Samsung CMO: Huge budgets for influencer marketing? No, no, no
Samsung’s global marketing boss is “sceptical” and “very pessimistic” about influencer marketing, rowing back on the approach taken by the likes of former U.S. CMO Marc Mathieu (The Drum).
Key points:
- Global CMO Younghee Lee says consumers see through paying social media stars to hawk product
- “I'm very pessimistic about it. We don't just want to buy them with money. That's not going to be sustainable.”
- Indicates Samsung sees more value in niche, regional influencers
- “The more I encounter our local marketing programmes and sometimes I see huge budgets for influencer marketing... no, no, no. Sometimes it's necessary, but it’s more a real person, your neighbour, that we're looking for.”
In an influencer world based on scale, the biggest advertiser of all is going niche, adding weight to the argument that micro and nano influencers are the next not-so-big thing. eMarketer subscribes to that view, as does former Unilever CMO Keith Weed, investing in Jules Lund’s Tribe last month.
Authenticity is at the core of Samsung's reasoning, as the brand tries to embed social purpose and appeal more to Gen Z, said Lee.
“We don’t just want to be another good company," Lee said at Cannes. "Our goal is to be an authentic and relevant brand to this generation. They’re less interested in storytelling. They want brands to be storyliving. It’s our job to help them dream better, and make their dreams come true."
We'll find out what storyliving actually means as Samsung's new direction takes shape. The phrase took some stick at Cannes.
