Google: Creator content needs to be ‘consistent’ with product

Influencers are a tool for brand building and a way for businesses to take “measured risks”, meaning they’re being given more creative control than ever, according to Google.

Speaking at SocialChain’s SocialMinds Live event yesterday (14 October), head of media and social, platforms and devices UK at Google, Brittany Fuller, said the brand has been on a journey of “releasing creative control” when working with content creators. This starts at the beginning with selecting the right creator fit.

Google has also moved towards long-term deals and away from one-off partnerships, given “so much effort” is being put into the selection process.

“For Google Pixel, we created something called a P score that looks at all of these different criteria in Creator IQ. We pick them because we love their style of content,” said Fuller.

Influencers are urged to create content in their style, but the way they talk about the Google product needs to be “consistent”.

“As a brand, that’s what we’re giving feedback on. It’s not how you’ve created your creative, but is the product story true to what we’re trying to do as a brand?” she said.

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On KPIs, Fuller recognised “how nascent social measurement is”, explaining there isn’t an “industry standard” for influencer measurement.

For Google, paid media is measured through brand lift studies looking at consideration and awareness, and earned media is assessed through engagement and reach. For owned media, the tech giant has its own social health index internally, looking at momentum, reach and engagement. However, authenticity is crucial.

“If we have influencers that are doing a Google Pixel post and then they’re using their iPhone the same day, it doesn’t matter how many people they reached because it feels inauthentic,” said Fuller.

“The reality is you’re going to pay more for an influencer impression or engagement, but you should because you’re reaching a really captive and engaged audience. It really is like this secret sauce that you can reach these people who are so highly engaged with a person whose voice they trust.”

She pointed to podcast host and content creator Alex Cooper, who has recently signed a deal with Google to “create” its ads.

Filling the gap

Unilever senior media and content manager, Ashley Goldie, echoed Fuller’s views on the complexity of measurement. She explained with her role comes a “big responsibility” about what the brand does in the creator space, as Unilever has such “big household names” such as Dove and Sure. Earlier in the year, the FMCG giant pledged to step up influencer marketing to drive “desire at scale”.

According to Goldie, the business is evolving to think about “the gap” creators help Unilever fill, notably around building “emotional connections”.

“It’s not just about people who have the biggest reach, but the most engagement that they’re driving and that one-to-one relationship,” she said.

Goldie noted a big brand can work with creators to “show up differently” during major cultural moments, such as football tournaments like the Euros or World Cup. The business measures success by comparing performance across different cultural moments.

It really is like this secret sauce that you can reach these people who are so highly engaged with a person whose voice they trust.

Brittany Fuller, Google

For its recent Lionesses campaign, Sure partnered with England star Lucy Bronze and tailored the campaign for its markets across the globe. The team noted the importance of having an agile and reactive plan, with content creators guiding storytelling.

Integral to this is community. Goldie explained there are “multiple” communities Unilever has to serve under a brand like Sure or Dove.

“We need to find what the communities are standing for, what’s the passion points, what’s the insight that’s being led through that community and then how does that brand show up through the world of creators,” she said.

Fellow panellist Paige Smith, brand and social influencer lead at Sky, explained the broadcaster’s audiences’ interests can span across film, TV, entertainment and sports.

“The way that we try to blend the different verticals together is just thinking about where are those small nuances where they really complement together, or what are those cultural moments where we can bring two different verticals to really talk authentically about a particular moment,” said Smith.

She described creators as turning audiences from “observers” into “participants”, with features across social platforms allowing them to be brought into the creation process.

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“When we’re creating content with influencers, we really want them to bring their audiences on that journey with them, whether it’s theory building, coming up with perspectives on different shows or sharing comment on a new cast,” said Smith.

She added that influencers respond in real time to make the community feel “spoken with”, rather than “spoken to”.

Sky looks to work with “talent”, who are commissioned to appear in content, versus “creators”, who create their own content. Smith admitted the two can “blur” and become “slightly interchangeable”.

“It just depends on whether you want to lean more into just putting talent into existing formats or work with creators to produce new IP, new formats that talent can then appear in,” said Smith.

For Sky, creators are brought into the planning process. While the broadcaster’s marketing teams are “huge”, the opinion of a creator who has “built so much equity” is always valued.

An example of Sky’s creator work includes its activation for series The Last of Us, which saw the brand work with gamers, allowing the broadcaster to take “measured” risks such as trialling new tools and platforms.

“For us, it’s about we don’t want to be a brand that’s just constantly projecting our opinion and our view. We want to collaborate and partner with people in this space that when we’re doing things together and being risky, it is still really well thought through,” Smith added.