Itaú’s strategy to train its influencers

In the age of influencer marketing, Itaú wants to develop an ecosystem of content creators. The bank has just closed a partnership with Youpix, a pioneer accelerator and consultancy in promoting the creator economy in Brazil.

In a strategy coordinated by the superintendent of content and social networks, Thaiza Akemi — an executive who migrated from Twitter to the bank two years ago — Itaú is betting on relationships with content creators outside the bank to take care of social networks.

“Today there is not a post on any social network of Itaú that is made by us. This is the work of our creators. We managed to make the ‘done with you’ tangible”, says Akemi in reference to the bank’s new slogan. “When we understood the impact that this industry has, it became clear that we needed to partner with the best player in this market. That’s when we turned to Youpix.”

With the new partnership, Itaú wants to attract, train and, at the end of the process, hire creators to strengthen its brand. The remaining influencers, who cannot be taken advantage of by the bank immediately, can be contacted later and, in any case, leave the market better prepared to create business opportunities with new brands, explains the executive. A one-off sponsorship program is also in the pipeline.

Founded by Bia Granja, Youpix offers guidance and training to content creators, operating with mentorship, but also acts as a kind of accelerator, by fostering new business. With a background in tourism, the entrepreneur founded the company at the height of Orkut, blogs and forums on the Brazilian internet. Since then, she has witnessed the explosion of a new creative industry.

Youpix’s business model is based on three verticals. As a consultancy, when setting up the strategic planning of influence, content and social networks for companies like Itaú. As an accelerator, with its own free programs for already active influencers (often sponsored by brands), such as Creators Boost and Youpix Summit. And with education projects for influencer marketing, whether in B2C, with courses paid for by those who want to start their career, or B2B for training employees or partners that companies want to train.

In its own programs, Youpix has already accelerated more than 1,100 creators. Of those who went through the Creators Boost, 75% closed deals and increased viewership after participating in the show. In training courses developed for client companies, more than 3 thousand people were accelerated.

In practice, Youpix works as a bridge between influencers and brands, but does not act as an agency, that is, it does not mount advertising campaigns. “We have seen large venture capital firms investing in this sector, new unicorns emerging in the segment. And, if there is all this money from investors coming in, it is because there is an important market”, assesses Granja.

“When we talk about this universe, a lot of people immediately think of the blogger showing a lipstick, but in fact it’s very little about it. There are great business opportunities to be explored. We are not just talking about #publishing”, ermenda.

Data from The Information website showed that US creator economy startups alone have raised more than $6 billion from early 2021 to date. In one of the most recent deals, Mavrck — read Maverick, like the Ford car — a sort of agency representing influencers, raised $120 million with Boston-based private equity firm Summit Partners.

A survey by SignalFire shows that 50 million people work as “creators” in the world. In Brazil, there are about 9 million influencers on Instagram alone, according to Influencity. The country is a hotspot for the content creation and influencer marketing industry, in fact. We are the third largest consumer of Instagram, behind only India and the United States, with 119 million users

A big market, with big opportunities. And big problems. At the end of last year, Bradesco had to deal with an image crisis after the influential sisters of Verdes Marias published a video on the bank’s pages encouraging a reduction in meat consumption. The content generated a real revolt among agribusiness entrepreneurs, major clients of the financial institution, who protested by having a barbecue in front of the branches.

For the Itaú partner, the first step is to understand that influencer marketing “is not a mess”. “When you lend your brand to someone, there needs to be a deep mutual understanding of the business and a lot of responsibility. It is also the responsibility of the contractor. Failures are likely to happen, but we need to establish governance and be calm when working. The same briefing responsibility that we have with [agência] Africa, we have to deal with the creator”, says Akemi.

“I have a very simple tip: would your brand be comfortable sharing any and all content from this creator?” asks Granja. “If you hesitate, don’t.”

Source: Value Pipeline