KOL Marketing is the hottest weapon driving luxury PR style. While Influencer marketing is widely used in social media. The power of KOL marketing is driving digital media to new levels.
KOL Marketing vs Influencer
What we do know is that KOL marketing is crucial for luxury brands in China these days. As the digital age is seeing a shift in KOL marketing is the driving force.
KOL, is better known as Key Opinion Leaders, are what consumers are gravitating towards in hopes to filter the clutter that digital advertising has created.
They are seen as having more importance and relevance than mass media because they are able to connect and relate to their audience in a way that’s intimate and authentic.
The contrasting difference is that Influencers are viewed differently compared to their celebrity counterparts. Social media influencers are able to create a conversation, making campaigns much more engaging since these “real” people are sharing thoughts and ideas about a product.
Key Opinion Leaders work double-duty: they not only connect with their audience, but in most cases, they also have a specific target demographic.
KOL marketing roundup:
Who’s influential? Key opinion leaders, again and still, marketers say
It looks as if the pharma industry is stuck with key opinion leaders. That’s according to a new survey designed to find out if the term was still accurate and appropriate to describe influential physicians and other healthcare providers.
The answer was a resounding yes. More than 62% of industry executives said KOL is the term their companies use to describe those influential healthcare providers. Fifty percent also agreed that KOL is the best term to describe them. Another 47% disagreed, and 3% were unsure.
The numbers behind #KOL marketing
The origin of internet influencers or key opinion leaders (KOLs) can be traced back to the heyday of the internet, when we browsed homemade blog posts on Xanga.com, blogger.com and other personal content-sharing platforms for leisure. Soon after, we noticed some bloggers standing out from their counterparts.
As social media rose to new heights in popularity, this new breed of digital content creators, especially ones who wrote about beauty, food, travelling, and leisure, quickly stole the limelight in the public arena.
KOL Marketing in China: Why It Works and How To Do It Right (Part 1)
In less than a decade, Chinese consumers have moved from contributing three percent to global personal luxury goods consumption to becoming the largest luxury consumers in the world, accounting for more than 30 percent of global luxury sales.
KOL Marketing in China: Why It Works and How To Do It Right (Part 2)
Selecting the right KOL that fits the brand’s public image can give the brand a boost among Chinese consumers—but a wrong decision can quickly backfire on social media.
Does Dior Have an Identity Crisis in China?
Dior’s recent (good and bad) digital strategy, particularly its KOL strategy, indicates an even broader issue that is faced by many luxury brands in China: the pressure to play catch-up and maintain profit from this deeply competitive market through innovative product offerings, marketing strategy, and the struggle to execute against that need.