Influential Australia and TikTok host 'Enter the Group Chat' event

Influential Australia and Tik Tok's 'Enter the Group Chat' event addressed how creators and social-first thinking are shaping how brands show up, as challenger brands are putting more money into digital performance than ever before.

Speaking on a panel, hosted by Influential Australia Creative Director Jenni Smith, Nariné Salmasi, General Manager of Marketing (ANZ) at Omoda Jaecoo said that social and influencers can help build trust for an unknown brand in a saturated market. 

“We're a challenger and a car brand that's been in the market for just over a year. So for us, building trust is the key and the biggest challenge," Salmasi said. “Having our normal marketing channels is really important, but the creator channels are really integral to our strategy.  

“So instead of seeing an ad for 30 seconds, you're putting these cars to the test with influencers and creators who are building that credibility with their audience. It is really integral to be part of that audience and to build within that culture.” 

Jules Lau, Content and Experience Lead at Mars, said the split for the pet food brand was becoming 70/30. 

“Coming from a legacy FMCG, we see ourselves as a manufacturing first business, so we put products on shelves, and while traditional media still matters a lot to us, I'm lumping in digital and social just the way we have always run media,” said Lau. 

“Creative marketing has really accelerated. The spend in there has also accelerated a lot in the last two years. We're spending about 20% and we're projected to spend about 30% all up next year.” 

Jayesh Kesry, Global Strategic Creative Lead at Contiki, said "If it's traffic driving, we're looking at links and bios. For a brand like ours, where travel is generally a larger expense, it takes a lot longer for us to build community and revenue without social."

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