BRANDS SHOULD NOT COMPETE WITH CREATORS & STORYTELLERS

Melbourne, 8th March 2017: Digivizer, Australia’s leading social analytics and activations company, has a message for Australian companies: don’t attempt to translate the marketing methods and measures of the past 30 years to today’s digital engagement world. They won’t work.

Marketing has always been about achieving the best results by getting the right message to the right person at the right time using the right channel. What’s changed is how marketers now need to go about doing this. Increasingly this is wherever the consumer is on their mobile device, managing their everyday work and personal life commitments. Overwhelming consumers with mass-market branded messages is increasingly ineffective, or prevented by ad-blocking technology, becoming expensive quickly, and yet often misses the individual and their context.

The future lies with the true creators and storytellers. Digivizer today supports Thom Whilton and Lisa Teh, and the launch of their new book Australian Style: The Who's Who of Fashion. It builds on Thom and Lisa’s on-line content and editing success, and celebrates Australia’s fashion industry innovators, those who create Australia’s leading designs, and those who tell their genuine  stories to the industry and to consumers.

Emma Lo Russo, CEO of Digivizer, explains: “We are proud to again invest in this celebration of Australian innovation.  We have a long partnership supporting Thom Whilton and Lisa Teh, natural storytellers and creators who together have helped support and create some powerful and innovative fashion experiences, many of them leading to new innovations and collaborations for the designers and creators.

“A brand telling its own story no longer holds the same equity and interest for consumers. Consumers want a new and different story being told by someone they trust, that is entertaining and informative, and that aligns to their passions and values.

“Our analytics show that those brands that work with great creators and storytellers gain greater consumer engagement, loyalty, interest and sales. This outperforms those trying to control the branded messaging and solutions.

“The opportunity and choice for brands seems clear: embrace the new role that supports, commissions and inspires the storytellers and creators to deliver genuine and inspiring collaborations that in turn fuels real Australian and global innovation.”

Brands need to invest in, not compete with, the creators and storytellers.

Brands must understand that to win, they must deliver the best experiences and provide great reasons for individuals to engage with them. One of the best ways to do this is to work with the people consumers already turn to for information and inspiration: the creators, the innovators and the storytellers, those who have already earned and built engaged communities of like-minded individuals sharing common interests, passions and values.

Consumers are savvy. They know what is authentic and what is contrived, and they spot undeclared paid-for influence or comment. Even ahead of increasing regulation around declaring paid-for comment, brands should look to earn consumers’ respect for what they really help create, rather than look to trick or mislead them. This comes through investment, inspiration and collaboration of these exciting possibilities via this new generation of creators and storytellers.

Brands will earn the respect of consumers for enabling these creators, the people they already love, to create and tell their great stories, to help them innovate, and fulfil their purpose.

Thom Whilton commented: “We have a long-standing relationship with Digivizer that has seen many successful collaborations over several years, so it felt organic to work together again on the launch of Australian Style: The Who's Who of Fashion.

“Digivizer's data is second-to-none and has provided us with priceless information about who we should best connect with, which in turn influenced how we shape our creative ideas from concepts to successful events and activations. At the same time, we’ve been able to stay true to our passions and expertise, which is in fashion, and work with brands to take them to new places with great stories that our communities have welcomed and championed.

“Digivizer understands the stories people want to hear, the stories they are interested in, and how those stories should be told. They then help connect those stories back to individuals who care, at a time and place relevant to them. As creatives and storytellers, this has been invaluable to Lisa and I, and informed us greatly in the creation of Australian Style.”

The process of engaging with individuals starts with great stories, but consumers quickly vote with their thumbs on their mobile devices. As they do, they leave clues about their intentions, connections, needs and preferences, many with the expectation that brands will act on these clues and engage with something of interest and relevance.

Digivizer’s social analytics technology allows brands to spot these clues, and to understand the conversations.”

Emma Lo Russo adds: “The opportunity sits in the precision of being able to act on real-time actionable insights intersecting with the actual conversations and content engagement taking place on the social web.”

Australian Style: The Who's Who of Fashion is being launched tonight in Melbourne, as part of the 2017 Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival IDEAS program. Follow the social conversation at #australianstylebook #vamff.

@digivizer @emmalorusso

ENDS

For more information:                                             

Alan Smith                                                                          

Head of Strategic Business Communications, Digivizer                   

0404 432 700                                                                  

alan.smith@digivizer.com