Blogapalooza - Fireside Chat
Summary
TLDRIn this interview, Bernie of Pwani Foundation talks with Ace Gapos, CEO of Bloga Paloa, a pioneering influencer marketing company in the Philippines. Ace shares insights on the nascent influencer market in 2015, the evolution to a thriving industry by 2024, and the importance of understanding and innovating around customer needs. She discusses the launch of Creator merchandise to support influencers beyond their fame cycle and emphasizes the value of working with key influencers to create demand for businesses.
Takeaways
- 🚀 **Early Market Entry**: Bloga Paloa entered a market with new digital needs, not entirely new but with a shift towards digital advertising.
- 🌟 **Growth of Influencer Marketing**: The industry has grown exponentially since Bloga Paloa's inception, with influencer marketing becoming a significant part of digital marketing.
- 🆚 **Competition**: With growth, competition has increased, which Bloga Paloa sees as a positive force driving them to provide more value.
- 📈 **Market Education**: One of the initial challenges was educating the market about the concept and value of influencer marketing.
- 💰 **Pricing Influencer Work**: There's an ongoing challenge in putting a commercial value on influencer work, which was traditionally uncompensated.
- 🔗 **Dual Customer Focus**: Bloga Paloa serves two types of customers: businesses seeking digital marketing and influencers/creators looking to monetize their work.
- 👕 **Creator Merchandise**: A recent business unit focuses on creator merchandise to provide a lasting revenue stream for influencers beyond their peak fame.
- 🛠️ **Supporting the Backend**: Bloga Paloa supports the logistical backend of merchandise creation, allowing creators to focus on their content and audience.
- 💡 **Innovation Strategy**: Innovation should stem from a deep understanding or 'genius' of the field to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
- 📚 **Market Understanding**: Bloga Paloa's innovation is rooted in a deep understanding of the needs of both brands and content creators.
- 📈 **Creating Demand**: To create demand, work with influential people in the target field to leverage their influence and credibility.
Q & A
What was the influencer marketing landscape like when Bloga Paloa started in 2015?
-When Bloga Paloa started in 2015, influencer marketing was not as established as it is today. It was a time when businesses were beginning to embrace digital marketing, and there were new needs in the market that Bloga Paloa aimed to address. The industry was not entirely new, but it was evolving with the rise of digital advertising.
How has the growth of influencer marketing impacted Bloga Paloa?
-The growth of influencer marketing has been significant since Bloga Paloa's inception, with the industry expanding exponentially over the years. This growth has been beneficial for Bloga Paloa as it has allowed the company to enjoy the industry's expansion and adapt to the increasing demand for influencer marketing services.
What were Bloga Paloa's main challenges when it first started?
-One of the main challenges Bloga Paloa faced when it started was educating the market about influencer marketing. There was a need to inform people about the concept and value of working with influencers, as it was a relatively new field at the time.
How does Bloga Paloa define its customer profiles?
-Bloga Paloa serves two types of customers: businesses and brands that use digital marketing for their advertising needs, and the community of influencers and content creators who are looking to monetize their online presence.
Can you describe Bloga Paloa's approach to a recent marketing campaign?
-Bloga Paloa recently launched a business unit focused on creator merchandise. The idea is to help influencers capitalize on their fame by creating merchandise that their followers can purchase to support them, ensuring a continued stream of income even after their peak period of fame.
What is Bloga Paloa's strategy for innovation?
-Bloga Paloa's strategy for innovation revolves around understanding its core competencies and the needs of its market deeply. The company focuses on identifying fundamental needs within the influencer and content creation space and innovates to meet those needs, ensuring that its services remain relevant and valuable.
How does Bloga Paloa maintain its competitive edge in the influencer marketing industry?
-Bloga Paloa maintains its competitive edge by staying lean and mean, operating like a startup even after years in the industry. It focuses on innovation that stems from a deep understanding of its market and the needs of its customers, ensuring that it continues to provide value and stay ahead of the competition.
What advice does Ace Gapos have for businesses looking to create demand through marketing?
-Ace Gapos advises businesses to identify and work with influential people in their field to help create demand. By partnering with influencers, businesses can leverage their audience and trust to manufacture demand more effectively.
How does Bloga Paloa support influencers in the merchandise business?
-Bloga Paloa supports influencers by handling the backend processes of merchandise creation and sales. This allows influencers to focus on creating content and promoting their merchandise to their followers while Bloga Paloa takes care of production, distribution, and other logistical challenges.
What is the importance of understanding the market's core needs according to Ace Gapos?
-Ace Gapos emphasizes the importance of understanding the core needs of the market, rather than just focusing on surface-level trends. By delving into the deep desires and requirements of customers, Bloga Paloa can innovate and provide services that truly address those needs, leading to more effective marketing strategies and business growth.
Outlines
📈 The Evolution of Influencer Marketing with Bloga Paloa
Bernie from Pwani Foundation interviews Ace Gapos, CEO of Bloga Paloa, one of the pioneering influencer marketing companies in the Philippines. The conversation begins with an overview of the company's inception in 2015, a time when the influencer marketing industry was nascent. Ace discusses the early challenges of educating the market about the value of influencer collaborations and the lack of established pricing models for influencer work. Despite these hurdles, Bloga Paloa capitalized on the growing digital advertising trends among businesses, positioning themselves at the forefront of a burgeoning market. The discussion highlights the company's strategic advantage in understanding the evolving needs of both brands and content creators, and how they've adapted to the increasing competition and market growth.
🛍️ Launching Creator Merchandise: A New Business Unit
Ace Gapos shares insights into Bloga Paloa's recent venture into Creator Merchandise, a business unit designed to support influencers in monetizing their fame through merchandise. She explains the rationale behind this initiative, noting the fleeting nature of an influencer's popularity and the desire to provide a sustainable revenue stream beyond their peak influence. The service aims to alleviate the operational complexities associated with merchandise creation, allowing influencers to focus on engaging with their audience. This strategic move is part of Bloga Paloa's broader commitment to innovating within the influencer marketing space, addressing the core needs of their clientele and fostering long-term relationships with both brands and content creators.
💡 Embracing Innovation and Customer Obsession for Business Growth
In the final segment, Ace emphasizes the importance of innovation rooted in deep understanding and passion for one's industry. She advises founders to leverage their core competencies and intimate knowledge of their market to drive innovation. Ace's personal experience as a long-time content creator informs Bloga Paloa's strategic direction, ensuring that their services are tailored to the fundamental needs of their customers. The conversation concludes with Ace's advice for businesses looking to create demand: identify and collaborate with influential figures in their target market. This approach, she suggests, can effectively amplify a brand's message and generate interest. The discussion encapsulates Bloga Paloa's philosophy of prioritizing customer understanding and leveraging this insight to fuel business growth and innovation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Influencer Marketing
💡Bloga Paloa
💡Networking Event
💡Market Growth
💡Competition
💡Digital Marketing
💡Content Creators
💡Commercial Value
💡Customer Profiles
💡Creator Merchandise
💡Innovation
Highlights
Bernie introduces the CEO of Bloga Paloa, Miss Ace Gapos, and discusses the early days of influencer marketing in the Philippines.
Bloga Paloa was one of the first influencer marketing companies in the Philippines, highlighting its pioneering role.
The company also hosted the first and largest annual networking event for bloggers and businesses.
Ace Gapos shares her excitement about being part of the discussion and her role at Bloga Paloa.
In 2015, when Bloga Paloa was incorporated, the market for influencer marketing was nascent and growing.
Ace Gapos discusses the challenges of entering a market with new needs and the lack of competition at the time.
The industry has grown significantly, with influencer marketing expanding rapidly over the past few years.
Bloga Paloa's early entry into the market allowed it to respond to the emerging needs of businesses embracing digital.
Ace Gapos emphasizes the importance of educating the market about influencer marketing and its value.
The company's challenge was to put a commercial value on the work of influencers who were used to non-monetary compensation.
Bloga Paloa serves two types of customers: businesses and influencers, bridging the gap between them.
Ace Gapos talks about the launch of Bloga Paloa's Creator merchandise business unit to support influencers post-fame.
The company supports the backend of merchandise creation, allowing influencers to focus on their content and followers.
Innovation at Bloga Paloa stems from a deep understanding of the industry and the needs of the markets served.
Ace Gapos advises founders to innovate based on their core understanding or passion to establish a competitive edge.
The company's business units are launched in response to fundamental market needs, not just surface-level trends.
Ace Gapos shares her advice for creating demand through identifying and working with influential people in a field.
The discussion concludes with Ace Gapos expressing her hope that the insights shared will provide value to the audience.
Transcripts
[Music]
welcome everyone uh this is Bernie of
pwani foundation uh so you probably were
just as inspired as I was in the case
study of bloga paloa which as you know
is one of the first um influencer
marketing companies in the Philippines
and it also hosted the first and largest
annual networking um event for bloggers
and businesses here in the the country
um and we're so happy to have with us
here today uh the CEO herself Miss Ace
gapos thank you so much for joining us
Ace thanks so much Bernie for having me
very excited to be here great all right
so we'll start with our first question
uh we have three questions for our
fireside chat today so for the first one
um you know influencer marketing now is
such a big thing in
2024 but back when you know blog of pooa
started or was incorporated in 2015 it
was it's probably a different story
could you tell me or tell us um a little
bit more about how the market was like
so were you entering a a new market or
was there already an existing Market who
were your competitors or
players um and who were your customers
sure right um we started very early in
this industry and so it was a little
challenging for us back then because we
had to sort of figure out how the market
would think and act um but definitely
there was a market already and when I
say there has been a
market uh there have always been
businesses that
advertise and we were very lucky to come
in at a time when most of these
companies are starting to embrace
digital
so while it's not entirely a new
market this Market has new
needs so um it was a very good time for
us to respond to those
needs uh but compare comparing that to
how things are like right now of course
you know influencer marketing has grown
the industry has grown maybe triple time
times 10 over the past couple of years
and so we've been enjoying that growth
as well but with growth always comes
competition which is good you know back
in the day we did not have any
competition there was simply no one
getting into that space because is there
even a space you know so um because the
industry has grown more and more similar
companies have been trying to take a
bite of the pie and I'd like to believe
that's good for us because you know
options are always always very good it
it pushes us to be more competitive
provide more value uh but you can see
you know you can see how really the
industry has grown from the time when we
started in 2011 up to this day um yeah
from having a market that has new needs
to right now there's just so much Market
we can't even service
everybody so
yeah yeah that that that has been the
growth right so you're very lucky
actually because you mentioned um in the
case study that um you were able to
build this network since Bap paloa
started as you know the the annual
networking event in 2011 so um when it
was incorporated in 2015 it wasn't you
weren't starting from scratch now you
already had an existing Market that's
right
uh maybe you could share with us a
little bit about what it was like
entering um entering the space uh during
that time what were your challenges and
also what were the advantages for you as
as you know as as blog of BL already had
this existing Network yeah the major
challenge to be honest is informing
people educating them about influencer
marketing because if I take myself back
to that time no one was talking about
influencer marketing what is influencer
marketing you know so a lot of the
earlier challenges that we had were
really about educating the market about
influencers about influencer marketing
about working commercially with content
creators so um one of the major ones I
would say would be that and then
challenging also of course to put value
to put a price on the influencer work
because they've been used to doing that
without anything in return you know just
free products you know free experiences
and so now that the time has come that
it actually has commercial value how do
you put value in that so that's still an
ongoing challenge to be honest up to
this point there is no standard pricing
uh for Content creators and influencers
but it's been something that we've been
working on not to standardize but to
work around these
limitations yeah um would you mind
sharing with us again is who or what are
your customer profiles just so that we
can give the audiences a quick Rec yeah
we Serv as two types of customers on
both ends first would be the businesses
the brands mostly these are companies
that really advertise and use digital
marketing for their marketing activities
the second part of the stakeholders
would be the community of influen ERS
and content creators of course these are
different people usually these are
creatives and these are individuals with
different needs so you can imagine us
being the middle uh providing value to
the brands providing value to the
content creators and providing value to
their
interactions great great so um as you
know the case study here um is really
about customers and
markets um could you share with us um a
marketing campaign that you worked on
recently and how you um tackled the
specific customer segment um and you
know created a demand for for your
specific business
unit um okay that's a tricky question
now because we work with a lot of brands
from different verticals maybe I could
just talk
about our recent the most recent
business unit that we've launched it's
the it's a Creator
merchandise and um the reason why we the
reason why we launch this is because I
see a lot of creators doing very well
with their content but I also see how
fast the I would call the fame cycle is
like know so one day you're famous next
day you're not and for most
influencers this is what happens to them
so again going back to the Creator
merchandise no we want to make sure that
when their wave of Fame is done the
community that has supported them when
they were at the prime of their Fame
would still be continuing to support
them and so that's through merchandise
you know I mean if I'm a follower of
influencer X I love influencer X very
much if influencer x puts out a shirt
I'm going to buy that to support
influencer X and if influencer x keeps
on innovating making new merch I want to
buy that too because I want to support
influencer X and um it's been growing in
popularity for influencers and content
creators here because we support the
entire back end if you know if you have
some understanding on how merchandise
Works in in theory it's so easy but the
back end of that is hell so we we
support the back end for the creators
and the all they have to do is think
about how to post how to promote that to
their
followers and um yeah all of the
difficult tasks are taken care of by us
so uh that is creating Demand on the
influencer side they would want to work
with us for their
merch uh and again that comes from the
understanding of this same cycle of how
influencers think how influencers work
how the market response to influencers
that's it yeah so you you did mention in
the case hudy that um since you have so
much knowledge about the market it's
quite easy for you to understand you
know what are their needs you what are
their pain points so what you talked
about just now um is blogi if I'm not
mistaken that's right but you also have
other products or business units and
this uh as we talked about stems from
your kind of interest and you know
motivation to to innovate and to adopt
this lean but mean method no um as a
startup even though you started years
ago you still operate as a startup so
can you tell us a little bit about your
strategies for Innovation your
principles no um and motivations for
doing that to establish your Competitive
Edge and today is growing in influencer
market right um I believe that
innovation has to always
have your Genius at the core what do I
mean by that uh it's difficult to
innovate on something that you don't
really understand okay it's not
impossible it's just difficult and
challenging and so you know when I talk
to
Founders I
I help them determine what's the genius
what's what what are you very very good
at or what is something that you really
really understand because if you know
this to the core then it's going to be
easy to innovate so I could talk about
my experience no uh I have been a
blogger since I was 11 and so this is
something putting out content this is
something that I know to the core I have
lived it I have been it ever since and
so the way that I understand this is
very very deeply rooted compared to
possibly somebody who just entered the
space because of the commercial
opportunity you know um and so maybe if
if this is a Founder I'm speaking with
and the founder is going to ask me about
how to innovate I would always advise
you go to that core of what you really
understand or I mean I don't want to
romanticize that but some Founders would
talk about it as passion as love but you
go to that because that's going to make
it easier for you so for me you know for
me very specifically as the founder uh
again I understand this industry very
well as a content creator I know it as a
brand representative I know that and so
we've always been innovating Within
These Paces recognizing the need of the
people that we serve right so remember
the business units that we've been
launching all throughout these years all
of these correspond to a very
fundamental need of the markets we want
to serve and again we won we don't want
to make it superficial we don't want to
do look at surface level you look at the
core what do they need and that's where
you innovate
in that's very well said is and I think
the root of you know businesses should
always
be understanding the customer first and
I think that will always set you
for um
success that's right you have to be
obsessed with a customer you read it
many times successful entrepreneurs are
obsessed with a customer and being
obsessed is not surface level you get to
know them you really you know really
know their desires their deepest need
and that's where you put the innovation
in right great maybe as a last question
is um what is your advice for people who
are wanting to create a demand for their
businesses so as a marketing expert what
is your advice for people using
marketing as a tool to create more
demand um it would be good to
identify the key people who are
influential in their
field uh and I think if they are able to
work with these
people then it would be easier to quote
unquote manufacture that
demand uh and you don't have to look far
you know for for
mothers uh for baby products mothers are
key people you know so I they work with
influential people they try and see if
these people could work with them in
making that demand
higher right so again the key is people
first always always
all right well that ends our fireside
chat Ace um thank you so much for all
your insights and your
time I appreciate it thank you for
thinking of me thank you for inviting me
I hope that we're able to give value to
whoever will be watching this
[Music]
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