Creativity for PR

Week 3: Lecture 6 : 11th October 2017

Opinion Leaders, Influencers,

Tribes and Global Networks

Carolyn Freeman
Relevant books
Opinion Leaders
 What is an opinion leader?

A well-known individual or organization that has the ability to

influence public opinion on the subject matter for which they are
deemed to be expert in

They can be politicians, business leaders, community leaders,

journalists, educators, celebrities, bloggers, contemporaries,
sports stars, etc.
 What is opinion leadership?
Influential members of a community, group, or society to whom others turn for
advice, opinions, and views

Serve as filterers and interpreters of information that is used by the public

Both knowledgeable and highly respected for his knowledge in a specific

subject e.g. a famous chef who is well respected in the culinary field may opine
on a specific brand of cookware

Unlikely to hold much influence in other areas outside his area of expertise e.g.
no-one probably listens much to the opinion of a celebrity chef on the best
personal computer system
 Opinion Leadership

The process by which one Communications Process

person informally
influences the actions or
attitudes of others who
may be opinion seekers or
merely opinion recipients.

Some questions opinion leaders can answer:

How to use a specific product?
Which of several brands is best?
Where is the best place to shop?
What programmes or movies should we watch?
Where should we go on holiday?
?
 What is an opinion leader in Marketing?
Minority group (early adopters) that pass on information on new products
to less adventuresome or not as well informed segments of the population.

Only products such as automobiles, books, technology and clothing are

susceptible to such influencers whereas appliances, food, toiletries, etc., are
not (unless they are revolutionary or expensive).
Adoption Diffusion Model e.g. movies
 Demographic Characteristics of Opinion Leaders

Opinion leaders:

o Tend to be younger, often with more education, higher

income and higher occupational status

o Those used from movies tend to be young and single

o Those used for food purchase have been found to be

predominantly married

o In contrast, those for giving information and advice on

medical services are predominantly unmarried
 Personality of Opinion Leaders

They have a keener level of interest

More knowledgeable about the product category

Tend to be (or at least seen to be) more innovative about their

purchases than their followers
o their influence stems from a general knowledge or market expertise that
leads to an early awareness of new products and services

Are:
o non-conformist
o more self-confident & gregarious
o more sociable and cosmopolitan
o socially higher on perceived scales
o likely to have used the product or service personally
 What motivates Opinion Leaders?

Product involvement - they may use the conversation as a

dissonance reducing process for products they have bought
o Post-purchase dissonance (after-sales discomfort) occurs when the
consumer notices certain disadvantages of the product purchased or
hears favourable things about a product not purchased

Self-involved - they may want to confirm their own judgements

on their purchase

Social involvement - they may want to influence a friend or

neighbour
o Potentially so they are not the only one using the product or service
 The impact of Opinion Leaders

If you need to reach 2 million people then you just need to reach the
right 2,000 in the right way and they will help you reach 2 million

One influential persons Word of Mouth tends to affect the buying

attitude of (on average) two other people

In the case of Online, this figure goes up to 8 people on average

In a study of 7,000 consumers in seven European countries, 60%

were influenced to use a new brand by family and friends.
 Needs of the Opinion Receivers?

New product or usage information not having to go to all the

effort of doing the research themselves

Reduction of perceived risk what if the product doesnt work or

has limited functionality
(esp. for technical & / or expensive products)

Reduction of search time to find the right type of product at the

right place at the right time

Receiving approval of the opinion leader (in-group approval)

 How are opinion leaders used in Comms?

1. Product endorsement celebrity or peer group endorsement

(note: celebrity endorsement can be risky if they mess up e.g. Oscar Pistorius, OJ
Simpson, Mel Gibson, Wayne Rooney)

2. Sponsorship

3. Co-branding (equity borrowing)

4. Product reviews

5. Word of mouth endorsement

6. Product placement in movies and TV

 Who are opinion leaders that influence
your purchase decisions?

Family Friends

Celebrities & Famous Icons Advertising & Sales

E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

Michael Jackson lent his brand equity to Pepsi in

order to reinforce an image identity for the brand
E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

As has Charlize Theron has lent her sex-appeal to

Dior JAdore
 E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

Peer Endorsement showcases a family like mine appeal

 E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

Remembering what Mum did passing on to the next generation

 E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

Sales Endorsement changing the way car (hire) salesmen are seen
 E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

Aspirational
woman next door
that could be me
I could be friends with her
 E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

Co-branding
Borrowing equity from
other brands
E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising
E.gs of use of opinion leaders in advertising

A little bit of fun

 Opinion Leaders: A Summary

Well known
Tend to be younger
Can be family, friends/peers, celebrity or commercial
Hold great deal on influence in their area of expertise
Serve as filters for their audience
They get very involved with purchases
Are Innovators or early adopters of products or services
Used by opinion receivers who want to reduce purchase risk
Used by advertisers to endorse or promote
Tribes
 Social Identity Theory (Tajfel Bristol Uni)
Social identity is a persons sense of who they are - based on their
group membership(s).
Henri Tajfel (1979)
Groups are an important source of pride and self-esteem
As social creatures, groups give us a sense of belonging to the social world
In order to increase our self-image, we enhance the status of the group to
which we belong (e.g. Liverpool is the best football team in the world)
We increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice views
against the out group (e.g. Manchester football team are a bunch of
losers)
We divide the world into them and us based through a process of social
categorisation (i.e. social groups)
Social categorisation is one explanation for prejudice attitudes taken to
the extreme includes apartheid, genocide etc
 How does a group form?
Socially constructed groups that are formed around a single connecting factor

In-group: any group someone belongs to and feels emotional attachment to

the other members
o Members separate themselves from other groups through use of e.g. symbols,
badges, clothing, names, slogans
o Members view themselves positively, while viewing out-groups negatively

Out-group: one that someone doesnt belong

to and feels competition / hatred towards

It is in just belonging to one of the groups we

adopt the identity of the group we have
categorised ourselves as belonging to,
compare ourselves to the other group in order
to subconsciously create prejudice against the
other group us vs them mentality
Realistic Conflict Theory (Robbers Cave: Muzafer Sherif)

How do group members behave Watch on your own later

towards other groups?

 How does a group form?
What factors distinguish an in-group vs out-group?
A Class Divided Experiment

From 3:27
 Minimal Group Theory (Tajfel & Turner Bristol Uni)

How easily is an in-group formed?

What are the minimum conditions needed for a group
to form and for discrimination to occur between
groups?

Experiment conducted where boys, who had no

previous contact, were divided into 2 groups based on
their preference for 1 of 2 modernist paintings: Klee or
Kandinsky.

Group has no history created from scratch and using

arbitrary criteria
In prejudiced thinking, judgements are made about members of other
groups regardless of their individual characteristics: members of
outgroups are judged negatively or unfavourably stereotyped, simply
because they belong to the outgroup. (Billig, 2002)
 Minimal Group Theory - the experiment

Boys were taken into a cubicle (without other group members) and asked to
assign money to in and outgroup members

Distribution strategies for funds:

Ingroup favouritism most powerful force making sure that their group
got more than the outgroup
Chose the maximum difference between ingroup vs outgroup e.g. 1 vs 7,
they would rather take a lower amount, as long as they got much more
than what the outgroup got and were, therefore, better off
They did not take the maximum amount of money e.g. 18 v 23 if it meant
the outgroup had even more
Watch on
your own
later
 Minimal Group Theory outcome
Experiment led to defining of Social Categorisation

Categorisation of people into groups is universal we do it all the time, its

necessary for survival
i.e. the idea of being in a group, i.e. a Klee group or a Kandinsky group, is enough
to create ethnocentricity, group bias, discrimination, prejudice etc
The group traits are correlated with peripheral category membership
Maximise the differences between the groups
Minimise the differences within the group
The group in the individual (i.e. just the idea that you are in a group), not the
individual in the group

as category memberships become salient, there will be a

tendency to exaggerate the differences on critical dimensions
between individuals falling into distinct categories and to minimise
these differences within each of these categories (Turner, 1982)
 What is a Tribe?

A tribe is a group of people

connected to one another,
connected to a leader,
and connected to an idea
Seth Godin
 Tribe Characteristics
A group of like-minded people
Have active members that more than just show up
Membership is voluntary
Arent created by converting people
Arent closed off or isolated
Arent blind sheep, but are evangelists
People belong to many tribes not just one
Every tribe is different The secret of leadership is
simple: Do what you believe in.
Paint a picture of the future.
Every leader is different Go there.
People will follow. (Seth Godin)
 What brought on the tribal revolution?
Watch Seth Goddin at Ted Talks https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead (17m.19s)

A few key points from the Ted Talk:

Tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change
Tribes are now what matter leading and connecting people and ideas
People who want to change the status quo who believe the current reality
needs to change that its important to change the way things are done
There is a new model of leadership where its not about having power in
order to lead, but building tribes who believe in your idea
We are currently at a point where the way ideas are created, spread and
implemented is changing
The internet was meant to homogenise people, but instead its connected
unique people who can connect with other unique people
Its tribes, not money or factories, that can change our world, change politics
or align a large number of people
 What brought on the tribal revolution? Cont
Find something worth changing and assemble tribes around it so it then
becomes a movement you only need 1,000 people who care enough to start
building a movement

Tell a story to people who want to hear it, by connecting a tribe of people
who are desperate to be connected to each other, by leading a movement
and making change

You dont need permission from people to lead them

The things leaders have:
o Challenge the status quo whats currently there
o They build a culture a way of knowing whether youre in or
out
o They have curiosity about the people in the tribe and about
outsiders To watch in your own time
o They connect peoplt to one another - people want to be missed
when theyre gone
o Being a leader gives you charisma
o They commit to the cause, the tribe, the people that are there
 Group Formation & Tribes: A Summary

Groups are socially constructed

Being part of a group gives us a sense of belonging
Members of the in-group feel emotionally attached to one
another & subconsciously create prejudice towards others in the
out-group
It only takes the suggestion that you belong to a specific group, to
feel that you belong to a group
Tribes are a group of people who are looking for someone to lead
them
Who want to change the status quo and have an idea about how
to change it
Global Networks
 How we have reconstructed ourselves
The interconnectivity of the way we do life has changed dramatically over
the past century

Our offline community, has shifted to an online community

Our offline and online worlds merge into one
Our friendship groups are no longer constricted by geography and same-
time connectedness
Everyone now has the potential to be:
A news broadcaster or journalist
Famous
A leader or a commercial revolutionary
An online entrepreneur
 Social media has changed how we consumer and share
information
40% of people aged 18-35 (and 43% of students) prefer to find
content online through social networks INSTEAD of search
engines
Londoners are twice as likely to discover content through
friends than Northeners
Music videos are watched by 93% of 18-24 year olds
Shopping videos are watched by 40% of women
Funny animal videos are watched by 20% young people, 25%
of students and 11% of the middle aged
Silver Surfers (aged 55+) are getting social and savvy online,
with 56% sharing videos online and 30% using the internet
for shopping more than any other activity
 Social Media (SM) Today
Social Media in 2016
o Facebooks still growing despite
predictions in 2014 otherwise (1.7b
active users)
o Google+ is flagging with limited users
v FB
o The rise of niche social networks
o Tailored content for different audiences
o Multiple online personas
o High consumer expectations
o The social employee
o A valuable feedback & interaction
model
o Content marketing & social signals
Source: (1)
35 60 Year Olds
o Fastest growing demographic on
social networks is aged 45-54
o 26% companies ban social media at
work so evenings are busiest
o Half of mobile web traffic goes to
Facebook
o 35 60 year olds have less friends
than younger generations
o 80% of LinkedIn users are over 30
o Women make up 80% of Pinterest
users
o 50% of Pinterest users are parents
o Parents are wary of privacy controls
 The growth & growth of Facebook
A bit of fun different types of FB
users:
o The narcissist

o The nagging partner

o The judgemental parent

o The political activist

o The conspiracy theorist

o The glass-half-full person / FB hippies

o The joke-forwarder Vaguebooking is any update on a social

o The arguing divorcees (maybe just
American?)
o The all-sharing tourist
o Are there any others types you have
come across?
network (although primarily Facebook) that is
intentionally vague. Status updates which fall
under the category of vaguebooking can be long
or short, but most comprise just a few simple
words.
Regardless of the length they all have one thing
in common to elicit a response from friends
and followers. Vaguebookers take great delight
in beating around the metaphorical bush.
Seeking attention while giving away as little
as humanly possible.
The Social Media marketplace has fragmented into as
many media channels as ATL
 The rise of the everyday influencer

Those who have risen to online fame because of their online social
presence

People trust influencers more because they are deemed as experts

People pay them more attention because they are perceived as being
real, honest and unbiased

There is a lot of money now being spent by companies working with

influences to talk about, test and review their products and services
(Boomberg states around $255m each month)

The brand gains focussed, bulls-eye access to their tribe of followers

who trust their tribe leaders opinion
 The rise of the everyday influencer
The bigger and more loyal the tribe, the higher the price
tag - PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg), the famous YouTube
blogger (who he refers to as the Bro Army) reported
revenues of $12m in 2015.

There are currently limited regulations on influencers

o YouTube is actively taking a stance on controversial,
religious and supremacist content
o Action was taken on SundayFundayz (mantra: if you can
you should) for pushing the envelope too far and damaging
the ecosystem at Yellowstone National Park.

With great power, comes great responsibility

(Vikki Chowney)
E.g.s of Influencers in Everyday Life
There is now a whole communications industry working
to connect brands with everyday influencers
 Social media in communications: A Summary

o Gives your brand and company a more dynamic personality

o In a world of impersonal engagement with companies having lost the personal touch and
front face, customers want to know that a company is still run by people and not answering
machines

o 2-way communication channel - steering away from push communications

o A way to get cheap feedback from clients without having to conduct expensive customer
research groups

o The ability to constantly feed your audience with information about what you are doing
24/7 a lot more cost-effectively than you ever had before

o A GREAT, quick way to create Word of Mouth and to spread it quickly across your tribe

o Using Influencers is the new Word-of-Mouth and endorsement tools being used to promote
brands amongst the online social community.