Marketers at global brands are often responsible for activating in local markets while also keeping global perspectives in check. How does an agency like Publicis help clients balance those needs?
In this week’s episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Emily Hare, Global Influencer Lead and Anna O'Mahony, Global Lead, Content and Innovation at Publicis to dive into it.
To start, we dive into the transformative landscape of creator marketing and influencer strategies. As we chart the course for 2025, marked by significant agency consolidations and acquisitions, Anna and Emily reveal the pivotal role of creators in redefining brand strategies. The duo highlights the necessity of establishing a "center of excellence" in content creation, merging storytelling with journalism to craft narratives that resonate on both global and local scales. We explore the fusion of technology and creativity and examine how agencies are transitioning into comprehensive technology partners, emphasizing a content-focused approach in influencer marketing. Switching gears, Emily and Anna underscore the importance of understanding audience dynamics and maintaining brand consistency while engaging localized influencers. To close the show, the duo also offers insights into the evolving nature of creator partnerships, stressing fair pricing, long-term relationships, and the significance of dynamic playbooks that adapt to market shifts.
Check out highlights from the episode below, or or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
Emily Hare on global brands maintaining focus: “While the actual activations are local, and those are important, clients are paying attention [on a global scale].”
Brit Starr: You work with so many global clients. What is that blend between global and local? When you start working with clients, how do you establish the perspective that they're looking to bring in terms of their status as a global brand, with the local adaptation and execution? What does that process look like with your clients? And then two, has that also changed in recent years?
Emily Hare: What we've heard from a lot of markets and clients is that it starts with the local market. Local influencers speaking to that community is really important. Then there's lots of the global brands that we work with. They're starting to want to get more of a global perspective, make some consistency around the kinds of influencers they're using, and consistency around the reporting that they're seeing. If it's a multinational, multi-market, multi-brand parent company, they can start to make sure that they're not competing across different brands and with the influencers they're working with. While the actual activations are still local and those are important, clients are paying more attention [on a global scale]. They're going to have a global point of view and try to consistently get better in requirements across many markets.
Brit Starr: Enabling at the market level so that the teams can get better, the communities can get better?
Emily Hare: Yeah. We've been developing a lot of playbooks for clients where we're laying out an approach to influencer [marketing]. There are different kinds of influencers that different brands can work with. We’re educating finance teams around highly paid influencers, educating legal teams that are contracting the brands, and understanding them across the board. So it's not the same across every client.
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