Influencer market regulations are ‘music to our ears’ says Henry Tajer
With tougher economic conditions putting marketing budgets under increased scrutiny, Henry Tajer is confident of the opportunity for influencer marketing.
“It’s a bit boring to be quite honest,” Tajer told Mumbrella, “because every time there’s some economic clouds, all the doomsayers come out and say ‘our budget’s gonna be cut’.
“[Tapping] into and really [leveraging] the most power channel available – human beings – is insurance in a tough economic climate.”
Tajer joined The Influence Group as CEO in March 2022, after a long career in advertising and media, most famously heading up IPG Mediabrands globally for seven years before two shorter stints at Amazon Media Group Australia and as CEO of Dentsu ANZ. Tajer’s sudden departure from the then-Dentsu Aegis Network in 2019 was one in a string of short-lived leadership changes at the agency network over the course of several years.
Tajer told Mumbrella that his leap into the influencer space two years later was something of an “a-ha!” moment, having previously taken the role of influencer for granted for much of his career.
“What I’ve got my head around [over the last year] is really what I already knew, but I’m learning how that lives and breathes in 2023, in a world where we have big global platforms, where we can consume and engage with brands through different forms.”
While influencer doesn’t have the “perfection” of a television commercial, it instead has “heighten authenticity and credibility”, as a message that comes “from one human to another”.
His confidence in the influencer market is proven by – if not built on – the stake he took in the business when joining The Influence Group alongside founders Sharyn Smith and Howard Parry-Husbands.
In the last year, the group has undergone significant expansion, particularly within the Social Soup business, which has added a number of senior professionals in the past 12 months, including a new head of clients, head of partnerships and strategy and revenue operations director.
While Social Soup receives the most face time in the media as The Influence Group’s influencer marketing agency, Tajer insists that the group’s brand and strategy consultancy, Pollinate, is also an important part of the offering, with a particularly focus on sustainability.
Growth in the influencer market
As a result of its growth, the influencer market has recently been hit with the introduction of a number of regulations from the Therapeutic Goods Alliance (TGA), as well as updates from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in regards to how influencers can report gifts and income.
However, as Tajer told Mumbrella, it is “music to our ears” that the industry has gotten the attention of a government regulator or association.
“It highlights that there is momentum and volume of activity that is happening, which is usually a proof point that it works,” he said, adding that such regulations work to de-risk the situation for marketers.
Of the impact of the current market conditions on the business, Tajer asserted that the “last 12 months have actually been really fruitful and productive for all areas of the business”.
While offering return on investment is now “table stakes”, as marketing budgets continue to be squeezed, it is the role of influencer agencies to remind clients of “the power of the people they engage with”.
“There’s been a realisation from the clients that we speak to that it’s really difficult to land messaging and content for a very broad audience when you’re only using one or two executions. So working with a number of creators to create a lot of varied content is actually proving really effective, and we’re getting really good return on creative, as opposed to investment.”
Tajer suggested that the current economic conditions are ultimately good for the influencer industry, as marketers look for ways to reach audiences organically or through “word of mouth”.
“There’s been a lot of attempts to redefine what was originally the four P’s of marketing – product, price, place and promotion. The fifth P is actually the person, and when you think about influence, it really happens from a person, and that’s what influencer activity really is.”
He added: “So I think with what’s going on at the moment, cost of living pressure and lots of people sort of reassessing, I think this is a path to continued growth.”
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