media update’s David Jenkin was in attendance at the Rivonia venue on Thursday, 6 July.

Attendees were wined and dined in a room adjacent to a recording studio at Cliffcentral.com, while panellists made themselves comfortable in preparation for a relaxed, yet informative, discussion. Master of ceremonies was the highly entertaining Siya Sangweni, while Jumpstart’s chairman, Thabiso Makhubela, facilitated the discussion.

Makhubela, in his welcome address, said that he always looked forward to Jumpstart’s annual mixer events in particular, as an opportunity to dig into the minds of people from different industries, to engage and interact.

Being authentic

The first discussion featured Gareth Cliff himself, brand architect Jay Badza, and fashion stylist and influencer Tshepi Vundla. Cliff was quick to emphasise the necessity of authenticity in the influencer game. The fake stuff doesn’t cut it anymore, he said. “You could have got away with it in the old days of traditional media … it’s propaganda, basically. Now, people are too smart. And if you try to get away with it these days, you will end up being counter-productive to what you’re trying to achieve because people will hate you.”

He added that influencers need to be careful about what they say yes to and not just grab whatever comes their way.

Vundla echoed that point and said that it had taken her a while to start saying no to things and being more assertive, to say that she didn’t like something, or that a particular look didn’t suit her image. “It’s better if you have a say, and you need to have a backbone, because agencies do take advantage of us – especially when it comes to paycheques. You need to know your worth, and say ‘this is my name, my brand, so we have to work together’.”

Badza said that PR agencies have to be more innovative and need to find more engaging ways to reach audiences, but the influencer market is very saturated. The ones who win, he said, are those that are collaborating with influencers in order to create content.

“I’ve always said that I don’t think being an influencer is a job. You’re a photographer, a stylist, a makeup artist, a brand specialist – that’s what you are first and foremost, before you are an influencer. The people I feel that muddy this whole sphere are those that are not actually good at something or not known for something.” He says campaigns that work with such people have their credibility called into question.

Reach the people that count

The discussion moved on to focus on content, with Cliff stressing that not every business in South Africa can be a ‘content producer’, as content needs to add value for consumers and can’t exist purely for its own sake. The relevance of the press release was also called into question, with an audience member offering a defence to counter Badza’s assertion that the press release is dead, claiming that it still has reach, particularly in niche industry markets.

Cliff said that there is an obsession with acquiring as much reach as possible, but it must be remembered that niche markets have devoted audiences. The aim, he said, should be to “reach the people that count, don’t count the people you reach.” He also noted that there was a growing appreciation for the value of ‘micro-influencers’, those who might not have a huge following but are nonetheless influential in a niche market.

Authenticity through emotional connections

The second debate followed a short break. Panellists included David Hounson, entrepreneur and personal growth developer, Anna-Belle Durant, the blogger behind She Said, Arthur Goldstuck, writer, media analyst, and commentator on information and communications technology, and Kelebogile Mabunda, founder and director of KLM Publicity, a boutique communications firm.

Houson spoke about emotional intelligence (EQ) and the concept of heart-based intelligence, and the danger of giving too much power to the brain while ignoring the heart. “Companies are doing things more from an IQ perspective, trying to impress, to be non-authentic. I’ve found, as a CEO of a company, the more authentic you are – and you work from the heart-intelligence – the more things flow naturally. So you don’t have to work hard, as many people do, because you find you have to exert a lot of effort when you work from the brain.”

He added that EQ was the right approach for the current economy, where everything is done from a non-authentic space, and urged the audience to seek an alignment between heart and mind to unlock real potential.

Reach does not equal influence

Goldstuck spoke about how influencer marketing is becoming less ad hoc, and more of a formalised marketing strategy, and how research has been pointing towards reach no longer being the real measure, highlighting a distinction between reach and influence.

“At the moment, there is a kind of pendulum swing over to the side of engagement, which is equally dangerous because if you have fifty followers and five of those people engage with your content, that’s a 10% engagement, which is incredibly high, but it’s not actually a great influence. So there’s got to be a balance between those.”

Makhubela asked Mabunda about how to stay relevant, and she responded that listening to the audience and understanding the market is paramount, before any strategy can be conceived. She said that brands need to be informed about the trends in their space and create a strategy from that, giving audiences what they want to consume.  

Content from the heart

Durrant spoke about how she approaches content creation, saying that it always came from an authentic space for her as she began her blog simply because she didn’t like the way people spoke about Johannesburg and, over the years, it morphed into a business.

“I care about who’s reading it but I don’t really care about who isn’t reading it … because who cares?” In terms of authenticity, she said that being an influencer is a side effect of what you are, but it’s still a job and should be taken seriously. Out of the bloggers that have lasted, she said, they didn’t start blogging for the money, rather it was to share an opinion, because they liked something and wanted their friends to see it. “It all comes back to those human emotions,” she added.

Tackling the problems with influencer marketing, Goldstuck noted that it was a wonderful time for influencers because it was easy to fool the industry and pull the wool over clients’ eyes. “It’s almost a supply chain of bullsh*t that’s happening in the influencer industry, because people are paying for a service or an impact and they don’t want anyone to realise that the emperor wears no clothes. Everyone pretends that it’s all working and they look for the numbers and stats that will prove it.”

To get it right, he said, one has to find the right stats and track the right kind of value. For real influence, it’s the impact on the desired audience that needs attention, rather than the broad audience.

For more information, visit prisa.co.za/index.php/JumpStart.

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Interested in influencer marketing in South Africa? Read more in our report, #Kellman20 lists influential South African millennials.