How the Best Brand-Influencer Partnerships Reach Gen Z

如果你尚未聽說過阿利克斯·厄爾（Alix Earle），那可能只是時間問題。這位年輕的影響力人物——她剛從邁阿密大學畢業(yè)——在抖音（TikTok）上擁有500多萬粉絲。最近她與聯(lián)合精英經(jīng)紀公司（United Talent Agency, UTA）簽約，該機構(gòu)是為全球媒體和娛樂生態(tài)系統(tǒng)人才代言的三大公司之一。她利用自己的個人品牌與Tarte和Rare Beauty等美容公司建立了合作關(guān)系。 If you haven’t heard about Alix Earle, it may simply be a matter of time. This young influencer — who just graduated from the University of Miami — has more than 5 million followers on TikTok and was recently signed by United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the top three firms that represent talent globally across the media and entertainment ecosystem. She has leveraged her personal brand to partner with beauty companies like Tarte and Rare Beauty. 在網(wǎng)上觀看阿利克斯·厄爾的無數(shù)視頻就可以對她的套路了解得一清二楚。她有模特般的美貌，符合純粹的美學觀。（除其他東西外）她完善了“跟我一起化妝”（get ready with me, GRWM）的格式。這是一種短視頻，她在視頻中從自然的美貌轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橥昝罒o瑕，展示了專業(yè)但可復制的化妝技術(shù)和產(chǎn)品使用。當她在“自拍”視頻中施用她的妝容時，她會以快言快語、毫不費力的獨白方式將故事講述、幽默、弱點、愿望、親和力和產(chǎn)品提及雜糅在一起。她給人的感覺容易親近，簡直就是另一名大學生。 Watching the myriad of Alix Earle videos online makes her formula quite clear. She has model-like beauty, checking the box for sheer aesthetics. She’s perfected the “get ready with me” (GRWM) format (among others), a short-form video in which she goes from natural beauty to flawless perfection, displaying professional yet replicable makeup techniques and product use. As she applies her look during “selfie” videos, she offers a mix of storytelling, humor, vulnerability, aspiration, relatability, and product mentions in a fast-talking, effortless monologue. She feels just approachable enough to be just another college student. 這種親和力是厄爾在Z世代中產(chǎn)生如此多共鳴的原因。

真實性是這一代人最重要的價值觀之一。

正如安永（EY）最近的研究強調(diào)的那樣：“在經(jīng)歷了一個假新聞和篩選后的照片展現(xiàn)‘完美生活’的時代后，Z世代已經(jīng)不再與之有瓜葛?！彼麄冇X得自己有能力在各種社交論壇上就任何話題提出并回答自己的問題——從美容到健康，到家居裝修，到技術(shù)，到科學。他們對權(quán)威的看法已經(jīng)從學術(shù)機構(gòu)或知名編輯的聲音等傳統(tǒng)來源擴展到感知的影響力——就像厄爾迅速崛起所證明的那樣。 That approachability is why Earle resonates so much with Gen Z. Authenticity is among this generation’s most important values. As?recent EY research highlights: “After an era of fake news and filtered photos projecting the ‘perfect life,’ Gen Z is over it.” They feel empowered to ask and answer their own questions in a variety of social forums on any topic — from beauty to health to home improvement to technology to science. And their view of authority has expanded from traditional sources, like academic institutions or reputable editorial voices, to perceived influence — as demonstrated by Earle’s meteoric rise. 研究阿利克斯·厄爾的成功為品牌營銷者提供了

五條強有力的經(jīng)驗

，用以借鑒如何利用這個影響力人物的時代——并與Z世代建立真實的聯(lián)系。 Studying Alix Earle’s success offers brand marketers five powerful lessons for how to tap into this era of influencers — and make authentic connections with Gen Z.

為你的品牌找到合適的意見領(lǐng)袖

Find the right influencers for your brand

僅僅強行擬訂頂級影響力人物排行榜并不是答案。各品牌應(yīng)該找到可以打動他們目標受眾的人。 Simply force-ranking top influencer lists is not the answer. Brands want to find the person or people who reach their target audience. 一旦各品牌明確了他們競爭所處的品類，營銷人員就可以物色最能吸引人、聲音和風格能與品牌產(chǎn)生共鳴的影響力人物。AI和其他分析數(shù)據(jù)的工具可以幫助你找到這個人物——比如，數(shù)據(jù)分析可以揭示影響力人物和品牌之間共同的粉絲、創(chuàng)意方法和社區(qū)。還有一些企業(yè)（比如，從Gallery Media到領(lǐng)先的人才機構(gòu)）會為各品牌策劃影響力人物，并對更復雜的關(guān)系和執(zhí)行進行管理。 Once brands define the category in which they compete, marketers can look for the influencers who have the most engagement and who have a voice and style that resonates with the brand. AI and other tools to analyze data can help you figure this out — for example, data analytics can reveal followers, creative approaches, and communities in common between influencers and brands. There are also companies, from Gallery Media, for example, to leading talent agencies, who curate influencers and manage more complex relationships and execution for brands.

為移動消費創(chuàng)作品牌故事

Create brand stories for mobile consumption

Z世代通過滾動瀏覽他們手機上由算法驅(qū)動的、個性化的“為你”推送的內(nèi)容來填補他們的空閑時間，里面充斥著照片、視頻和表情包。在理想的情況下，各品牌應(yīng)該授權(quán)與他們合作的影響力人物，讓他們創(chuàng)造簡短、引人入勝、針對移動設(shè)備制作的內(nèi)容。 Gen Z fills their spare moments by scrolling through their algorithmically driven, personalized “for you” feeds on their phones, filled with photos, videos, and memes. Ideally, brands should empower the influencers they work with to create content that is short, compelling, and made for mobile. 就像厄爾在一到三分鐘的簡短故事中所做那樣，擁抱弱點與率真讓品牌能夠以一種具有個人相關(guān)性和真實性的方式與年輕一代建立聯(lián)系。然而，各品牌必須明白，這不是一個有腳本的30秒電視宣傳片，影響力人物會把故事引致他們自己選擇的方向。這是對其他品牌故事的補充——而不是替代。 Embracing vulnerability and openness, like Earle does in short one- to three-minute stories, enables brands to connect with younger generations in a way that’s personally relevant and authentic. However, brands must understand that this is not a 30-second scripted television spot, and the influencers will take the story in a direction of their own choosing. This is a complement to other brand storytelling — not a replacement.

激勵消費者，將品牌內(nèi)容變成他們自己的內(nèi)容

Motivate consumers to make brand content their own

與前幾代人不同，Z世代不會將他們的帖子大肆“散播”到各社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)。他們更頻繁地通過“私人故事”與更少的人分享。由于這些帖子的頻率和親密性，參與度要高得多。由于這樣的轉(zhuǎn)變，我們也看到Z世代一改前代人在社交媒體賬戶上廣泛散播自己快樂時刻的行為，轉(zhuǎn)而在更私密的圈子里分享個人危機和眼淚等真實的時刻。 Unlike previous generations, Gen Z does not “broadcast” their posts to social networks writ large. They share more often with far fewer people via “private stories.” Engagement is much higher because of the frequency and the intimacy of these posts, and with this shift, we also see Gen Z moving away from prior generational behaviors of broadcasting their happy moments widely on their social media accounts to sharing more raw moments like personal crisis and tears in more private circles. 一個年輕人在抖音上看到厄爾的GRWM視頻中的美容產(chǎn)品，隨后會在Snap上的私人故事中向其朋友群組宣傳該產(chǎn)品，這就是一個實例，說明品牌旅程會從高調(diào)的社交媒體影響轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)樯羁痰膫€人影響。一個品牌必須贏得進入這個神圣空間的權(quán)利——它必須了解這些更個人化的親密場所具有的不透明性和新風險。 A young person who sees a beauty product in a GRWM video from Earle on TikTok who subsequently endorses that product with their friend group in their private story on Snap is an example of how the brand journey goes from high-profile social media influence to deeply personal influence. A brand must earn the right to access this sacred space — and it must understand the opacity and new risks of these more personally intimate venues.

跨越界線，脫穎而出

Cross boundaries to stand out

隨著生成式和對話性AI大規(guī)模應(yīng)用于創(chuàng)意環(huán)境，未來需要新的靈感和創(chuàng)造力之源才能脫穎而出。由于所有影響力人物現(xiàn)在都有機會使用相同的技術(shù)來推動研究，加強創(chuàng)意，并加速生產(chǎn)，有遠見的品牌將通過人類的原創(chuàng)性或真正的名人來尋求差異。真正的創(chuàng)造力標準只會越來越高，需要各品牌向消費者發(fā)出新的邀請來共同創(chuàng)造。我們目前對影響力的定義可能會迅速轉(zhuǎn)變，因為AI會操縱目標定位算法和創(chuàng)造性驅(qū)動算法。 It’s going to take new sources of inspiration and creativity to stand out as generative and conversational AI are applied in creative contexts at scale. As all influencers now have access to the same technology to drive research, enhance ideas, and accelerate production, forward-thinking brands will look to differentiate through human originality or true celebrity. The bar for real creativity will only get higher, requiring unorthodox juxtapositions of brands or new invitations to consumers to co-create. Our current definition of influence may shift rapidly as AI manipulates both the targeting and creative driving the algorithms.

避免克隆文化

Avoid clone culture

作為營銷人員，我們可能會珍惜這一機會，不惜一切代價推動消費，通過策劃潮流趨勢，利用影響力人物來獲得速度。可是，如果我們在這一切的科學上過于成功，我們正在創(chuàng)造的潮流回音室是否會有悖于我們對多元化和包容性的承諾，或者是在某些社會原型中克隆重復的行為？如果影響力至少依賴于原創(chuàng)性這一外衣，那么隨著每個人都使用AI驅(qū)動的類似見解，事情是否會變得更加困難？品牌會綜合利用創(chuàng)造力和數(shù)據(jù)（或者說藝術(shù)和科學）精確地推動他們的商業(yè)抱負，但他們可能會越來越多地尋求擴大戰(zhàn)略，尋找新的受眾、聲音和靈感，以使他們的消費者群體和創(chuàng)意多元化。 As marketers, we may prize the opportunity to drive consumption at all costs by engineering trends to have velocity through influencers. But if we succeed too much on the science of it all, are we creating trend echo chambers that contradict our commitments to diversity and inclusion, or cloning repeat behaviors within certain social archetypes? And if influence relies on at least the veneer of originality, will it be harder as everyone uses similar AI-driven insights? Brands drive their commercial ambition with precision using a combination of creativity and data (or art and science), but increasingly, they may seek to broaden strategies to find new audiences, voices, and inspiration to diversify their base of consumers and ideas. 創(chuàng)客經(jīng)濟方興未艾，富有創(chuàng)造力和價值，尤其是當技術(shù)支持的經(jīng)濟模式促使強大的人才將其作為真正的專業(yè)努力之際。利用其新動力來創(chuàng)造價值的品牌會讓自己與眾不同，并推動指數(shù)級的增長。成功的關(guān)鍵是倚靠最新的影響力來源，以及所有最新的風險與回報的動態(tài)。 The creator economy is thriving, creative, and valuable, particularly as technology-enabled economic models motivate strong talent to make it a true professional endeavor. Brands that harness its new dynamics to create value will differentiate themselves and drive?exponential growth. The key to success is to lean into the newest sources of influence along with all the latest dynamics of risk and reward. 珍妮特·巴利斯負責領(lǐng)導安永在美洲的咨詢專業(yè)人員，專注于客戶議程和收入增長，包括商業(yè)卓越、客戶體驗和產(chǎn)品創(chuàng)新，同時也負責安永的CMO業(yè)務(wù)。她還曾擔任過《赫芬頓郵報》（

The Huffington Post

）的出版商Betaworks公司的合伙人，并在Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia擔任過媒體銷售與營銷執(zhí)行副總裁。她還是移動營銷協(xié)會（Mobile Marketing Association）和國際電視藝術(shù)與科學學院（International Television Academy of Arts and Sciences）的全球董事會成員，哈佛商學院數(shù)字行動計劃（Harvard Business School Digital Initiative）的顧問。 時青靖 | 編校