The Dunkin` Donuts app’s push to transparency marketing tripled daily downloads increased by 57% in September 2020. The jump, while notable, is not noticeable. . The reason behind this is the collaboration of influencers.
The coffee company teamed up with Charli D`Amelio, a TikTok influencer, to create “The Charli”. The day after the launch of the new drink, all sales of Dunkin’ Donuts cold coffee were up 45% and the drink alone sold in the thousands.
The answer to how a designer can create such a colossal effect is simple. The cooperation is transparent and genuine. Long before the collaboration with this brand took place, Charli was known to be a real lover and drinker of Dunkin coffee.
So when the campaign is run, it’s not by a random creator with millions of followers. It was with a brand advocate who made the partnership natural and believable.
This is an example of the results of transparency in influencer marketing. It’s also why brands have to claim it, no doubt. However, the real driving force behind authenticity, integrity and transparency is not branding. It comes from consumers, regulators, and data-driven influence platforms.
On the consumer side
Consumers always have a lot of power. But after the pandemic, when most of them flooded the digital environment, there was a shift in molecular power.
They’re starting to expect more from the creators they love and follow, appreciating authentic content that serves their interests. And when it comes to sponsored content, they call out creators who are promoting staged, unauthentic, or just unrelated products.
Today, 82% of users believe it is important for creators to disclose whether they are using the product they are promoting. 62. It’s unethical for designers to trust a brand they don’t personally use. When they are sceptical about a disclosure, they lose trust in the creator. Since losing trust from followers is equal to dwindling brand partnerships, it automatically pushes creators to be more transparent.
The regulatory side
The Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) Guidelines for Influencer Marketing, which were released in mid2021, further prodded the consumer side push. As a step towards shaping the niche and making it more honest, the self-regulatory authority made it compulsory for an influencer to openly tag sponsored posts.
To monitor violations, ASCI teamed with Reech, a French influencer marketing technology provider. It uses Reech Influence Cloud, an AI-powered platform, to detect trade publications that violate the rules or lack disclosure.
Both consumers and regulators promote transparency, which helps creators and users directly, excluding brands directly. On the other hand, the transparency offered by data-driven influencer platforms clearly benefits marketers.
Platform Side
One of the toughest challenges facing marketers in influencer marketing has been discovered. For a long time, brands had to trust the creators of the data provided because the average audience, conversion, and traffic demographics couldn’t reach them directly. This often leads to partnerships with influencers who have exploited brands fake followers or inflated engagement rates by bots.
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