The professions of event communication and influence – episode #12

Mini-fairs for Communication professions We Are COM X ISCOM, present the daily life of communicators. This episode #12 is dedicated to events and influence. 🙌 Forward to discover these changing sectors.

A few words about the event

☝️ Event communication is a stimulating and creative environment that fundamentally strengthens the bond affinity between a customer and a brand, through the unique and memorable experience generated. 

More concretely, the organization of events contributes to developing the brand awareness or to accompany the launch of a product. However, the revolution PRESENCE and the advent of Social Media have upset the event professions, which now have to rethink their stratégies.

This sector is particularly made for communicators who have the relationship, theOrganisation and creativity

Did you know ?

  • About 1000 events are organized every day in France.
  • The events sector represents 34,5 billion euros in transactions each year in France. 

A few words about influence

✌️ THEinfluencee, or influencer marketing, represents the potential power of an individual, an organization or a media to initiate a change within its community. There are three pillars of influence: influencers, ambassadors and online reviews.

Did you know ?

  • On average, 90% of online shoppers read 2 customer reviews before making a purchase.
  • 68% of consumers trust a product more when they have access to both positive and negative reviews.
  • On average, in an influence campaign, 1 euro invested yields more than 6,75 euros in the long term.
  • 75% of people who follow an influencer have already made a purchase following a recommendation.

Expert's voice

🎙 We welcome Stéphane Bouillet, Founder of the agency Influence4You.

Hello, what is your job?

Stephane Bouillet: In 2011, I founded the influence marketing agency, Influence4you. On a daily basis, we set up operations with the biggest influencers. And at the same time, we are developing a platform intended for less famous influencers, in order to support them in the industrialization of their work. Incidentally, among our 35 employees, many project managers come from ISCOM.

Why and when did you decide to move towards COM?

SB : To tell the truth, I didn't decide to orient myself towards the COM, I would say that it is the result of chance. I was more focused on consulting and marketing, when in 2008 my brother asked me to set up a company. He told me " I saw Netflix in the USA, they exchange CDs by mail. What if we applied this principle to video games? » This is how we made the decision to launch ourselves. Everything was going relatively well, until the day when a renowned YouTuber praised our work via a tweet which unfortunately blew up our server. Then came the desire to collaborate with influencers for promotional purposes. Yet, at the time, we didn't really understand what these influencers were doing, or how influencer marketing worked.

It was therefore in 2011 that we created our agency. The latter was initially oriented gaming, then expanded to other sectors, including beauty. Originally, we had to carry out an educational action, explaining to influencers how to create a business with the extraordinary media power they had in their hands. Today, we are present on Switch, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn...

What does a typical day look like?

SB: This question is far from obvious. In truth, I don't have a typical day. As a business leader, I touch everything. On a daily basis, you have to think about the agency's communication: content, videos, natural referencing, levers... Most of my work consists of managing the teams, which will focus more on the client relationship aspect. 

What is the most stimulating part of your job?

SB: We are fortunate to practice a profession in a very new field which is growing by 50% per year. The actors of influence are more and more numerous, thus amplifying the competitiveness of the sector. As well, I would say that the most stimulating part of my job is that everything has yet to be invented. This is also why we regularly publish studies and books on the subject.

A few years ago influencers evolved without knowing the rules that govern advertising. We had to support them, by redefining the constraints linked to their content: advertising, sponsorship, etc. All this was done in close collaboration with the regulatory authority (ARPP). In parallel, it is becoming essential to also educate advertisers, to provide them with proof that influence marketing is an effective lever compared to traditional advertising.

Note that apart from a few “bad apples”, influencers are for the most part entrepreneurs with whom it is exciting to work.

What influence operation/event are you most proud of?

SB: At Influence4you, we are very proud of this operation, the challenge of which is societal. Our actions are not limited to the promotion of consumer products, we work with, among others, Amnesty International and Sidaction. Influencer marketing can change things and impact the world, it's wonderful to be able to contribute to this. If this UN Women operation is so important to us, it is because 65% of the agency's employees are women. Moreover, our enthusiasm was rewarded, since this campaign won 12 communication prizes.

What are the major developments in events / influence?

SB: Social networks have been at the origin of a profound upheaval in our professions. People used to spend a lot of time behind their TV screen, now it's behind their smartphone screen. We moved in a very short time from traditional media to digital media. However, it is important to understand that in the COM sector, advertisers' money follows the media. More and more budgets will therefore be devoted to influence marketing.

Also, the biggest challenge that influence marketing will have to meet will be to provide advertisers with proof of its results. It is becoming essential to set up appropriate measurement tools, efficiency tests, etc.

As far as social networks are concerned, their uses are constantly changing. And who says new use says new problems and new constraints. It is therefore essential to know how to constantly rethink and readjust your social media strategies..

Finally, the future will I think be more oriented towards the date. However, be careful, this should not be a brake on the creativity necessary for any communicator.

Finally, do you have any advice for future communicators?

SB: I have only one piece of advice for you, stay curious! The world is changing so fast that to be able to deliver value to your customers, you need to keep an eye on everything that's going on. Do not consider your studies as an outcome, in the communication sector training is daily. So, really be a curiosity PRO.

Stephane Bouillet,

Founder of the agency Influence4You

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