A little less than a decade ago questions like these were a pipe dream; At that time, what is known today as influencers certainly already existed and managed to bring together large audiences that, in some cases, reached millions. However, its presence beyond the internet and its relevance, in the eyes of brands, was very limited.
It was 2015 when, in this same context, a company called YouPlanet appeared and managed to detect the sea of ??possibilities that could be built with these profiles. At that time Luis de Val, who had an extensive career dedicated to the film sector, came across a certain Auronplay on YouTube who was dedicated to making comedy videos that managed to captivate millions of viewers. That freshness, that ability to keep the audience attentive, pushed him to write a tweet that ended up being the starting signal for the leading influence marketing company in Spain: “This week’s great discovery is undoubtedly Auronplay . I haven’t laughed so much in a while. Don’t miss his videos!
From that message the idea ended up arising that he would give voice to a character in a film that he distributed. It was only a phrase, which would also end up appearing in the official trailer, but that phrase accompanied by Auronplay’s announcement of his participation made the video on YouTube exceed half a million views. To celebrate this success, Auronplay announced that the first 300 people to arrive at the room where the film was being shown would get in for free. More than 4,000 showed up.
“There I realized the potential that content creators had to connect with young audiences. The context in which this madness developed was when it was said that the new generations were not interested in cinema, but that experience made me see that this was not the case, that the problem was that we were not able to connect with them,” admits Luis de Val, CEO and founder of YouPlanet.
After a tour of shows around Spain filling all the theaters and with the demand for collaborations increasing, what is known today as influencer marketing was taking shape. Since then, more than eight years have passed and the market has evolved as much as this new sector where young people who record themselves, explain their daily lives and create content for their followers have made a place for themselves in brand strategies where values ??such as Authenticity, innovation and creativity are essential for this connection with younger audiences to be organic, “in the last eight years we have gone from one-off collaborations with brands to integrating influence strategically into marketing plans,” says De Val.
What is the reason for this connection between new generations and content creators? To understand Generation Z and Alpha, we must be clear that we are going to an audience that has social networks as their main channel to interact, not only to entertain themselves, it is also a tool to socialize, flirt and create a community. They love new formats, innovative and stimulating concepts, they respond to brand challenges, make content viral and demand truthfulness, empowerment and social responsibility. Some characteristics that they see and share, precisely, with those influencers that they see on their screens day after day and address them face to face.
Vision, authenticity, innovation and creativity are the four axes on which the growth of influencer marketing is based, and they are also the foundation of YouPlanet. A group that has managed to add high-level profiles to its portfolio along with the production and distribution of audiovisual content that has allowed it to offer a 360 service where content creators manage to develop their full potential and brands connect in the most effective way. and direct with younger audiences.
In this last decade, the advertising sector has been growing and evolving at a very accelerated pace, even at an unprecedented level of digitalization caused by the confinement caused by the 2020 pandemic. The influence has not only adapted, but also It has become central and is already part of the annual strategies of big brands. So much so that in the latest study of advertising investment in digital media prepared by the IAB together with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for 2023 published last September we see how the growth rate of influence advertising investment oscillates between 20% and 30%. In view of these figures, it seems that the influence is here to stay.
