An Influencer Must Be Granted Freedom of Expression

The TV ad worked in a context of passive reception, while the influencer operates in the field of social media where there is active interaction. She or he must therefore be granted great freedom. Not all companies, however, seem to have understood it. Valentina Salice, who graduated from Bocconi in Marketing Management in 2008 and is now head of business development at OMD Italy, agency of the Omnicom group specialized in media marketing, tells it how it is.

➜ Has there been an evolution in the use of influencers by brands and communication agencies?
In the beginning there was shyness, unawareness, and the borrowing of templates from television commercials. It was a serious mistake. When they go online, people expect to be entertained, not that their entertainment be interrupted as it happens with TV viewing. And above all, they expect truthfulness.

➜ Does authenticity matter?
It is critical. It is the great battle that agencies are fighting the world over to tell companies that an influencer is not a doing a testimonial so that you can put your words in his or her mouth, but a veritable opinion leader. If you decide to go ahead and buy his or her opinion, as it unfortunately happened at the dawn of the influencer marketing era, you undermine the very credibility of your marketing campaign.

➜ When did the paradigm change?
It is still an ongoing process. The more the company is advanced from the point of view of its communication outlook, the more it realizes that influencers must be left free to express themselves. In the meantime, there are tools and metrics that have been created to enable us to use this medium in a, let's say, more objective way.

➜ For example?
Algorithms and artificial intelligence allow identification, evaluation, and measurement of the contribution of influencers based on the objectives and values ​​that a corporate brand to be associated with. Similarly, you can measure the ex-post effectiveness of the campaign.

➜ Should influencers be co-creators of marketing content?
It is fundamental. The influencer's decision to bind herself or himself to a brand must be perceived as genuine. We must think of influencers as real people who express true opinions.

➜ Does this freedom of expression represent a danger for companies?
Brands accustomed to strict communication control actually fear it. They are afraid of what the influencer shall say and the comments that would follow. They do not realize that this freedom of expression is a strength in a world where consumers ask companies to communicate truthfully, not to pretend they are perfect.

➜ Instagram is the influencers' platform par excellence. What is its strength?
It was the first social network to communicate via images, which are easier to use, go straight to the gut, convey emotions.

➜ Is influencer marketing still expanding?
Yes, but I think we are close to saturation point. Consumers are getting tired of being constantly bombarded by brands. They are a lot more aware than yesterday's consumers. They demand respect.

➜ We are starting to see influencers created by artificial intelligence. Where is authenticity there?
It is gone. The influencer is an opinion leader, AI influencers are mere entertainers.

Valentina Salice
She defines herself as Bocconi DOC, having attended Bachelor and Master programs in Via Sarfatti. After graduating in Economics and Management for Art, Culture and Communication, she continued with the MCS in Marketing Management, with a thesis on the role of emotions in advertising and a double degree at Copenhagen Business School in Strategic market creation. «Of the university years, I remember in particular the group work in the Master of Science that allowed me to understand in the field what it means to work. For me, Bocconi was much more than a university. It was a real cultural center that allowed me to open borders, create contacts, make international experiences ".