Page 7 - Journal of Strategic Marketing Magazine - April 2019
P. 7
INFLUENCER MARKETING
The timing couldn’t have been Latouf. “For example, we understand Latouf’s conclusion? “Inluencer
better: Veldskoen is one of the the impact of inluencer marketing, and marketing is huge in the UK and
youngest companies manufacturing the how powerfully it can be leveraged. But Europe; magazines are dedicated to
iconic South African shoe – but had just in the UK we struggled with the same inluencers, bloggers, creatives, and
kicked off with a complete reinvention strategy we had been using in South readers who trust the printed word.”
of the popular handcrafted footwear, Africa, which was Facebook and ads. Yet
and a digital campaign aligned with a small article gets printed in the UK History in the making
an online savvy, e-commerce oriented and people go crazy.” The history of the shoe also makes for
audience. The company had a similar a great story and, says Latouf, was the
They’re intent on taking it global, experience in Italy, where they had thrust of their campaign from the get-
and were advancing into the European, been advised to stay away. “We go. “We see ourselves as storytellers
Australian and US markets when The were told that Italians buy one very irst – and that’s the secret, that’s why
Times' article ran. But none of their expensive pair of shoes that last a we did well from day one. Obviously
research prepared the company for lifetime. Yet somehow, a journalist the product itself is great, and that in
how these various markets align. found the story and wrote about it – itself is a great story. Everybody sees it
“They all require a completely and then, every hour in Italy, somebody differently; some see it as the farmer’s
different mindset and strategy,” notes would buy a pair.” shoe, for instance – yet we all have a
NIC LATOUF’S TOP DIGITAL MARKETING TIPS
We have a very speciic lens through which we look Facebook. I don’t think the latter is going anywhere,
at digital and online, and a very speciic way that we but I do think it’s going to evolve, and put a lot of
interpret it, which is probably different to what other people out of business that put all their reliance on it.
people are looking at. There’s a lot happening online, and • Look at building your brand online, but ind other
some of the things we’d suggest are: avenues to sell. So use social media as a brand
building exercise, but don’t put too much reliance on
• Be very careful of putting all your eggs in the running Facebook ads, and that’s all you do.
Facebook basket, and even Instagram. If you build • We look at Instagram differently to everyone else.
too much of your audience and reliance on one of There’s a lot of hidden functionality within this
those platforms, and they decide to change their platform to enable you to engage your customer in
algorithms, your business could suffer instantly. If very smart ways. For instance, you’re able to look
Mark Zuckerberg wakes up one morning and decides at different locations, or hashtags. Because we’re
to change the algorithm, he can put you out of very excited to tap into the tourist market, one of the
business, and you’ve got to make sure that nobody things we do is look at locations, and who’s taking
can put you out of business except yourself. pictures where, on a daily basis. And we keep an eye
• Content is no longer king – content distribution is. on that in real time. So for example, if somebody
That’s where people need to be thinking now: about is taking pics of themselves on Lion’s Head or at
distribution as much as they’re thinking about the the V&A Waterfront, nine times out of 10, they’re
actual content. We’ve got to a stage now where just probably going to be a tourist. Within minutes of
about everybody can make amazing content – but seeing that picture, we DM them, and just start a
not everybody has the knowledge to distribute it, or conversation. We welcome them to the country, ind
the platforms or databases or audiences of their own out how much they’re enjoying it, and build a bit of
to do so. a relationship. Then we invite them to our showroom,
• Keep an eye on WhatsApp: lots of interesting things and tell them of our shoes and the history of them –
are happening there. We are building and testing and we do very well in selling our shoes to tourists in
a lot of interesting things on this platform, and I’m that way.
more excited about WhatsApp than I am about
Strategic Marketing - p5
The timing couldn’t have been Latouf. “For example, we understand Latouf’s conclusion? “Inluencer
better: Veldskoen is one of the the impact of inluencer marketing, and marketing is huge in the UK and
youngest companies manufacturing the how powerfully it can be leveraged. But Europe; magazines are dedicated to
iconic South African shoe – but had just in the UK we struggled with the same inluencers, bloggers, creatives, and
kicked off with a complete reinvention strategy we had been using in South readers who trust the printed word.”
of the popular handcrafted footwear, Africa, which was Facebook and ads. Yet
and a digital campaign aligned with a small article gets printed in the UK History in the making
an online savvy, e-commerce oriented and people go crazy.” The history of the shoe also makes for
audience. The company had a similar a great story and, says Latouf, was the
They’re intent on taking it global, experience in Italy, where they had thrust of their campaign from the get-
and were advancing into the European, been advised to stay away. “We go. “We see ourselves as storytellers
Australian and US markets when The were told that Italians buy one very irst – and that’s the secret, that’s why
Times' article ran. But none of their expensive pair of shoes that last a we did well from day one. Obviously
research prepared the company for lifetime. Yet somehow, a journalist the product itself is great, and that in
how these various markets align. found the story and wrote about it – itself is a great story. Everybody sees it
“They all require a completely and then, every hour in Italy, somebody differently; some see it as the farmer’s
different mindset and strategy,” notes would buy a pair.” shoe, for instance – yet we all have a
NIC LATOUF’S TOP DIGITAL MARKETING TIPS
We have a very speciic lens through which we look Facebook. I don’t think the latter is going anywhere,
at digital and online, and a very speciic way that we but I do think it’s going to evolve, and put a lot of
interpret it, which is probably different to what other people out of business that put all their reliance on it.
people are looking at. There’s a lot happening online, and • Look at building your brand online, but ind other
some of the things we’d suggest are: avenues to sell. So use social media as a brand
building exercise, but don’t put too much reliance on
• Be very careful of putting all your eggs in the running Facebook ads, and that’s all you do.
Facebook basket, and even Instagram. If you build • We look at Instagram differently to everyone else.
too much of your audience and reliance on one of There’s a lot of hidden functionality within this
those platforms, and they decide to change their platform to enable you to engage your customer in
algorithms, your business could suffer instantly. If very smart ways. For instance, you’re able to look
Mark Zuckerberg wakes up one morning and decides at different locations, or hashtags. Because we’re
to change the algorithm, he can put you out of very excited to tap into the tourist market, one of the
business, and you’ve got to make sure that nobody things we do is look at locations, and who’s taking
can put you out of business except yourself. pictures where, on a daily basis. And we keep an eye
• Content is no longer king – content distribution is. on that in real time. So for example, if somebody
That’s where people need to be thinking now: about is taking pics of themselves on Lion’s Head or at
distribution as much as they’re thinking about the the V&A Waterfront, nine times out of 10, they’re
actual content. We’ve got to a stage now where just probably going to be a tourist. Within minutes of
about everybody can make amazing content – but seeing that picture, we DM them, and just start a
not everybody has the knowledge to distribute it, or conversation. We welcome them to the country, ind
the platforms or databases or audiences of their own out how much they’re enjoying it, and build a bit of
to do so. a relationship. Then we invite them to our showroom,
• Keep an eye on WhatsApp: lots of interesting things and tell them of our shoes and the history of them –
are happening there. We are building and testing and we do very well in selling our shoes to tourists in
a lot of interesting things on this platform, and I’m that way.
more excited about WhatsApp than I am about
Strategic Marketing - p5
