Agency commits to equality in influencer marketing

As influencer marketing plays an ever more vital role in engaging customers for brands, MSL, the public relations and influencer marketing agency within Publicis Groupe, has made a series of measurable commitments to address the inequalities within the influencer marketing space, focusing specifically on diversity, inclusion, and equal pay. 

In Fluency, MSL has an AI-driven platform to identify, retain and manage influencers. Their goal is to increase the ability for diverse influencers to be discovered within Fluency and boost their performance. 

“We want to lift up influencers of color because not only is it the right thing to do, it is also what is best for brands as consumers expect better representation and voices resembling their own,” said Bryan Pedersen, Chief Innovation Officer at MSL in a release. To support this commitment, MSL is partnering with The Influencer League, an educational platform for influencers.

What they’re doing. MSL’s specific initiatives include:

• Leveraging new technology within Fluency to collect demographic data not available through social channels (with consent);
• Adding at least 10,000 vetted diverse influencers to Fluency by end of 2021 through ongoing community engagement and the partnership with The Influencer League; and
• Sponsoring full-tuition for 1,000 diverse influencers to attend The Influencer League’s six-week masterclass covering influencer branding and core value, social media growth, working with brands, and monetization strategies. 

Why we care. Brands must build enduring relationships with customers, and influencer marketing is one channel to accomplish that. But the days of everyone looking the same on a magazine cover is over. Customers want to hear from influencers who resemble them.

This post first appeared on MarTech Today.

About The Author

Rodric Bradford

Rodric J. Bradford is the Editor of MarTech Today and has worked in the marketing technology industry as both a journalist and corporate project manager. Prior to joining MarTech Today Bradford served as Convention and Technology Beat Reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Business Press publication and worked as Technology Reporter for Global Gaming Business, the world’s largest casino publication. In the corporate world Bradford has served as Technology Project Manager for CNA, Cigna, General Dynamics and Philip Morris. Bradford is an alumnus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.