Influence Marketing is a sector that enables brands to implement several acquisition levers to meet specific objectives. Whether for visibility, marketing, launching or brand awareness, using content creators is a non-negligible gas pedal for all market players.
This article is an extract from out study “Decoration and Furnishings, Social Platforms and Influencer Marketing in 2023“, available here.
The IKEA VARMBLIXT collection that has been causing a stir lately for all fans of seventies decorating. The consumer brand’s association with New Zealand designer, @Sabine Marcelis (215k followers on Instagram), has seen sales explode worldwide, putting all products out of stock. Playing with warm colors, softness and its famous «donut» format, the collaboration enabled everyone to treat themselves to a piece but, more importantly, to a part of design history. Mirrors, lamps and decorations – in all, some twenty pieces invaded social networks, notably with interior design KOLs like @karlakang (34.3k followers on Instagram), who didn’t hesitate to showcase the donut light in her dining room on Instagram, or on TikTok with #varmblixt, which garnered 26.4m views, and #varmblixtcollection, which garnered 5.7m views. A trend towards virality on TikTok with a public that won’t necessarily be there for the designer’s fame but for the beauty of the object, which has gradually found its way everywhere, making it a necessity. The first designers activated by the brand are not always the best-known, but rather the content created directly by consumers. This is a godsend for the brand, which not only makes no mistakes with this collection but also lets its customers become true ambassadors and mouthpieces of IKEA.
The phenomenon of rarity associated with a decorative object is the Swedish brand’s specialty, as when it released the Off-White capsule with the late Virgil Abloh, artistic director of the men’s collection at Louis Vuitton. Released in 2019, the collection is still very much on trend, with 377.4k views on #offwhitexikea even 4 years later, with purely home products such as rugs and storage bags proudly displayed by online boutiques like @thesolesupplier to its 1m followers.
In the home appliances market, the Kitchen Aid brand is the ally of content creators in several sectors. Whether for decoration, cooking, lifestyle or creating educational content with children, the brand has succeeded in integrating its food processors into the daily lives of enthusiasts and hobbyists alike. On Instagram, Kitchen Aid has 1,194,663 publications and 485.1m views on #kitchenaid, a success story for expensive household appliances and a brand that’s over 100 years old. The brand recently released a new collection for its best-known food processor, Kitchen Aid, featuring modern colors, adapted bowls and trendy patterns, all sent to KOLs around the world to reach a very wide audience.
Among the faces is Australian @andyhearnden (2.9m followers on Instagram), aka Andy Cooks, who uses the new robots and other accessories without moderation, as in his latest video with 40k likes and over 2k registrations. Real, live and collaborating all over the world, the brand has adapted to new generations and new trends, both aesthetic and technological, to offer attractive content for creators and consumers alike. Whether in Belgium, France, Australia or the United States, Kitchen Aid robots have been decorative objects and timeless small appliances for a century.
Faced with European competitors like Vorwerk with its famous Thermomix with over 3m posts on Instagram and nearly 900m views on TikTok with the #thermomix. Kitchen Aid stands out thanks to its design, but fails to gain share on the German competitor.
For the past 3 years, Le Bon Coin and the world of Influence have been a successful duo. A platform that is at the heart of every household in France and even more so since inflation, enabling people to buy items at all prices. Celebrities promoting the platform in paid collaboration are numerous, including @noholita (1m followers on Instagram), @larmoiredesoso (620k followers on Instagram) and @juliengeloen (428k followers on Instagram), who spent a week campaigning through real-life challenges to show their respective targets how to shop a particular product on Le Bon Coin or how not to be fooled by fake ads. The second-hand platform relies on influencer marketing to meet several objectives, including brand awareness and prevention, to enable its customers, through KOLs, to adopt the right reflexes and thus reduce the security issues surrounding its business.
Like eBay, which is still a much-used platform, the aim is to activate the various influence formats to reach a younger audience who may not have experienced the early days of Le Bon Coin. Promotion is developing not only on social networks but also on YouTube with @ClaraVictorya (211k followers on YouTube), who has no qualms about revealing the behindthe-scenes transformation of her new living room only with paid partnership products offered by NV Gallery or Le Bon Coin for large pieces of furniture. Her video «Je transforme mon nouveau salon» (I’m transforming my new living room) has racked up over 72k views in less than a week, highlighting the products on offer while maintaining an intimate format that instills a sense of trust in the consumer.
Liewood Design is a Danish brand created in 2015 and is a concrete example of what design combined with the world of childcare can do best. With a philosophy of sustainability and responsible materials, Liewood offers products for children, whether ready-to-wear, decoration and furnishings or in the food universe with all the accessories to accompany children’s meals. With 454k followers on Instagram and 1.4m views using #liewood on TikTok, the brand has created a veritable empire in 8 years, enabling parents to combine aesthetics and parenting.
The beautiful and practical @danijela.kusec (16K followers on Instagram) subtle highlights the almost complete Summer 2023 range for her children and everyday accessories. Accessories for kids’ meals are also a small revolution in the sector, which until now has only known very classic models in very flashy colors that don’t always meet ergonomic or transport needs. This is where Liewood once again comes into its own, with innovative products for everyday use, led by the company’s own designer, Anne Marie Lie Norvig. The classic pattern is reversed here: The brand doesn’t need to call on well-known KOLs, but the whole family becomes content creators, from mom to dad, not forgetting the kids, who are the vectors and guarantors of the brand image.
Influence Marketing has made a significant impact in the world of decoration by influencing consumer choices, spreading trends and promoting responsible practices. It remains essential for brands, influencers and consumers to continue to collaborate ethically, creatively and with respect for the environment to build a future where decoration is synonymous with beauty, authenticity and sustainability.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, a data-driven solution that allows brands to scale their KOL Marketing strategies and implement authentic partnerships with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). Kolsquare’s technology enables marketing professionals to easily identify the best Content Creators profiles by filtering their content and audience, and to build and manage their campaigns from A to Z, including measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors. Kolsquare has built the largest community of influencer marketing experts in the world, and offers hundreds of customers (Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, El Corte Inglés, Lacoste, …) the latest Big Data, AI and Machine Learning technologies to drive inspiring partnerships, tapping into an exhaustive network covering 100% of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers in 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. As a Benefit Company, Kolsquare has been pioneering Responsible Influence by championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations to inspire change.
