‘We spiraled it into an actual content machine’: Inside a shoe company’s influencer strategy

By Kimeko McCoy

Reef, a shoe company, is betting big on influencers in 2021 after it made a new creator program to develop and direct its branded content.

More brands are wading into the influencer pool, looking to user-generated content to provide a cost-efficient and authentic way to engage with consumers digitally, marketers say.

Dubbed the Advocates of Capture program, it could be likened to an in-house creative agency, in which about a dozen creators and influencers are tasked with regularly creating content to support Reef’s marketing channels including across social media, Reef.com and newsletters. It’s a move that has slashed production costs by a third, according to Jen Wilson, senior director of brand marketing at Reef.

“What started out as a business need to fill content, turned into our influencers [program],” Wilson said. “And then beyond that, we spiraled it into an actual content stream for social and so on.”

Like other brands, the pandemic pushed Reef to explore alternative media strategies as content production costs skyrocketed with new Covid-19 precautions, according to Wilson. With travel restrictions limiting filming and photography capabilities, the surf brand turned to influencers, who would produce content from wherever they were at a fraction of the cost of what a manufactured studio shoot would cost.

“It’s been way more flexible and so fast,” Wilson said. “It’s been so easy to say we’ve pulled this product or this product has moved around, go shoot, come back, we’re done.”

Even in a post-pandemic society, Wilson said the brand will continue to host the program.

Advocates of Capture officially launched at the top of 2021, wrapping up a beta version that ran through most of 2020. Currently, the program has 13 content creators with follower counts ranging from less than 3,000 up to nearly 250,000. The group is made up of photographers, videographers, motion graphic designers and other visual artists who act as Reef brand ambassadors.

Per Wilson, influencers who sign on are given a Reef branded photography case to jump-start content creation, which is then posted to their own social media channels — influencer-style — and used across Reef’s marketing channels.

“Basically, we’re going to tell you what you need to do and then we want you to bring it to life in your own way because that’s why you’re here,” she said. “You are a creator in your own right.”

Rather than traditional influencers or celebrities, who may juggle work with several brands simultaneously, the Advocates of Capture are steeped in the Reef brand, per Wilson. These creators act as brand ambassadors or an extension of the surf footwear brand. Reef has worked with influencer programs in the past, but this team “is by far the best way that we’ve used influencers or content creators in the different ways that we’ve tried.”

As for payment, each influencer is paid a retainer for the year to account for content production, influencer posts and other collaborative measures. That money comes from Reef’s creative budget, which was formerly dedicated to major shoots and content production. The brand has saved …read more

Source:: Digiday