Inside the Creator Economy

The Science of Influence w/ Jonas Colliander (PART 1)

*PART 1*

In this week’s double episode, Sanna Ödmark talks to a true topic expert when it comes to the science of social media and influencer marketing - Jonas Colliander, Associate Professor at the Center for Retailing at Stockholm School of Economics, who has spent many years researching these topics.

We talk about influencer marketing from a scientific perspective and go all the way back to the roots of consumption and influence - what factors drive consumers to make purchase decisions and how do they choose which messages they listen to? Jonas also walks us through the evolution of influencer marketing and explains how brands can use this marketing channel to cut through the noise. 

We also cover topics such as: 

• The fundamental principles of influence
• Why we are so affected by influencers - even though we know it’s paid collaborations
• Observations on the future of influencer marketing

About Jonas Colliander

Jonas Colliander is an Associate Professor at the Center for Retailing at Stockholm School of Economics and his studies are focused on social media. What is it that shapes our views of social media, how should companies treat this phenomenon for marketing purposes, and how do consumers respond to marketing through these channels? Since joining the Center for Retailing he’s also continuously investigating the link between social media and e-commerce. 

Besides his research, Jonas is teaching regularly at The Stockholm School of Economics in BSc courses in market research and marketing communications as well as lecturing and consulting for companies both in Sweden and internationally. 

How Social Commerce is Changing Shopping Habits

There’s a big shift happening in the online shopping sphere - social commerce. By making it possible for people to shop directly from social media platforms without visiting a third-party website, social commerce is definitely changing the way we shop online at a rapid speed.

Instagram is one of the social platforms that has taken the lead on developing social shopping features and created a one-stop shop that takes consumers from inspiration to check-out. With features like Checkout, Live shopping and Shopping from Creators, the popular platform opens up endless creative opportunities for brands to reach their target audience and increase sales. 

We cover topics such as: 

• What drives consumers to a purchase today?
• Why you need to have a social commerce strategy?
• What opportunities are there for brands to sell on the Instagram?

Mastering the Art of Marketing to Gen Z w/ Janice Cheng @Blume

The newest consumer generation - Gen Z - is upturning retailers’ expectations and lately we’ve seen a huge shift in marketing focus towards this emerging group. The question is; what can brands do in order to capture this generation’s attention, and what ways are there for brands to connect with these digital natives? 

In this week’s episode, Sanna Ödmark talks to a true topic expert - Janice Cheng, Brand Manager at Blume, who really knows how to master the art of marketing to Gen Z on social media platforms. 

We cover topics such as: 

• What brands need to know about Gen Z
• How Blume works with UGC across all their channels
• How TikTok and Clubhouse can help you to keep up with Gen Z and the culture

About Janice Cheng:

Janice is the Brand Manager at Blume - a fast-growing cohesive line of clean skin, body and period care. You can read more about Blume in Teen Vogue, PopSugar and Forbes. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Janice's day to day ranges between managing brand partnerships, social strategy and copywriting. She loves learning from their tight knit Gen Z community, viewing them as the trend setting, change making generation of today.

How Influencer Marketing can Improve Customer Relations w/ Julia Arheden

Relationships have always played an important part in human evolution. Trust and relationships with other people make us feel safe. With this, it makes sense to turn to someone you have a relationship with -  regardless of the situation. 

The relationship a customer has with a brand today is similar to any other relationship. It has to be nurtured and a two-way communication to work. As influencer marketing is built on the strengths of relationships, it can help brands improve customer relationships in many different ways. 

In this episode, Frida Ekholm talks to Julia Arheden, Client Manager at Cure Media, about how influencer marketing can help improve customer relations and why it is critical to know how to communicate with your customers.

We also cover topics such as:

• How the best-in-class companies work with customer relations
• What's important to have in mind when building relationships with millennials and Gen Z
• Tips on how to improve customer relationships with influencer marketing

About Julia Arheden: 

Julia is a Client Manager at Cure Media and has several years of experience working within influencer marketing for fashion brands. Over the years, she has accumulated extensive experience and knowledge about how influencer marketing can support fashion brands and marketers in improving the overall media mix and reaching their goals. By meeting a lot of marketers, she knows that there are a few challenges that many of them face, and one of them is improving customer relationships. 

Keys to Successful Influencer Marketing for Stronger w/ Matilda Lönn

How do you create a differentiated brand position in the online realm, when more and more brands are entering the digital space? Stronger is one of the fastest growing digital native brands in Sweden and in this week’s episode, Sanna Ödmark talks to Matilda Lönn, Head of Influencer Marketing at Stronger, about their keys to success. 

Tune in and learn more about how Stronger works with social media and influencer marketing to build a strong brand community among their target audience, and also, how they’ve managed to build top of mind awareness in a competitive marketplace.

We also cover topics such as: 

• The value of leveraging user-generated content (UGC) to connect with your audience
• Why picture perfect Instagram feeds are no longer to strive for
• Tips on how to succeed with influencer marketing today and in the future

About Matilda Lönn:

Matilda Lönn is the Head of Influencer Marketing at Stronger, a leading Swedish activewear brand that sells products through global e-commerce. Matilda has more than 5 years experience from working with influencer marketing at two of the fastest growing digital native brands in Sweden, at the forefront of the industry. Over the years, she has accumulated extensive experience and knowledge about how companies should work with influencers in order to increase brand awareness in a genuine and relevant way, and thereby increase sales and customer satisfaction.

Why Always-on Influencer Marketing is Always Better

The average western consumer is exposed to around 3000 commercial messages every day. How do you make sure your brand is top of mind when it's time for a purchase decision? By working always-on!

It’s like going to the gym one single time won’t give you big muscles, and advertising your brand only for a week won’t make people remember you in the long run. In the same way, if you want your influencer marketing to generate long-term results, you need to have an always-on approach. 

In this podcast episode, we’ll walk you through four main reasons why we think ‘always-on’ should be at the heart of every influencer marketing strategy.

How Brands Stand Out and Win in the Digital World w/ Erik Modig

The pandemic has changed the world as we know it and in uncertain times, and when we need to adapt to a new normality, it is more important than ever for businesses to focus on long-term brand building activities, to manage to stand out from the crowd and win the online war in terms of market share and profits. 

In this week’s episode, Sanna Ödmark talks to the awarded author, speaker and researcher Erik Modig about why rethinking and evaluating your brand is more important than ever, how brands find the right balance between long-term strategic brand building and tactical sales activations, and why you should never waste a good crisis. 

 

We cover topics such as: 

• What key things do B2C brands need to consider when it comes to brand building activities in a digital world?
• What should e-commerce brands do to stand out in the crowded online space?  
• How can brands find the right balance between long-term strategic brand building and tactical short-term activations?

 

About Erik Modig:

Erik Modig is a researcher at the Center for Consumer Marketing at Stockholm School of Economics. He's also an awarded author and a demanded speaker at organizations and conferences, where he holds lectures within his field of research. Erik’s research focuses on advertising and how the consumer psychology of communication, branding and creativity affect business growth.

The State of Influencer Marketing 2021

What are B2C marketers' perspectives on the state of influencer marketing in 2021? 

It’s finally here! Our annual brand survey on the State of Influencer Marketing 2021 which covers trends, challenges and future investments in influencer marketing to gather brands’ and marketers’ perspectives on the state of the industry in 2021. 

In this episode, Frida and Sanna will focus on eight key findings from the report, all based on the answers from B2C brands in Europe, as well as on findings from previous research. You will learn about how marketers plan to invest in the channel in 2021, the most popular marketing channels as well as top challenges and goals with overall marketing activities and influencer marketing.

If you want to deep-dive into further findings and trends, we recommend you to check out the written report as well: https://www.curemedia.com/portfolio-items/report-state-of-influencer-marketing-2021/

Measuring ROI in the Marketing Mix w/ Christopher Engman

One of the biggest challenges for today’s CMOs is to understand how and where to invest their marketing budgets - which channels, formats and messaging types contribute the most and how should you balance the money and resources between the different channels and activities in the marketing mix? 

In a digital world, where we have tremendous amounts of data at hand, many brands have focused a lot on short term sales activations that lead to immediate wins. In an increasingly competitive market, however, this makes it harder to grow and increase profit in the long term. To succeed over the long term, brands need to continue putting much focus on building a strong brand - and in this episode, about marketing mix modeling with Christopher Engman, you’ll learn why.

We also cover topics such as: 

• How marketing mix modeling can help you optimize the marketing mix
• The most important concepts of marketing mix modeling 
• Why you should never measure marketing ROI channel by channel

About Christopher Engman

Christopher Engman is a global entrepreneur, investor, author and expert in driving rapid revenue growth. In his most recent book about Megadeals, which he wrote together with J. Åberg, the authors combine insights from years of marketing and sales experience with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies to propose a set of hypotheses and provide a powerful formula for brands to realize long-term success. Christopher is also a frequently hired speaker in marketing and sales and has written a book about forecasting of the Swedish state budget. 

The Power of Micro Influencers

Micro influencer: Small, but mighty! 

Since years, they have been on marketers lips and many brands have already shifted their focus from celebrity influencers with millions of followers to these smaller micro influencers. But still, many wonders; What's the power of micro influencers?  

In this episode, Sanna and Frida will walk you through how micro influencers differ from bigger influencers, why their close relationship with their followers results in high engagement and credibility, and of course, how you as a brand can use this as an advantage.