Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Photo: Elena Wolsperger Dolezil, Dukat’s Corporate Communications Director and initiator of the Dukat&bloggers project
Influencer marketing is one of the most popular buzzwords in the advertising industry. And although everyone is buzzing about influencers, and although a lot is being written about the possibilities and importance of this type of marketing, the local practice does not follow the trends (which are actually already old).
Takeover is a form of cooperation that implies handing over the profile on a social network to a selected influencer, usually for a shorter period of time. Although this form of cooperation has been known for more than 5 years, it has not been used in local practice. And it should be used, because it brings growth of brand influence, the expansion of the potential audience and the increase of engagement.
One of the first, if not the first Croatian brand to recognize the potential of cooperation with influencers, is Dukat. As part of the Dukat & bloggers project this year Dukat went a step further in working with selected food bloggers and decided to hand their Instagram profile to influencers periodically. Handing over the official profile of the brand included complete freedom – each influencer independently selected what they want to publish and which texts to post.
The only input they received was to keep thematically to one of the hashtags that are regularly used on the Dukat Instagram profile. Everything else was left to their creativity and will.
“Cooperation with bloggers is the backbone of Dukat’s communication strategy on Instagram, so we constantly strive to find new ways to create high-quality content that we share through @dukat_hrvatska. Takeovers represent a continuation of collaboration with bloggers who over the last two years proved themselves with the high quality of their content. I believe that the opportunity for takeover represents an additional acknowledgment for blogger’s work and good cooperation. On the other hand, I am proud that Dukat is launching some ‘new’ digital initiatives and raising the standards of the domestic influencer marketing, not only in the Croatian dairy industry but throughout the entire food industry,” said Elena Wolsperger Dolezil, Dukat’s Corporate Communications Director and initiator of the Dukat&bloggers project.
Domagoj Davidović, from the agency Švicarska, which is in charge of managing the company’s Instagram account, explained why such cooperation is good and desirable.
“From the marketing standpoint, this type of collaboration increases relevant internal attributes of the brand and performance indicators. By giving control over the brand profile, the brand shows confidence in itself and their trust in associates. In turn, it gains their trust and new relevant audience, which they might not be able to reach by their own efforts. Takeover is also announced through other social networking channels and influencers, thus increasing the overall reach and awareness of posts and raises public interest.”
Dukat has so far held several takeovers with leading local food bloggers – Tanja COOKam i guštam, Cooking with the cat, Ave dulcis and O slanom i slatkom.
What do bloggers think about this mode of collaboration?
“I think that takeover is an interesting form of cooperation, in which we can give our own view of the brand and the product in a shorter period of time through more intensive posts. In collaboration with Dukat, focus is always on the quality of the products, and the posts are therefore always beautiful and the inspiration comes easily. I believe that audience can recognize the authentic collaboration, and that they respond well to it,” said Jelena Markota, the author of the Cooking with the cat blog.
The takeovers so far have proved to be a complete success. They have deepened the collaboration between the brand and the influencers, and brought interesting and memorable content to the profile. It seems that cooperation in some new form and new story will be repeated, to mutual satisfaction.
You can track all future takeovers on Dukat’s Instagram account @dukat_hrvatska.