Influencer trend 2019: Product developers instead of product promoters

"The pioneers here were beauty, fashion and food brands. But other industries are also becoming bolder about using influencers as product developers," says Wenzel. Once upon a time, influencers were just pure product promoters for brands. With the professionalization of the marketing tool, more and more brands are using influencers as product developers as well, which greatly affects how a product is marketed and perceived by target audiences. Lucky Shareman explains three strategies for collaborations with influencers in the product area.

1. influencers as brand ambassadors

This approach is similar to classic testimonial marketing. Here, a brand or company develops and produces a new product and only later involves an influencer for product promotion. To promote sales of the product, it is branded with the persona of the influencer. This is what happened with the dm shower foam brand bilou with YouTube star Bibi (bibisbeautypalace). The product image is significantly influenced by the personality of the influencer, even though the influencer was not involved in the creation process of the product. The creative effort on the part of the influencer is thus low, but so is his or her right to have a say.

2. influencers as edition developers

In this type of game, the product is already available in the brand's range. The influencer selects his favorite product, which comes closest to his personality and corresponds to his image. If he selects several products, he creates his own collection. A good example of this is the Kiss Kits from Douglas, which were launched by the three beauty and lifestyle influencers Farina Opoku (novalanalove), Pamela Reif and Julia Maria (xLaeta) for International Women's Day. The highlight of this type of cooperation is that the products are given a makeover and appear new, even though they are not. In other words, there is relatively little effort involved for the brand and the influencer in terms of product development. For the influencer, however, the creative scope for influencing the product is limited.

3. influencers as real product developers

Influencers are experts in a particular field, from which brands can benefit when developing entirely new products or product ranges. If an influencer creates a new product for a brand, the credibility and the broadcast effect are particularly high. As a product creator, the influencer often enjoys a great deal of creative freedom, has a certain say in the process, and is even allowed to involve his or her community. Since the path from product development to production to availability extends over weeks or months, this type of collaboration enables the brand and the influencer to engage in long-term storytelling. The influencer becomes an ambassador even before the product is available, lets his community participate in the creative process and thus binds them to the new product at an early stage. This has a positive effect on the perception of the product, brand sympathy and sales. This is what happened at Born Senf & Feinkost, which had food bloggers create new dips for retailers.

Sustainability counts in influencer marketing

"If brands use influencers as product developers, it means that they think of influencer marketing as sustainable, long-term and part of the marketing mix," explains Björn Wenzel. "Opinion leaders are used specifically to build a certain product image and ensure emotional customer loyalty. This pays off positively on values such as willingness to recommend and brand sympathy and thus makes a valuable contribution to increasing brand value."