Lawsuits. Petty blog wars. Protection orders. The influencer marketing scene in Singapore is a vibrant one, albeit plagued by frequent controversies. A marketer might find himself lost amidst the noise.
He might, therefore, start to question: Is influencer marketing really reliable in Singapore? This post will attempt to shed some light on the local influencer marketing scene in Singapore.
Definition
According to Forbes, “influencer marketing” is defined as:
“A nonpromotional approach to marketing in which brands focus their efforts on opinion leaders, as opposed to direct target market touchpoints.”
In other words, influencer marketing is about “providing product context and expertise through an inspirational person“.
There are generally two types of influencer marketing: earned and paid. Influencer marketing is also notably more engaging than traditional means of marketing and advertising.
For earned influencer marketing, brands work with influencers who do unpaid brand endorsements. Alternatively, they might already have an existing relationship with the brand before the promotional activity. In this case, brands in Singapore usually simply sponsor the influencers some products without monetary compensation, with the hope that they blog or Instagram about it.
For paid influencer marketing, influencers usually already have a huge following. Most belong to a professional influencers’ agency. This means that they have agents to negotiate contracts on their behalf. In many ways, brands in Singapore might outsource the marketing campaign to the agent or agency. The agency can then recommend the best or most suitable influencers for the brand.
Regardless of the type of influencer marketing, the idea is for brands, agencies, and influencers to work out a win-win-win situation. Usually, brands that are on a tight budget would go for earned influencer marketing first, and then paid influencer marketing. Brands that are strategic usually use paid influencer marketing for broader purposes of awareness. Subsequently, they then use earned influencer marketing for a more personal level of awareness and trust.
Here, an excellent social media strategy is key. Because if one uses an influencer marketing strategy without much thought, then a lot of marketing budget would go to waste.
How do you know if an influencer is trustworthy?
The reliability of influencer marketing is based on trust and perceived authenticity.
Here are three guidelines for brands, consumers, and influencers to decide whether what an influencer endorses is trustworthy or authentic:
- Follow the money. Whenever you see a product placement or product endorsement on a blog, Twitter, or Instagram, don’t trust the message fully! Instead, consider what the influencer is saying and whether it is consistent with his/her previous posts. You can also compare the endorsement with other influencers’ to see if the influencer is following a given brief made by the client/ brand. Usually, there would be a unique brand hashtag given. You can click on this unique hashtag to find out what other brand ambassadors are saying.
- Check the caption. If a post is obviously a sponsored post, do the influencers hashtag the word “sponsored” or do they leave it vague? In general, influencers are obligated to declare monetary benefits in their advertisements.
- Check the reputation of the influencer. What are some of the brands the influencers endorse, and what are some that influencers do not take? Are these brand values in line with their normal style of postings on social media? Usually, this would reveal whether the influencer is doing the endorsement for money, or for passion, or something else.
The ethical code for influencer marketing in Singapore.
In 2014, controversy in the influencer marketing scene surfaced when one of Singapore’s top bloggers XiaXue did a mega expose on Gushcloud’s “unethical marketing”.
She exposed that the major telecom Singtel (client) has acted through Gushcloud (the influencer agency), and Gushcloud has deliberately instructed its influencers to subtly badmouth Singtel’s competitors. The influencers, not knowing better, did as they were told. This is alternatively known as negative marketing.
This led to a huge backlash and Singtel’s CEO apologised in the end.
In view of this incident, the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore has introduced new ethical guidelines for digital media marketing as of 29 August 2016, as follows:
“Here are the following requirements set by the new guidelines:
- Disclosures of commercial relationships and disclaimers should be made prominent, easy to understand and appropriate for the form that the communication takes;
- Paid reviews, testimonials, and endorsements have to be clearly indicated;
- Reviews that are disguised as being from impartial sources are not permitted; and
- The use of services and methods that fraudulently boost user engagement is prohibited.”
The consequence of brands/companies not adhering to such guidelines is the removal of such ads altogether. The consequence of bloggers not following these guidelines is negative publicity if ASAS were to be involved in the investigations.
Controversy and contracts
There was another controversy between a popular Singaporean blogger QiuQiu and her marketing agency Nuffnang. This controversy was a more serious one as it involved a breach of contract and defamation lawsuits.
In summary, what happened was that Nuffnang sued QiuQiu for not adhering to her contract of sticking to only promoting Netcentric’s clients. Whereas QiuQiu said she was not paid for other brands she had been endorsing and pointed out that the contract she signed was unconscionable given rapid changes in the industry. She then countersued for defamation and alleged that Netcentric has not upheld its part of the deal.
This lawsuit might set a new benchmark for the relatively new industry for influencers since it will inevitably elucidate the differences between earned and paid influencer marketing. Brands might also want to watch this ongoing case so that they will not get involved unnecessarily in controversies.
Conclusion
The influencer marketing industry is a lucrative and important one. This trend will continue for the next five years as Facebook and Google place increasing restrictions on certain forms of banners.
In the Singaporean context, brands, agencies, and influencers would have to work at raising the bar so as to generate greater goodwill, trust, and authenticity with their audiences.
Nonetheless, there are other ways to channels to market your products and services and generate leads for your business. Consult a digital marketing agency and start marketing your business through Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, and even Linkedin Advertising today!
