The media penetration of social media notables is the basis of Paulo Leal’s new business, which plans to consolidate them as media vehicles
Still a partner at English company Samyroad, but without an executive role, Paulo Leal is introducing his new company, FluenceMedia, to the agencies. The idea is to offer influencers as media channels. In his words, it is not an agency company, but a startup to connect brands, products and services with its consumers.
Leal says that these notables of the digital age need to be treated as vehicles. And with intelligence to ensure return on investments.
For Leal, the time has come for total segmentation in the market of influence, as were architecture, fashion, motorsport, curiosities, general interest and health magazines, for example. Therefore, the influencer will offer the five essential points in a media plan: coverage; range; engagement/interaction rate; cost per thousand; and impacts.
FluenceMedia’s structure already has Aline Felix, former content manager at Publicis Brasil, who will act as head of planning; Gabriel Canela, ex-NET and Samyroad, who arrives to manage BI and market research; and Claudia Amaral, ex-Caras, will be the commercial manager.
Leal emphasizes that the use of influencers as a media channel corrects a dichotomy.
“There is no such thing as influencer marketing. What there is is the influencer that allows brands to interact with specific audiences. Marketing is the strategy behind an action plan. We have influencers with large audiences who serve to talk to various audiences, as TV does. We use TV metrics to give consistency to our plans. But specificity requires a segmented look at the power of each influencer. FluenceMedia was born with 160 million Brazilian followers of its own casting, with 30 influencers, in addition to half a million influencers registered on its platform”, details Leal.
Among FluenceMedia’s exclusive influencers are Julio Ciccielo, Chris Pitanguy, Erika Reis, Luciana Jimenes, Maurício Meireles, João Kleber and Carla Prata. “Influencers have their territories. But some of them manage to expand penetration in more than one segment. Chris Pintanguy has over 400k Instagram followers with an interest in luxury. But she extrapolates that. Gil do Vigor is associated with the LGBTQIA+ agenda, but is also an influencer for financial education. But there is something that influencers are unbeatable: in addition to generating content in their context, they link to sales channels. Something the TV tried but failed to do. This is a strength that advertisers do not give up”, continues Leal.
The connection between the campaign and the sales channel motivated FluenceMedia to bring something new to its product portfolio. Leal is structuring a marketplace aimed at the LGBTQIA+ audience. The idea, as Mercado Livre does, is to exhibit products that are appropriate to the language of the segment. “In addition to what is specific, consumers will be able to buy things associated with the good taste of this public. In fashion, decoration and tourism. With the right ambassadors, brands will be able to benefit from this funnel of influencers, who have granularity and attitude.”
The market has more than 1 million influencers. And they guarantee advertisers, in Leal’s words, the investment according to the available budget. “In large vehicles this is almost impossible. But with the influencer, it became easier to be an advertiser. The possibilities are endless. And they fit in your pocket”, highlights Leal.
FluenceMedia already has two projects underway. One related to summer, which may involve the segments of fashion, beverages, gastronomy and tourism. An action is also being structured for the Cannes Film Festival next May. The idea is to take influencers to cover the event and everything around the cities of the French Riviera. “We will have a stand at Eden Rock to listen to the stars”, concludes Leal.
