The Ad Agency that Manufactures Influence

We recently had a conversation with Brandon Brown of influencer platform Grin about CGI influencers—computer generated avatars that seem to be real people posting influencer-like content and gaining followers. That conversation opened up some discussion about using the influencer landscape as a palette for creativity. We joked that Kentucky Fried Chicken should create a Colonel Sanders influencer account right now and avatar him back to life. But when you think of the influencer channel as a creative outlet, you don’t have to use computer generated influencers at all. You can just script a fictitious influencer’s life, insert an actor or model to be the character and have at it. You can even insert a real person but help script his or her influencer lifestyle for them. Bandolier Media stirred up the influencer marketing airwaves in 2019 when it it created @justaconstructionguy on Instagram. Omar, a coffee-loving construction worker, frequently posted about enjoying Cuvee Coffee, an Austin, Texas, based craft coffee shop, on work breaks.  A tweet from his daughter saying her dad said he was going to be an influencer that included a screen shot of Omar’s account, which then had 75 followers, was posted on Classic Dad, a popular satire site for me. Some big accounts reposted and shared the story. Someone put it on Reddit.  Within five days, he had over 400,000 followers. Bandolier Media consists of owners Daniel Stone and Lou Montemayor, plus creative director and owner George Ellis and creative production specialists Kelsey Hickok … and yes, that’s the entire full-time staff. They have turned influencer marketing on its head by being the first advertising agency that essentially creates influencers. Stone and Montemayor joined me recently to talk about how their approach to social media and just having fun together has reshaped how one might think of an ad agency. They get in deep on the story behind @justaconstructionguy and reveal that while the daughter’s conversation about her dad claiming he was going to be an influencer was 100% true, they got permission from Omar and his daughter to manufacture the tweet so they had a hook to introduce the account to the world. Honestly? It was and is brilliant. And while their approach does skirt the lines of how transparent one should be with something amazing that isn’t quite 100 percent organic, there’s no intention at Bandolier to dupe anyone. They're just having fun with online content and using the influencer channel as a creative outlet.  This episode of Winfluence is sponsored by Julius. That’s the influencer marketing management solution I’ve been using for a few years now to find influencers, engage with them and manage campaigns.  Julius helps me identify relevant influencers, has contact information on many so I don’t have to go hunting for that, but then offers up an entire suite of campaign management features, too. I can reach out and share a contract with an influencer, load in deliverables based on our agreement, assign a dollar value to each deliverable, automatically track influencer content and produce an ROI report for each campaign. Julius allows me to find and compiles lists of influencers, analyze each for their audience characteristics, but then also analyze my list in aggregate so I can ensure the influencers I’ve chosen optimally align with my brand and target audience.  You owe it to your brand or agency to do a demo of Julius today. Go to jason.online/julius and request one. That’s jason.online/julius. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices