Abstract
International brands are experiencing a shift of power in which the communication of a brand is in the hands of everyone in the era of social media. Word-of-mouth travels fast, and in order to reach audiences in a more genuine, authentic manner influencers are used as intermediaries to communicate brand messages, an action which could be described as authentic branded communication. This research focuses on paid influencers, i.e. those chosen by the brand and often paid in monetary terms, focusing on the direct communication of influencers via Instagram. The research questions revolve around how influencers can be used to communicate international brands, and how do they communicate a more authentic and personal international brand. International brands have the possibility to reach international audiences via international influencers, i.e. having a variety of influencers from a variety of countries or influencers that have international presence. I argue that ultimately, influencers are selling their already existing audience and themselves to brands, an action that has been practiced throughout time: selling attention gained to third parties. International brands control the content to a degree, i.e. by controlling the hashtags influencers use, but the more genuine aspect is visible in the language used and stories told by an influencer in their posts, for example posting in their native tongue and telling about their persona. The concept of personal brand is connected with influencer communication, as being an influencer is being oneself and knowing how to communicate oneself to the audiences, many influencers thus create a person brand of their own. International brands are thus utilising influencers as intermediaries and borrowing their persona, account and audiences. Glocalisation is achieved by using international, universal hashtags (global) together with native language of influencers (local).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:oulo.fi/oai:oulu.fi:nbnfioulu-201802071163 |
| Date | 07 February 2018 |
| Creators | Satta, E. (Elina) |
| Publisher | University of Oulu |
| Source Sets | University of Oulu |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, © Elina Satta, 2018 |
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