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Part 2 of 2: Proving the Power of Influencers
In the previous part of my blog, I explored the influencer trend and why I believe that many companies are still cautious about incorporating influencers into their communication strategies. The conclusion was that more than just a pretty face, influencers are discerning, creative and conscientious individuals whose work has a real and quantifiable impact for clients.
In this part of my blog, I would like to provide you with a specific case study that proves this point.
Our client Saharan Centre, Sharjah’s leading retail, leisure and dining destination, frequently runs exciting promotions to strengthen its relationship with its customers. For its most exciting promotion to date, Sahara Centre gave its customer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win an ultra-luxurious McLaren 540C and a trip to Surrey, England to visit the McLaren Production Centre.
With such an amazing prize up for grabs, Sahara Centre wanted to launch an extra special campaign, which is where See & Be — our influencer communication division — came into the picture. To give this campaign the wow factor it deserved, we suggested bringing a top regional personality on board to create a real buzz around the campaign, raise public awareness, increase footfall at the mall and attract new followers and customers for Sahara Centre.
After conducting meticulous in-house research, we reached out to influencers and talent management agencies and identified Sara Al Madani as an ideal partner. Sara was selected not only for her strong regional presence but also for her close ties with Sharjah and the Emirate’s audience. Sara was selected by His Highness Sheikh Sultan Al Qassimi, Ruler of Sharjah, as a board member for the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and her ambitious entrepreneurial spirit has earned her a loyal following in Sharjah and across the region.
Sara and Sahara Centre developed an organic relationship that was underpinned by brand goals but also gave Sara room for creative freedom. The result was a creative video that captured the unique campaign in a fun way that inspired a remarkable response. The video generated over 6,000 followers for Sahara Centre through minimal spend on advertising and without promoting the pages, yielding a reach of over 700,000, total page impressions of 1,595,552 and total post impressions of 1,464,621. The video also received more than 78,500 engagements in the form of likes, shares, feedback and comments, with a total 398,200 views in addition to 357,585 auto-plays.
This extraordinary level of engagement was the result of working with the perfect influencer, Sara, who gave Sahara Centre a human face and introduced her audience to the mall’s exciting campaign in an engaging way that captured hearts and mind. This is the power of influencers in action.
Joyce Mourad is the Senior Account Executive of Cicero & Bernay Public Relations. An independent PR agency headquartered in Dubai and offering new-age public relations consultancy to the UAE and across the MENA. | www.cbpr.me