Four Seasons shifts its global influencer strategy

The company's "Envoy" program takes a "follower-blind approach" that prioritizes content quality over quantity.

The popularity of influencer marketing – accompanied by a growing number of people identifying themselves as content creators – poses a number of challenges when it comes to campaign “efficacy and authenticity,” says Sarah Tuite, senior director of corporate public relations at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the Toronto-based hotel and resorts company operating in 47 markets globally.

As the influencer space has grown more competitive, especially in categories like fashion, beauty and hospitality, content has begun to feel repetitive and familiar, hindering efforts to engage with consumers in authentic and interesting ways, she says.

It’s in response to those challenges that the hotel chain has launched Envoy by Four Seasons, a new program to leverage creative storytellers and artists across mediums (videos, pictures and words) through stories about their unique and curated travel experiences. Influencers are chosen based on the quality of their content, as opposed to the size of their following.

Even though “numbers still matter,” as CMO Peter Nowlan noted in a statement accompanying the announcement, the company has come to believe that “content quality is the new measure of value in the realm of influencer marketing.”

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Source: StrategyOnline