The advertising world has seen a shift in the trend of using traditional celebrities for brand endorsements. Companies are now directing their budget towards influencer marketing.

WHO IS A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER?

These are the people who have created a significant amount of social media following by creating content online that meets the interest of their target audience.

From YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now even TikTok, these influencers have accounts, blogs or vlogs to connect to a highly relevant audience.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER AND A CELEBRITY

By developing stellar careers, achieving feats and developing a presence on traditional media channels, stars become a household name which an influencer usually isn’t.

Consequently, celebrity endorsements are roped in by brands due to the mass exposure they can generate. The target audience assumes that the product has weightage if a media darling is associated with it.

Meanwhile, an influencer targets a niche market and due to the fact they are more active in the virtual world, and influencers usually garner more engagement than celebrities.

Consequently, brands are running after self-made influencers who might have a smaller following than a star but they boast authenticity while generating a greater buzz and engagement.

ARE INFLUENCERS BECOMING A THREAT TO CELEBRITIES?

A research was conducted on Twitter in 2016  that revealed that 40% of the consumers bought a product after seeing it used by an influencer.

Over the years, brand worldwide are now moving towards influencer marketing to harness the power of social media within a highly targeted group of people.

Similarly, in Pakistan, brands like Maybelline, Total Parco, AlKaram, Emirates and have been spotted using social media influencers to make it big in the market.

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Gari Se Yari. #gariseyari #totalparco #faizasaleem #shehryarmunawar #billboards #billboards2018 #parco #ad #forgetthekhawari #mohsinkamal

A post shared by Faiza Saleem (@faizasaleem90) on Oct 31, 2018 at 4:44am PDT

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Guys!!!! My @maybelline video is here! And I'm SO excited and SO proud of how it has turned out. It was the best surprise to be picked by them and for the brand to embrace diversity by picking someone who wears a head scarf. My experience shooting with their team was brilliant too. The other girls in the video were SUPER nice @rebelliousbrownie @amal asif @ayeshakhalid_ @fzm_boutique_fitness @glitterandpopbymahnoorj @rantsofadesibride. It was the most empowering experience to be with all of them! LITERALLY no words to express how GREAT I feel. And you know what – none of it would have happened without the support of YOU guys. Thank you for your love and duaas, always! 💖 @getsetmakeuppk

A post shared by Kanwal Ahmed (@kanwalful) on Aug 11, 2018 at 9:09am PDT

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Now that #fpwss19 is over, here’s a quick round up of my amazing experience with the @alkaramstudio team! Obvs you guys did get to see a few BTS shots in my stories, from the shoot to the big reveal! I’ll be doing a complete write up of my experience as one of the #alkaraminfluencers on my page very soon! I want to know how you guys felt about the whole journey, what did you like, love, not like?! This was my first ever major collaboration with a clothing brand so it was a huge deal for me 🙈 More details in the post to follow 😘 xx Alina . . . #alkaramxfpw #makokeffee #talkingpoint #thatkarachigirl #pakistanblogger #karachibloggers #style #fashion #ootd #beauty #me

A post shared by Bia Alina E. (@thatkarachigirl) on Mar 19, 2019 at 6:31am PDT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhNGh3G91Y

Recently, Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS)  partnered with US-based Effie Awards, a prestigious global network recognizing effective marketing communication. The first jury round took place on the 15th and 16th of March at Marriott Hotel, Karachi.

Brandsynario asked a few jury members present at the session their opinion on the Celebrity Vs Influencer trend.

https://youtu.be/hf49Kfs0Ocw

Khadija Hashimi, Head of Corporate Affairs and Brand & Marketing, Standard Chartered Pakistan stated:

I still see a lot of celebrities out there. but I think it is the turn of influencers, especially to see what’s happening across the boundaries. influencers are playing a key role especially with the millennials these days. It is a positive trend as long as we move towards the true influencers.

Humayun Farooq, Marketing Director – Health, Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan stated:

Now that the world has changed and I have seen it changing in the last decade and a half in front of me,  I believe influencers are much more real. They are the people the audience can relate to much much more than a celebrity who lives a life which is much larger that that of individuals, common people as you call them.

They are close to the hearts of people and that’s where the shift is happening. It is going to happen even more in Pakistan in days to come.

Seems like both influencers and stars have their share of pros and cons when it comes to brand endorsements. Once brands can determine what works best for them, then the real deal begins.

Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) recently partnered with US-based Effie Awards, a prestigious global network recognizing effective marketing communication, and held the second jury round on the 29th of March at Marriott Hotel, Karachi.

Effie Awards with its 51 national programmes, 4 regional awards and 1 global award, leads, inspires and champions the practice and practitioners of marketing effectiveness, whose efforts are celebrated with the award.

With the affiliation with Effie, PAS Awards, which have been highly respected in the industry have now been replaced by Effie Awards Pakistan.

To contest for the renowned title, the competition was open to all marketing entries that ran in Pakistan between the period of July 1, 2017, till September 30, 2018. The first jury round took place on the 15th and 16th of March and reviewed 200 entries. The second jury round took place on the 29th of March and reviewed 87 shortlisted entries.

The entries for round 2 were compared with each other horizontally within their categories, compared to round 1 where entries were judged stand alone.

The jury entailed more than 40 admirable leaders from the industry who are experts in their fields of marketing, advertising, academia, creative, media and research from around the world and have a positive track record of exemplary performance working in their areas.

It was vital that the jurors belonging from one industry judged cases opposite to their interesting categories to eliminate biases and conflict of interest. To ensure this, the jury was divided into 4 groups; each group containing 10 to 11 people. The group was perfectly balanced with a mix of creatives, marketing and advertising heads to media and research executives. Each group was monitored by a moderator who had professional experience in holding a jury before. The jury members were nominated through an online process and included top tier management of some of the biggest brands of Pakistan.

It included titles such as; CEO, RB Pakistan, Board Director (Foods & Refreshment) Unilever, Creative Director, (Spectrum Communications), CEO Starcom and Manager Director Mondelez International. The entries were judged on demonstrated excellence in 4 key areas: definition of objectives, strategic development, creative execution, and measurement of results.

Each jury member examined written content and viewed creative reels in order to score a campaign. The scores were not discussed within members. A concluding award gala will be held in May 2019 and the winners will be awarded a Gold, Silver and Bronze trophy. A special recognition award, the Grand Effie Award will also be awarded to the most effective and standout campaign of the year.

The Effie Pakistan finalists and winners will also receive credit in the Global Effie Index, which identifies and ranks the most effective agencies, marketers, brands, networks, and holding companies by analyzing finalist and winner data from all Effie competitions worldwide. Announced annually, the Effie Index is the most comprehensive global ranking of marketing effectiveness.