Influencer marketing start-up hires marketing director
Influencer marketing start-up Visual Amplifiers has appointed former George Patterson Y&R general manager Amy Luca as marketing director.
Luca
Luca was appointed GM at GPY&R in December 2013, finishing up with the creative agency in 2015.
The hire comes as the start-up ramps up activity and planning for 2016 after a founding year which included campaigns for brands including Uniqlo, eBay, ASOS, Toby’s Estate, The Horse and General Pants.
VAMP provides a single end-to-end solution for brands in recruiting, product distribution and talent payment.
VAMP co-founder Aaron Brooks said in a statement: “With over 15 years’ experience in Australia, China and the US, helping brands develop digital and traditional communication and engagement strategies, Amy brings a wealth of knowledge to VAMP and it’s great to have her on board.
“This is an exciting time for VAMP, as we have some great campaigns coming up, technology in development, and with a number of senior appointments, including Amy, we are solidifying our position in this emerging market.”
Speaking about the rise of influencers, Amy Luca said in a statement: “Brands tend to chase influencers with large audiences but as influencers’ audiences grow, engagement rates tend to decline, which is why it is important to carefully select talent with an engaged audience rather than just a large audience.
“Our selection method focuses on recruiting influencers or ‘talent’ as we call them, that have a natural and authentic alignment with the brands they are promoting (and) then letting them creatively represent the brand for their audience.
“It’s this approach which sees our campaigns consistently out-perform Instagram benchmark engagement rates, and correlates to increased sales.
“Consumers will not be influenced by someone’s content if it seems inauthentic or contrived, and thus we wouldn’t ask our talent to promote a product that doesn’t align with their own brand.”
