Page 11 - AdNews Sep-Oct 2021

www.adnews.com.au | September/October2021 11
New Zealand’s
influencer marketing
is just getting started
The influencer marketing space in New Zealand has been getting more attention during the past two years. We speak to experts about why and where the space is heading next.
WORDS BY
MARIAM CHEIK-HUSSEIN
Feature
New Zealand influencer Ruby Mills.
Clare Winterbourn was just five hours away from her flight to New Zealand when the borders were slammed shut in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in NSW.
Winterbourn, founder and CEO of talent agency Born Bred Talent and Born Bred Creative, was planning to relocate to Auckland for
12 months to focus on the growing business there.
“The growth opportunities in New Zealand are
astronomical,” says Winterbourn.
“We’re heading into the New Zealand market with a
large-scale creative focus and providing the New Zealand market with different creatives and different strategies.
“There are so many New Zealand brands now trying to break into the Australian market, and there are also a lot of Australian brands which are now looking to New Zealand where previously it may not have been such a huge focus.”
Born Bred first put its footprint in New Zealand in 2019 but quickly scaled back to focus on Australia because of the pandemic. That hasn’t stopped the growth from the market, and after being able to put some focus back into New Zealand, it now represents 30% of Born Bred’s revenue.
Other Australian agencies are noticing the opportunity across the ditch, too.
The Right Fit had planned to launch in New Zealand after receiving enquiries from brands for access to “faster, easier, and more efficient” ways to find and book talent, including influencers, models and actors. However, The Right Fit founder CEO Taryn Williams says the agency’s expansion plans have been paused due to COVID-19.
“After looking at the landscape in New Zealand, we looked at the product work required, in terms of cur- rency conversions, local site experience, etc, and decided it was worth the investment to launch,” says Williams.
“We had already developed a lot of the processes and infrastructure from our Singapore expansion and New Zealand felt easier in terms of it being culturally similar to Australia, no language barriers, and easy flight time.”
The appeal of influencer marketing for brands increased during the pandemic as digital consumption spiked during COVID-19-related restrictions.