Every two weeks, we round up new & interesting news in the digital marketing industry, with an earned content twist. Though each story below is summarized by a different author, one theme is apparent: authenticity in marketing isn’t going anywhere.

Whether it’s a sports, fashion, retail, or media brand, any marketer knows that in order to reach its target audience the content they create needs to feel genuine and needs to create a connection to their customers. Read on to learn more from brands and organizations that are using authenticity to forge better relationships with their consumers.

OLAVIEW: SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

If your brand doesn’t have a strong presence on Instagram, or an Instagram account at all, you could be missing out on sales (especially if you’re a fashion or retail brand). According to research, “a third of Instagram users have bought an item of clothing they saw on the social network”. I myself have purchased clothing straight from Instagram two separate times since “shoppable Instagrams” have become a staple for brands. More than that, the images that I shopped caught my eye because they were user-generated. While, the ability to find inspiration and shop on Instagram is great, the icing on the cake which compelled me buy in the first place, was the authenticity of the image I saw. Instagram has quickly become a place consumers go to find the latest fashions and trends, and to learn where they can buy these items from. As a brand, what are you doing to connect your consumers to your retail experience on all channels?

Ariel Hendrick, Marketing Analyst

In the UK, football (or soccer) is one of the most passionately followed and loved sport in Europe. For some people, it’s almost a religion. 50 years ago, when top-flight football wasn’t surrounded by big money sponsorship deals and player transfers, feeling part of a club was very real. However, with the growth of the sport, the relationship became more separated between a football club and its fans.

Betway, sponsors of West Ham football club, based in East London, recognised their ultimate goal was to sell more football shirts, and wanted to do so by creating a campaign to show its appreciation to its fans and generate loyalty. Instead of the usual brand awareness content, they wanted to deliver a more personal campaign that would build a closer connection to the club and its players.

They did this by launching a six-part video series about everyday life at the club, which gave fans an inside look into their facilities as well as coaches’ and players’ daily practices. Betway’s marketing director was confident that the campaign would be a success, as the story they were telling was genuine.

This shows the direction of where marketing is headed. In this congested industry, it’s important to differentiate your brand’s content when it’s mandated that content be more authentic and creative than ever before. Using video as a medium and observing a real experience, even something as simple as recording a behind the scenes look at a team, is a great way to evoke an emotional connection with an audience.

The fans of the football club can be similarly compared to advocates of any brand, and the sooner brands recognise that and celebrate what consumers want, the better off they’ll be. At Olapic the concept of authenticity is core to creating an effective visual content strategy. Great imagery is not enough for brands anymore, the imagery needs to tell a genuine and believable story. Let your consumers help you discover your brand’s story.

Mark Bayley, Campaign Marketing Specialist EMEA

Since April earlier this year, MTV has promised a re-imagining of the brand to attempt to strengthen MTV’s connection to pop culture and music, the original foundation of the network.

The original purpose of MTV was to be “music television”, playing music videos 24/7, guided by video jockeys (a term coined by the network). MTV debuted The Real World and Road Rules in the early 1990s, the OGs of reality television. MTV also launched their Video Music Awards and most notably, in 1998, Total Request Live was born. Kids these days might correlate Carson Daly as the host of “The Voice” but my friends and I will always remember him as the incredible host of TRL. As MTV expanded, music videos were no longer the centerpiece of its programming.

In recent years, viewership has sharply declined. Last year, MTV launched “I AM MY MTV”, encouraging fans to send in their user-generated content of Instagram photos and Vine videos for potential inclusion on broadcasts as well as online. Artists around the world will also be featured in special programming showcasing experimental video art, music, and storytelling.

MTV Classic was released last month, featuring older series and programming. Programming includes memorable episodes of MTV Unplugged, Punk’d, Laguna Beach, and Beavis & Butthead. Think of it as a never-ending #TBT.

This week, MTV just announced they are returning to its live music roots and launching “Wonderland”, its first weekly music series in almost 20 years.

As marketers, sometimes we need to hit refresh. Sometimes we need to remember what the core inspiration is for our brand. Since the beginning, music was the foundation of MTV. Music is constantly trying to break the mold and reinvent itself. Sounds like somebody found its muse again.

Justine Winkler, Customer Marketing Manager

Maggie Malek’s column dissects influencer marketing. Something which she acknowledges as a valid and powerful method of marketing. The problem she points out, however, is the reliance of marketers on celebrities and social media users with the highest followings, based on the assumption that these users can yield the highest visibility for their brands.

She goes on to point out that authenticity outweighs name-recognition or size of footprint, a concept we’ve always agreed with at Olapic. One anecdote about Scott Disick, from “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” drives the point home: As an ambassador for a weight loss tea, Disick pasted the instructions from the brand within the caption of his Instagram post, shattering any illusion of the authenticity behind why he posted. Without the associated assumption that an ambassador truly loves the brand they’re sharing, what value is there?

Justin Berger, Director of Demand Gen & Marketing Ops

Podcasting. Just like fashion trends, they are having a comeback. According to the above Mashable article, 57 million people are listening to podcasts regularly. While many companies are starting to take advantage of this reemerging trend, there is one piece of the puzzle that still is not working in the Podcast ‘ecosystem,’ and that’smonetization.

Acast, started by two Swedish tech entrepreneurs, was founded in April of 2014 to solve the issue of podcast monetization. Working with companies like Buzzfeed and Vogue, Acast has an app that hosts podcasts where advertisers can buy ad space. They currently have 45 million unique per month listeners and are growing.

While Marc Zuckerburg, CEO of Facebook, has started his video push- Acast believes podcasting is here to stay. “Podcasting is something you do while you’re doing something else,” Måns Ulvestam, co-founder and CEO said and continued, “Video has its place, and podcasting has its place, just like broadcast has its place.”

Corri Love, Sr. Manager, Enterprise Marketing

Hope you enjoyed our digital marketing recap. Have a great weekend an tune in bi-weekly for our next OlaView.