Influencer’s influence on public opinion

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In the explosion of digital age, it seems as if influencers and opinion leaders have a stronger hold than ever on their publics. This in turn effects how these same groups of people behave toward a product or service. Ronald Smith describes influencers in his book, Strategic Planning for Public Relations as “a person who has the ability to influence public opinion in favor of an organization. These people could be politicians, athletes, celebrities, figures in the fashion/makeup industry or leaders in business like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk for example. People have been looking to influencers and thought leaders for their thoughts and opinions on different products and services to help them shape their own perceptions. There are countless companies that have gotten a lot of positive earned media by putting their product in the right hands in front of a camera.

Dunkin’ Donuts x Charli D’Amelio

What better way to partner with a brand ambassador that has already been unofficially promoting you for months? You can find Gen Z TikTok superstar Charli D’Amelio holding a Dunkin’ (formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts) drink in many of her videos on the platform. She even tweeted the company in December of 2019 saying, “i would really link a dunkin’ brand deal i drink 1-3 of their cold brew coffees a day so…” Dunkin’ Donuts and world-famous tiktoker Charli D’Amelio have teamed up to create a new drink named after her.

Charli had been a self-proclaimed Dunkin’ lover for some time had been drinking thier coffee in many of her videos that get millions and millions of views at a time. In September of 2020, Dunkin’ Donuts and Charli made their friendship official with the launch of the “Charli” drink on the coffee giant’s menu. The new menu item was exactly what Charli’s order is from all her videos. According to a Tubefilter article, (the most trusted source for YouTube and online video news) the day that the drink launched, there was a 57% increase in app downloads and a 20% sales boost for all cold brew coffees. The partnership did so well that six months after the first campaign, a new campaign was launched that included the Charli Cold Foam as well as limited edition merchandise.

How one person can shift thousands of consumers’ behaviors

Charli’s partnership with Dunkin’ is just one of many examples of how a brand can transform seemingly overnight. The key to finding the correct influencer or opinion leader for your campaign is authenticity. It was clear that Charli already loved the Dunkin’, so the partnership doesn’t look fake to the consumers’ eye.

Internet trolls are quick to notice if a brand ambassador for a product or service genuinely uses or like what they are promoting. For example, Proactiv using Kendall Jenner as the face of their brand in 2019. Fans and consumers quickly came after Kendall, accusing her of not ever using the product because she had previously mentioned how her dermatologist helps her with her skin issues. The negative press and flopped campaign could lead to Proactiv losing customers and in turn subscriptions to their skin care products.

A helpful tool to avoid this is Influencer Marketing Hub has compiled a complete list of different tools for businesses to find the influencer/opinion leader that would fit your campaign. There are different sites that provide different data and analytics like engagement, follower count and even see what other brands who have used that influencer have to say about how they did with their campaign.