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Micro-Influencer Marketing: When Less is More

Micro-Influencer Marketing: When Less is More

Micro-Influencer Marketing: When Less is More

Influencer marketing is, without a doubt, a number one go-to strategy for many brands. As the world changes, life moves more and more into the online space – and let’s be honest, we can hardly live without social media either. Recently, a niche strategy known as micro-influencer marketing has joined the social media scene; humble social media followings, authenticity, and friends of the powerful Gen Z, micro-influencers are essential to your marketing strategies, and “the more followers, the better” is passé. 

To help you navigate this niche sphere, VOCAST sat down to talk to three experts within the field of influencer marketing.

Meet Mathilde, Emil & Candice

Mathilde Moberg, Partner and Management at Nter_Action

Mathilde Moberg works as an influencer manager and has been working with PR and influencer marketing for some time now and has been in love with the wild industry ever since she started. Mathilde and co-founder Oliver have the company Nter_Action, an activation agency that provides help and service to both the brand and the influencer. 

 

Emil Brandt: Influencer Agent, Marketing Manager & Partner at AA Agency

Emil Brandt Jensen works as an influencer agent, marketing manager, and partner at AA Agency. He helps companies find the right influencers for their brand and help them plan out the most profitable strategy to succeed within this area. Inside the company, he also has a handful of Danish influencers with whom he helps grow their social media channels with commercial cooperation.

 

Candice Sophia Antoine: Micro-influencer

Candice is a 23-year-old Franco-American living in New York who’s passionate about vintage goods, fashion, jewelry, and cooking. She describes her style as a combination of funky, eclectic, and chic. Currently freelancing as a content creator, Candice is also the founder of the Vintage Deli, a fun, and colorful jewelry brand.

Instagram: @so.candice

 

 

The rise of micro-influencers

We have reached a point where influencers, in general, can give you a higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing, and in fact, 49% of consumers say they depend on influencer recommendations when making purchases. However, brands are stuck in the belief that the more followers an influencer has, the better. Some early-adopting brands now focus on having a base of micro-influencers instead of putting their buck on the traditional expensive mega-influencers. According to recent research, 77% of all brand partnerships nowadays are with micro-influencers.

In a world where customers tend to feel reluctant towards targeted ads, and overly obvious “influencer sponsored messages”, and with GDPR issues on the legal side, brands now strive for more personal contact with their customers. With a good match between your brand and the micro-influencers own personal brand, micro-influencers are gold and know how to help you sell indirectly.

Mathilde distinguishes a growing interest in brands working with micro-influencers. The industry of influencer marketing is growing every day, and it is relevant for brands to be aware of the targeting following base that micro-influencers often have. Even if customers want the same product, they come with different preferences that several micro-influencers can reach, compared to one expensive mega-influencer. She explains:

“If you as a brand are not aware of the possibilities and different targeting ways of the micro influencer’s followers, you are overlooking the potential”

Mathilde believes that micro-influencers play a big part in a new strategy of influencing and marketing. Not necessarily a bigger role, but definitely on its way, to having an equally important influence on both branding and collaborations on social media and marketing in general.

Emil also gives us an interesting reflection where he pinpoints the lower risk of failure for brands when collaborating with micro-influencers since the cost of collaboration is usually reflected by the number of followers:

“We see a bigger interest for companies and brands to establish micro-influencer collaborations as the entry barrier is much more risk-free.”

Mathilde similarly argues that they definitely see a growing interest from brands, when it comes to working with micro-influencers. She explains that every day, the marketing and influencer business is growing, moving, changing, and evolving, so it is impossible to predict where we stand in just five years.

Going bigger isn’t always better: Why partner with a micro-influencer?

No doubt, partnering with an influencer who has a huge audience will generate a lot of traction, but that is not always the best option. The success of influencer campaigns is assessed based on engagement rate. Statistics have shown that micro-influencers have the highest engagement rate of any other type of social media creator – due to them having a smaller audience, these influencers can engage with people more personally. This also has a huge effect on trust, as consumers consider them as relatable and trustworthy people they can trust, and recent statistics have shown that 70% of teens trust creator content more than celebrity endorsement. 

Emil stresses the importance of follower engagement and that there is a clear correlation between the number of followers, and engagement in general. The more followers someone has, the weaker the engagement rate gets as it is hard to reach and get interaction with all of the followers when having a bigger follower base. Depending on what the KPIs are for the campaign, the company can decide whether micro-influencers or macro-influencers would be a great fit for the campaign depending if your goal is to increase awareness, attract interest or get conversions. 

Mathilde explains to us that she thinks brands look for diversity, authenticity and how much engagement the influencer has with their followers. Nowadays, she sees a huge escalation of micro-influencers, because they also have a targeted following, even though it doesn’t seem as much if you have 5000 followers compared to an influencer with 300.000 followers. We are all different and find inspiration and information in different places and platforms. She further explains:

“For some brands, it is not always important to activate their brand with just one mega influencer, but to select several micro profiles, to achieve a more frequent frequency for the same budget.”

Micro-influencers are often also more niche than mega-influencers, enabling you to find a much better fit for your brand by picking them carefully to precisely comply with the kind of consumers that you want to engage with your brand. Micro-influencers will give you access to an audience that fully connects and enjoys content in the niche your brand may be looking for.

Candice tells us that although Instagram is a big social media platform, she feels like she evolves in a small and trusted community of “internet friends” with similar content and styles. She further explains that the attractiveness of micro-influencers lies in the fact that they are truly being followed for their styles aside from celebrity endorsement, which we can often perceive with bigger influencers – making the following community in its whole more niche.

A Mindful Approach

By working with micro-influencers, brands simply become associated with a trusted community voice in the industry and have a direct connection to the target audience of the brand. With close relationships with their followers, high commitment, and more credibility than the industry’s bigger names, micro-influencers are often a perfect strategy for brands. And in an industry that will become evermore dominated by Gen Z – authenticity and mindfulness are highly valuable.

Marketing to young generations is all about being more transparent, authentic, and raw with promotions. Gen Z, in particular, are looking for a true voice to influence their purchases and lifestyles. As the modern-day, digital bestie Candice tells us, she considers her social media as her “own personal journal”:

“I want people to relate to myself, I’m not just someone that promotes products on the internet. I consider myself a lifestyle, and I want my lifestyle to influence and inspire people – not just the products that I use.”

Candice explains that she finds it crucial to only promote products that are part of her daily routine – as her followers see her daily routine, they are only occasionally met with affiliate links or promotional codes, as Candice argues it creates a more “natural and organic manner to shop”. 

Consumers nowadays are no longer looking for the “one-size-fits-all influencer” and are on the search for mindful influencers, who support important causes. Candice explains that being a micro-influencer makes her more mindful of sustainability: 

“As an influencer, I try to be more mindful of my own consumption, but I also want to push people to do the same by only engaging in partnerships that I know fully fit myself and my needs”.

Emil similarly explains that it is now much easier for micro-influencers to be taken seriously and speak out loud, which is one of the reasons that they keep receiving more and more credibility and trust in the industry.

A short guide to working with micro influencers

As established throughout this article, micro-influencers can have a lot of potential for your marketing strategies. They do not only have the highest engagement rate, but they also enable your brand to reach a more accurate target group for a smaller budget. This means a more efficient campaign, with fewer potential risks. But partnerships with micro-influencers could feel like being out of your usual brand reach – so, how should you partner with a micro-influencer? And, most importantly – how can both your brand and the influencer make the most out of the partnership?

1. Find the right match

It is crucial to conduct background research to find the right collaboration match for your brand. Mathilde believes that the most important aspect of ensuring a good collaboration is to find the right match; by giving and receiving the right brief, content will be created and delivered to the highest standard. If brands only focus on the price or reach of the influencer they are collaborating with, rather than the genuine match, the authenticity of the collaboration may decrease in the eyes of the audience. She adds:

“To get the best possible outcome, the processing and post-processing are just as important as the execution itself.”

2. Suggest long lasting partnerships

Partnerships can often seem rushed and overwhelming to consumers as promo codes and affiliations are showcased everywhere. Candice has a preference for brands that suggest long-lasting partnerships that unfold over several weeks or months, not only to make the product promotion as authentic as possible but to also build a relationship with the brand, and to mutually enhance each’s success and growth. This will take time but will be rewarding once a bond is established between the brand, creator, and consumer.

3. Let the creativity spark

There is nothing better than using your creativity as a content creator – and as mentioned by Candice it is important that a brand partnership lets influencers fully use its creativity to make the partnership representative of the influencer, whilst also making the brand stand out and shine.

References: image: Copenhagen Fashion Week image bank Moeez Ali. Shopify Blog, 30+ Influencer Marketing Strategies to Have on Your Radar (2022). 

Ema is the Lifestyle Researcher for the French market at VOCAST. She grew up in Brussels and previously worked with fashion PR. She is currently studying a master’s degree in international development and business and has a strong interest in sustainable and ethical practices within the fashion industry.

 

Bianca is the Swedish Lifestyle Researcher at VOCAST. She is currently studying a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Service Management at Copenhagen Business School. She grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden and has an interest for the fashion industry as well as influencer marketing.

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The Rise of the Wellness Industry

The Rise of the Wellness Industry

The Rise of the Wellness Industry

​The wellness industry has been on the rise over the past several years. The once niche phrases self care and self love are now seen as an integral practice by many consumers around the world. Now more than ever, we are all looking for ways we can best take ownership to prioritize our overall well-being and becoming much more aware of all the different ways we can, and should, take care of ourselves. Wellness is about taking care of our body as well as our mind. 360-degree wellness care is for many the new holy grail. Wellness is innately tied into the lifestyle industry, from what we decorate our home spaces with, what we wear to exercise or relax, and how we care for our skin and hair. 

VOCAST has spoken to two experts within the field: Chelsey Weimar, Model & Founder of Project Comfortable, and Nina van Haren, Social Media & PR Manager at CABAU, shedding light on what wellness is about and why brands can benefit from collaborating with profiles and publications that showcase wellness related content.

What is wellness?

Today’s consumers define wellness across six dimensions:

Health: Besides medicine and supplements, it now also includes telemedicine, remote health care services, and personal health trackers.

Fitness: Creative offerings that meet the needs of consumers, such as fitness apps and YouTube videos, have seen a lot of progress lately.

Nutrition: Consumers now want food not only to taste good but also to help them achieve their wellness goals.

Appearance: This involves both wellness-oriented apparel (athleisure) and beauty products (such as skincare and collagen supplements).

Sleep: Next to traditional sleep medications such as melatonin, app-enabled sleep trackers and other sleep-enhancing products (for example, gravity blankets) are often being used.

Mindfulness: Meditation-focused apps and offerings have gained consumer acceptance.

What makes the Wellness industry interesting?

According to the McKinsey Wellness survey, consumers care deeply about wellness and their interest is definitely growing. In a survey of approximately 7,500 consumers in 6 countries, 79% of the respondents stated that they believe that wellness is important, and 42% believe it to be a top priority. Moreover, McKinsey estimated the global wellness market at more than $1.5 trillion, with annual growth of 5% to 10%. Therefore, there are a lot of opportunities for companies. However, the market is crowded. VOCAST gathered some insights to help you navigate through it.

What are consumers asking for?

Natural & clean products

Consumers are keen on natural/clean products in an array of areas, This strategy could look different by segment: in apparel, products designed with organic/natural materials and sustainability in mind; in consumer health, natural/clean beauty products; in retail, merchandising with an eye to products that resonate as authentically natural.

Storytelling

Nowadays, people will not only buy your product because of the product itself. People are interested in the story behind the brand and the products, and a feeling of well-being.

Trust

The McKinsey Wellness survey showed that more than 60 percent of consumers report that they will “definitely” or “probably” consider a brand or product posted by a favorite influencer.

Industry insight 

Chelsey Weimar, Model & Founder of Project Comfortable

After many years in the modeling industry, Chelsey founded Project Comfortable: from interviews to tutorials, to editorials and reviews – there’s something for everyone. She wanted to create a space that allows her to bring her vision of beauty, lifestyle, wellness, and fashion together. Where her love for video and photography meets, and where she can share her network of inspiring creatives with the world.

 

Nina van Haren, PR Manager & Social Media Marketing Director

Nina van Haren has been part of the CABAU team since the day the brand was launched in February 2019. Working as Social Media Marketing & PR Manager for the brand, Nina is responsible for branded collabs, events, PR product launches, cross-channel social media marketing strategies, brand awareness campaigns, and PR activities.

Why is wellness so important?

Chelsey Weimar: Wellness matters because everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well-being. It definitely affects our emotions and actions. You can achieve wellness by staying in good condition mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Nina van Haren: Wellness is everywhere. It is our whole life. Today’s society is dominated by a 24/7 online world. Our stress levels are also constantly being tested as a result of social media platforms influencing our lives. A prolonged high-stress level has a serious impact on our body, muscles, and hormone system. And this is exactly why we should, more than ever, be concerned for our health through simple day-to-day steps and habits that will have a major impact on the way we feel, the way we look, and the way we behave.

How can we describe the rise of this industry?

Chelsey Weimar: I think more and more people realize now that wellness is not a luxury but a necessity. I feel like Covid also played a big role in this. Also, the marketing to live a healthier life is bigger than ever, and because there’s so much money involved in this industry I feel like everyone is trying to be part of it, in any way possible.

Nina van Haren: The wellness industry has always existed. However, our need for wellness services and products has increased over the past decades. As a result, the industry has risen. Now, more than ever, mental health has become a national concern where it wasn’t such an important matter a few decades ago. I believe this is due to a changing society in which mental and physical health has become a major player.

What are the top wellness trends in the lifestyle industry?

Nina van Haren: One major movement in the industry is the body positivity movement. More than ever, brands are embracing our natural human forms. Instead of portraying only tall, small women in wellness campaigns and advertisements, more and more brands are working towards a more realistic image. It is a beautiful movement as it makes us, consumers, realize that all bodies are different. What I personally hope is that this movement is convincing young girls and boys to embrace their bodies and looks and consider their body characteristics as unique and beautiful. Another trend is the attitude of businesses towards mental awareness. Yoga retreats, mindfulness workshops, and meditation classes have become increasingly popular. I believe that there is a great market for mental health businesses as society is only putting more pressure on us resulting in a rising need for mental health services.

Chelsey Weimar: To me, the mental health-based ones are the most important. Mental health wellness has been taken more seriously over the years which makes me very happy and I think is extremely important.

What makes wellness influencers ideal brand ambassadors? 

Chelsey Weimar: They are recognized subject matter experts who have knowledge and experience in their field. It makes them excellent brand ambassadors because they are honest and passionate about their expertise and I think more relatable than doctors or nutritionists for example. You follow their digital life on Instagram so you feel like you know them personally because you see so much more of their life than just the wellness-based advice they share.

Nina van Haren: As our health is so important, we need platforms to help spread this message including influencers. In whatever industry you’re in, you need marketing channels and ambassadors that help spread your brand message. You need ambassadors with the same values as your brand values. Ambassadors that fit your target group. Only when there is a good match between brand and ambassador, influencer marketing activities are beneficial as your ambassadors are your “faces” of the brand. They represent your brand and give the company and its mission a visual image with emotion and personal bonding. A personality is someone the consumer can identify with, feel empathy for and connect with. That is the strength of Influencer Marketing.

Wellness influencers across markets

​Take a look at some of the top wellness influencer across markets, that can be found in VOCAST’s curated lists:

Denmark

Caroline Hannibal is a self-proclaimed Gua Sha, Face Yoga & Beauty nerd. She is well known from TikTok, where she shares skincare videos as well as tips and tricks on how to get beautiful, healthy and glowing skin.

Sweden

Josefine Dahlberg is an influencer and entrepreneur with a passion for body and soul care. Her content is full of positive energy and wellness inspiration. Josefine believes that everything is possible and lives by the words “dream big & work hard”.

Norway

Mikela is a beauty influencer that shares tips regarding what qualities and ingredients to look for in skin care products. She shares informative content on TikTok and Instagram to help her followers enhance their skin’s well-being.

France

Stéphanie Allerme also known as Mademoiselle Pierre is a French wellness influencer. Her idyllic feed showcases her holistic lifestyle in the South of France, where her content varies from reviewing sustainable beauty products and interior furniture to sharing her personal tips on how to be the best version of yourself.

Italy

Soleil Stasi is an actress, Model, influencer and  Content Creator. She is passionate about yoga, art, nature, fitness, food and travel and wants to inspire her community with daily content on mind and body’s well-being.

Germany

Hanna is a Beauty Editor, Influencer, and entrepreneur who is all about natural beauty, self-love, and self-care. Hanna also has a podcast called “Gepflegte Gespräche” where she talks about these topics. The title of the podcast refers to wellness and wellbeing.

The Netherlands

Chelsey Weimar is a Dutch model and influencer. She has recently launched her very own ‘Project Comfortable’ -a platform where she and her contemporaries share personal inspiring stories on health, wellness, beauty, and style.

Belgium

Gudrun Hespel is a psychologist and personal trainer motivating people toward fitter mental and physical health. She is the author of The Fittest You and the founder of a studio with the same name in the middle of nature. Moreover, she is the owner of Recharge, which is a Fitness, boutique & bar in Antwerp. She focuses on a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

The US

Based in Los Angeles, Mandy Madden Kelley is a health, skincare and beauty influencer. She focuses on all things healthy living, providing ideas and insights about feeling beautiful inside and out.

The UK

Nià is an entrepreneur, business founder, model, and influencer based in the UK. She is a go-to hair specialist for people with natural and curly hair and shares beauty and lifestyle content with her followers through a holistic mindset of care, love, and light.

References: Project Comfortable, Cabau Lifestyle, McKinsey: Feeling good: The future of the $1.5 trillion wellness market


Georgina is the UK Market Coordinator at VOCAST, responsible for British fashion and lifestyle research. Along with her work at VOCAST and studies at Copenhagen Business School, she is passionate about conscious fashion reform in the industry.

 

Michelle Achten is the Dutch Market Coordinator at VOCAST, responsible for the Dutch and Belgian Fashion and Lifestyle research. She received her bachelor’s degree in Fashion Business and master’s degree in Innovation.

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Join our network: Sign up to our Italian curated lists

Sign up to our Italian curated lists

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Celebrating Pride: authentic marketing & community led branding

Celebrating Pride: authentic marketing & community led branding

Celebrating Pride: authentic marketing & community led branding

LGBTQIA+ influencers and activists are highly influential contacts who have nurtured loyal, trusting, and dedicated audiences. As these activists pioneer to change society, so does the incentive for brands to get involved in the movement. Varying across markets, over the months of June, July, and August, a multitude of campaigns and products are launched by lifestyle brands to celebrate Pride Month. However, consumers are becoming more and more aware of the intentions and actions behind brands; as companies incorporate Pride branding into their campaigns, so does the backlash for those who do so inauthentically, and with no intention of actually supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. 

VOCAST has interviewed three incredible industry insiders working in the activist and lifestyle space. They have highlighted the impact and benefits of brands working within the community, and also shared advice and suggestions on how brands should work authentically and effectively with LGBTQIA+ influencers not only during Pride Month but all year round. 

Meet Mikko, Benjamin & Charlie

Mikko (he/him), Gender Fluidity expert @ Vogue Scandinavia

Hailing from the small Finnish town of Muurame, Mikko Puttonen started his career capturing the natural beauty of the lakes and forests around him as well as documenting his personal style. Mikko, who champions fluidity in fashion, “I am extremely excited and proud to be joining Vogue Scandinavia and to be part of their team. To me, fashion and dressing up have always been a way to express myself and have fun.” Mikko’s ethos is to erase the lines of gendered fashion.

Photographer: Lucas Ruska Martin

Benjamin (he/him), Organizational Chair @ Copenhagen Pride

Benjamin has been a part of Copenhagen Pride since 2019, and became organizational chair in 2021. He was the Managing Director of the 45 people secretariat in Happy Copenhagen, who delivered Copenhagen 2021 – WorldPride and EuroGames in August 2021. Besides his volunteer engagement as co-chair of Copenhagen Pride, he now works as CFO of The Danish Refugee Council Youth.

Charlie (she/her), Activist & Author

Charlie Craggs is an award-winning trans activist, author and media personality dubbed ‘the voice of a community’ by Vogue, best known for her national campaign Nail Transphobia, her LAMBDA nominated book To My Trans Sisters and her BBC documentary Transitioning Teens. Charlie has topped the Guardian’s New Radicals list of social innovators in Britain, been the recipient of a Marie Claire Future Shaper Award and fronted global campaigns for brands like The Body Shop, H&M and Selfridges.

Branding & Marketing Strategy During Pride Month

Brands that embrace their uniqueness and understand their powerful position are indispensable for helping communities. Utilizing a brand’s access to markets and large, diverse populations opens the door to creating campaigns that spark interest and encourage conversations through inclusive marketing campaigns. As Benjamin tells us, “using corporate influence to make broader changes is where companies can be truly helpful.”

The LGBTQIA+ community is not only vast, it is loyal. Activists and influencers in the community have the ability to reach audiences who truly trust their opinions because they understand their consumer demands on a highly personal level. Working with activists during Pride Month, as Charlie says, is not only just smart business, it’s the right thing to do. She explains how Pride branding is a recent phenomenon: 

« To have global brands coming out now and saying “we’re on your side” and to see them be pro LGBTQIA+ is huge especially when you remember a time when it wasn’t like that. »

Brands can be intimidated during Pride Month, some have been openly critiqued by the community for their branding strategy. When a campaign flops, Charlie says that it is easy to tell that no one from the community has been behind the marketing story. She advises brands to think about the diversity in front of the camera and behind it, understand the diversity within the letters: LGBTQIA, and take a permanent stance on issues. Mikko further explains that branding should always be authentic and that all support is welcome because, with more visibility, we are able to move towards a more inclusive world. He says that Pride is a time when people who are not part of the community can learn something, and by brands participating in the conversation, wider audiences are reached and opinions can be changed. By booking LGBTQIA+ talents, brands bring more opportunities directly to the community. Nevertheless, he says:

« Utilising pride month in brand strategies should never only be about thriving more sales or uplifting the brand image. »

What is the LGBTQIA+ community asking for during Pride Month?

Mikko explains that it is unethical to work with LGTBQIA+ talents only during Pride Month and forget about them for the other 11 months of the year:

« If you really want to support the community, do it all year round and book people for their talent and not just for their sexual orientation or identity. »

Charlie tells us the same thing: “We need you all year, not just for a month”, she says. She feels that pride campaigns, in general, are positive and show that a brand is on the right side of history, but it is much more empowering for the community to see themselves advertised not just for pride, but in any campaign, any time of year. She also explains the importance for brands to not bring in people from the community as an act of tokenism:

« It will be nice when I can do a campaign and it’s not even note-worthy that a trans person was included, thats what will feel equal and that’s the goal. »

A key thought to incorporate during any marketing campaign is that Pride Month and support of the LGBTQIA+ community is multifaceted as its members; there is no one cause to support, but rather a myriad of issues that affect each subgroup differently. Simply focusing on the overarching “rainbow” will often cause individual issues to be overlooked. Understanding the specific areas within the community can often prove more authentic and concrete when intending to lend support for change.

Authentic support is also deeper than marketing and branding. Benjamin explains that Pride branded products themselves are not a problem, “as long as corporations give authentic support to the LGBTQIA+ community and change internal policies”. He says that companies must, at the very least, have corporate policies to ensure that management supports a safe and supportive environment for employees. A brand’s own LGBTQIA+ employees must be supported and involved in a healthy work culture in order to not only be authentic when reaching out to outside communities but to be successful. Mikko also explains that support should be seen in all layers of the company, not just in the end result of a marketing or social media campaign:

« Look at the production teams, PRs, and creative teams. If everyone looks the same, something is wrong. »

What are consumers asking for during Pride Month?

In a time of brand transparency and interest, consumers are much more involved in the companies they choose to buy from. Studies show that over 50% of Millennials, the current largest consumer group, say that they are not only more likely to support a brand after seeing an “equality-themed ad”, but are also more likely to choose them over their competitors. Moreover, that financial incentives continue to grow: the LGBTQ+ community has a combined buying power of $3.7 trillion globally.

Benjamin explains that consumers are demanding more actions from corporations on the theme of equality, as well as other CSR-related themes such as climate and environment. He says that consumers are getting more critical and corporations need to go deeper than just rainbow packaging:

« Consumers have a critical eye on the companies that they buy from, which pressures companies who are rainbow washing. So, companies’ branding has been taken advantage of pride month, but we see a drastic change, where performing rainbow washing will backlash on companies. »

Do Not: rainbow wash

Rainbow washing is usually defined as a practice in which corporations that make no concrete effort to support LGBTQIA+ communities (and sometimes actively oppose them) utilize popularized rainbow pride branding to claim allyship.

Do: be an authentic ally

A support system in which someone from outside a marginalized group makes an obvious, genuine attempt to transfer the benefits of privilege to those who lack it, in order to advocate on the marginalized groups’ behalf, and support them to achieve change.

Do Not: be a performative ally

A gesture made from outside of the group that is symbolic in nature, intended to gain social capital and avoid outward scrutiny, but that has no impact on the marginalized community.

What are the impacts of Rainbow Washing?

Benjamin explains that rainbow washers will profit from symbolic support for the communities without contributing to the LGBTQIA + fight through funding, networking, changing policies, or activism. Rainbow washing has far-reaching impacts. It’s damaging, he tells us, because it misleads well-intentioned people into thinking they’re supporting the LGBTQIA+ community when in reality they’re filling the pockets of greedy corporations. He says that the misuse of the Pride flag has had a watering down effect on Pride as an event:

« In some people’s minds, Pride has become more about brand deals, sponsorships and celebrity appearances, rather than supporting queer voices and raising awareness for LGBTQIA+ issues. »

Moreover, any budget used by corporations to fulfill this often performative branding uses funds that would make a substantial difference otherwise. These funds could be applied to either supporting LGBTQIA+ nonprofits, or simply turned towards improving a company’s own culture and ensuring that their own LGBTQIA+ employees are supported. In other words, it can in fact remove opportunities for authentic allyship. This is not to say that small steps are not significant, research by GLAAD and Proctor & Gamble shows that inclusive media images and advertising lead to greater acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQIA+ community which is still a positive change. 

Support vs. Commodification

Mikko tells us that when finding the line between support and commodification, it’s about understanding people as individuals and more than a sexuality or identity. He explains the importance of listening more, and learning more:

« Invest in diversity and inclusion workshops for companies. In my opinion, close-mindedness comes often from a lack of information. »

Benjamin says that when a brand swaps its social media avatar to a rainbow version in June or otherwise shows some support, it has to reflect whether its ads feature the community year-round, whether it hires LGBTQIA+ employees, puts them in leadership positions, and whether the brand actually supports the community with resources and internal policies.

Charlie explains that brands should not create a collection for Pride Month if the profits are not contributing to the community. When defining the difference between support and commodification, she asks brands to remember what Pride Month means:

« It’s not just a celebration and a party. Pride started as a protest, a riot against the police. If you’re going to be monotizing off of that, you need to pay into the community. »

Mikko also encourages brands to find diverse people in the LGTBQIA+ community and listen to them, “you can have a brief but this is the time to give creative freedom” he says. He also advises that brands make sure they have LGBTQIA+ people in their own team or even consult someone, when planning campaigns:

« Being authentic, in my opinion, is the best pride strategy to celebrate the freedom to be who you are with no limits. Selling products shouldn’t be the main goal or focus. »

Marketing Advice

Key focus points

  1. Make it thoughtful, understanding, educational and authentic.
  2. Involve LGBTQIA+ people in the creation.
  3. Involve LGBTQIA+ people in the promotion.
  4. Ensure LGBTQIA+ inclusion after June.
  5. Make sure the brand is not speaking but amplifying.
  6. Make sure the brand has an LGBTQIA+ inclusive internal culture.
  7. Make your support global and not just in queer-friendly countries.
  8. Make sure profits from rainbow products go directly to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Benjamin, Organisational Chair of Copenhagen Pride

Representation in the decision room

When creating an LGBTQIA+ centered campaign, “representation in the decision room” can be crucial; getting influencers/activists involved from the beginning of campaign conception can help ensure an authentic and successful effort in which community members can feel as though their points of view were considered and that campaign is sincere. 

Focus on language

A clear focus on language choice in marketing and copy materials is also key. They are a crucial aspect of any marketing campaign but are even more so when it relates to a community that is often mislabeled and excluded using language.

Outward action reflects internal policy

When deciding to include and emphasize LGBTQIA+ communities in marketing, brands must do their best to ensure that their internal culture is similarly emphasized. 

Make use of activist and influencer expertise

When working with activists, you allow their identity and knowledge to shine through to the extent that you can be confident that you are creating an authentic partnership that allows for an authentic message.

Work with nonprofits that amplify LGBTQ+ voices

Show true allyship be mindful of other partnerships and who you choose to work with throughout the year. Working with an LGBTQIA+ non-profit during Pride Month and another partner who has demonstrated prejudice can undo all the work being done.

 

The LGBTQIA+ Influencers

Our research team has gathered some of the most exciting LGBTQIA+ community contacts from each market. Take a look below:

Denmark

Julia Sofia is originally known on YouTube, where she has been creating content since 2013, and she is now running her own makeup brand. In 2018 she uploaded a video on YouTube talking about her sexuality and being queer, which led to many interviews about her point of view on the LGBTQIA+ community. She is an advocate of just being yourself and not necessarily having to put a title on your sexuality. 

Sweden

Tone Sekelius is an influencer and singer from Stockholm, Sweden. In 2021 she came out as transgender and was the first openly transgender performing in Swedens biggest song contest, Melodifestivalen. This year, she received the award “LGBTQ of the year” in the QX gala.

Norway

Camilla Lorentzen and Julie Visnes are a Norwegian influencer couple. They share uplifting content revolving around their marriage and journey towards having children and have gained a large worldwide following on TikTok and Instagram.

France

Ilya is a French fashion and beauty influencer, who wants to encourage many to dress as they want regardless of gender norms. Ilya considers himself and his style to be “genderless” and is a true advocate and trendsetter when it comes to gender-fluid fashion.

Italy

After the huge success on musical.ly due to being a reference point for boys and girls of his age, Matteo continues his journey on TikTok by sharing funny and ironic videos, entertaining more than a million people every day. In addition to entertaining, Matteo spreads information on his channels, interacting and discussing with his community. He is one of the main influencers of the Italian LGBTQIA + community.

The Netherlands

Nikkie Tutorials is a Dutch makeup star who’s done the makeup for celebrities like Adele and Kim Kardashian. In January 2020 she made global news when she revealed she’d been transgender since she was six. She is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations in The Netherlands, and focuses on themes like racism, gender equality, and women’s rights.

The US

Christopher Griffin is an influencer, plant enthusiast, collector and community builder based in Brooklyn, New York. They aim to continue to build an inclusive green community for everyone and create greater visibility as a Black queer femme who exists in green spaces.

The UK

Jamie Windust is an award-winning non-binary writer, public speaker and model from London. They have written for The Independent, Gay Times, British GQ, Cosmopolitan and INTO More, and were named as one of London’s most influential people.

Georgina is the UK Market Coordinator at VOCAST, responsible for British fashion and lifestyle research. Along with her work at VOCAST and studies at Copenhagen Business School, she is passionate about conscious fashion reform in the industry.

Olivia is the US Lifestyle Researcher at VOCAST. She received her degree in PR and Communications from Rutgers University, and has worked in Lifestyle and Fashion PR. 

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Tackling the same topics of how the internet, social media, globalization, and digitalization changed the game, we invited Mørch & Rohde, a successful Danish strategic and creative agency that offers 360-degree branding, communication, concept development, SoMe, and PR solutions for Scandinavian and international fashion/lifestyle brands. Their clientele includes notable labels such as IRO, ba&sh, Martin Asbjørn, SAND, and Arne Aksel to name a few.

Our co-founder Jens Hamborg Koefoed sat down with Lotte Mørch Monchamp and Sarah Rohde Olsen, respectively Co-founder/Creative Director, and Co-founder/CEO of Mørch & Rohde to discuss how they help brands obtain a unique and strong market position in Scandinavia, cover the evolution of influencer marketing and classic PR, advise on how to implement a successful PR and content-based strategy.

1. Create a brand identity that you can convey on different channels

Brands are living organisms with their own personality, we need to convey the brand stories through different channels and help them do content, and that’s something you can’t do if you don’t understand the purpose of the brand. It’s important because the end-users nowadays don’t just buy a dress, they buy into a community. 

Back in the days you could rely on a few editors and print magazines but now you have to create content for Instagram, TikTok, retailers, etc…Having a clear story and a red thread across different channels is important to maintain authenticity, especially with younger consumers who are so informed. There’s a huge need for content constantly and it’s much higher than just a few years ago. 

2. Brand discovery became more democratic but more touch points need to be covered

Previously it was only the printed press, key editors, and buyers that were invited to the runway shows and determined the success of a brand. Today it’s more democratic, there’s a large crowd that can actually make a brand successful. It’s somehow good for the industry but also difficult for a brand because there are many touch points and people have to be convinced about a brand’s uniqueness. Instagram, YouTube, web-shop, retailers, wholesalers, print/online magazines, and content creators all need a different brief which translates in different ways. A tendency we see a lot is to also prioritize the budget to different channels and a lot of brands are spending or allocating more budget to content shoots.

3. Content plays an important role and has to be constantly updated

Before, a brand would sell with a nice printed catalog or lookbook. Today, it’s completely different – most brands use social media and that’s why the content for social media is so important. The first thing people will do is look into your Instagram, so the top 9 pictures are the DNA of the brand. The content needs to develop in this sense. Social media needs to be updated every day, so you need a lot of content for those platforms and create more shoots to build content for a brand. Cropping of the images is also significant, you need different types of images for different channels so a lot of times the assets produced come in hundreds.

It’s also very important that you create authentic pictures and images – for example, behind-the-scenes content is interesting for the end-user. Of course, it’s important to use classic campaign images. But it’s impactful to create images to build a community, you don’t sell a product you sell a story. Mørch og Rohde has a team to do behind the scenes, and a videographer to do shoots for social media every month. 

4. Find the right brand ambassadors and trust the ones you choose to collaborate

Find the relevant brand ambassadors, a lot of your time should be dedicated to finding the relevant people for brands to work with. There needs to be a strategic fit, for the content created with the influencer to be authentic. Without the strategic fit, the follower will be confused as to why those two are working together.

Think about the purpose of your influencer campaign, brands often come up with a list of demands like: they need to drive sales, build a community, help with a new brand positioning, and that the specific influencer is followed by specific people, etc… But you can’t have it all, and you need to assess what the campaign is for. Some campaigns are to drive sales, some are made to drive brand awareness to enter a certain market. Having a purpose behind your influencer campaign is crucial. Have a strategic talk before choosing your brand ambassadors. 

Give them creative freedom and trust, brands need to make sure they have trust in the influencer they pick. The influencer knows their platform the best and engages with their followers every day. Don’t be scared to give control to a content creator, because it’s a partner that will convey your brand message through their platform in their own best way.

5. Physical events create beautiful moments and worthwhile content

Gather your community, you can do a lot of cool activation online and drive a lot of engagement and sales for webshops but being able to showcase your brand universe in a physical setting is of course something different. To invite press and influencers and create cool experiences for the consumer where they can be a part of your community and brand story is very valuable. Of course, it is still important to work with both digital and physical strategies as they often go together. If you create an amazing physical experience, that’s also where you will see a lot of beautiful content materialize. 

Physical events make great content, when brands do events, we always ask if this event is instagrammable; is it worth taking out a phone to take pictures? Think of Jacquemus and his beautiful shows and see how much content came out of that, you still see those pictures popping in your Instagram feed. So it’s still important to work with these physical channels because they can have a huge effect on digital awareness as well.

Only host events with a purpose, before the pandemic we saw a lot of events, now brands must know that they should never host an event if there’s no purpose behind it. The press, influencers, and stylists are invited to so many, if you are hosting an event just to have one don’t do it, just use that budget for a content shoot instead. Everyone is so busy, so you need to have something to offer and meaning behind your event. 

6. Scandinavia is ahead of the digital game

Printed media is still important in the Scandinavian market, but there aren’t that many left. If you only rely on stories that go in printed media it limits your brand awareness. Some international brands are still very focused on the printed media landscape but it’s not the only channel we work with, if you want to be a big player here you need to tap into several ones. 

This development hit our markets much faster than bigger markets like France and Germany. Instead, brands should focus on finding the right local players to work it to gain brand awareness. Find the right influencers, open up a pop store, and collaborate with artists that share the same brand values to spread the brand story in the Nordics.

Meet our experts

 
Lotte Mørch Monchamp – Founder and CEO of the sales agency Mørch, and Co-Founder and Creative Director of Mørch & Rohde

She has worked in the fashion industry for more than two decades and is known in the industry for her ability to introduce international fashion brands to the Scandinavian market. In Mørch & Rohde, Lotte oversees all creative processes and advises brands on how to develop a strong visual identity, where she combines creative thinking with a commercial mindset.

 

 
Sarah Rohde Olsen – Co-Founder and CEO of Mørch & Rohde

She has a background in consulting and is a subject matter expert in positioning and brand strategy. Her specialty is further in Influencer Marketing, where she advises brands on working with Influencers from a strategic perceptive and is also the agent of Josefine Hj.

 

 

 

Let’s get digital

Digitalization is at the forefront of the conversation about what is changing in the fashion industry. The need for brands to have an online presence and operate business digitally has been continuously rising, especially over the past few seasons. Meeting and sharing content online became even more integral for brands due to the restrictions that we have collectively experienced over the course of the pandemic, but the trend of brands moving into a more digital universe had been occurring before this. This shift is therefore undoubtedly changing the blueprint and make-up of industry events, shows, and fairs. Learn more about the VOCAST image bank feature here: https://vocast.com/digital-showroom.

 

Ines is the Research and Marketing Manager at VOCAST.  She previously worked in the beauty industry and is now an expert in social media and digital marketing. Every day she helps design-driven brands navigate digital trends and carry out their marketing and brand strategies effortlessly.