and advocacy. Usually, the higher the affinity towards the certain category the more the influencer would work better for the pushing the product for purchase. On the flip side, should you wish to cast a wider net, choose to work with a more popular influencer within your talent pool.

Going back to the “weaponized bartender” above, while they were very popular with the nightlife community, they don’t only have the reach but, they are also very relatable – they know their drinks and their cigarettes as well. More so, through time, there is an established relationship already. On a final note, understanding influence goes beyond popularity, more than ever, it is about having that authenticity and an affinity to your brand through people.  - Donald Lim and Jigo Reloj

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Dr. Donald Lim is the country CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Philippines, and is known as one of the pioneers of digital marketing in the country.

Jigo Reloj is the social media strategy head at Dentsu Aegis Network. He also teaches Digital Marketing at the University of Asia and the Pacific.