In 2020, US companies could no longer sit in silence. There was public demand for equality, inclusion, and representation. Those requests were met with black squares. But squares weren’t enough.

Hollywood was built on systemic racism, and the influencer industry is sadly following in Hollywood’s footsteps.

Brand deals and increased fame come with living in a creator collab house, and the majority are filled with White influencers. There was a pattern setting Black creators up to miss out, yet again.

This campaign set out to move Black creators into the forefront of the collab house trend.

Situation:

As TikTok became the world’s most popular app in 2020, TikTok houses popped up across the globe, with the epicentre of the trend in Los Angeles.

Rather than launching a brand-standard Black History Month campaign, we created a lasting blueprint that would counter systemic racism and its oppressive effect on emerging Black talent.

Bringing it to life:

In partnership with a Black-owned influencer management company, we launched a 7-month campaign that connected five of America’s young, unproven but multidisciplinary creators.

With hands-on mentorship around industry practices, financial planning, and creative production, we’re not only procuring sponsorship dollars for the creators, but mapping out a path for career longevity.

Objectives:

Propel 5 emerging talent into the creative success they’ve earned.

Create brand advertising that actually serves GenZ.

Liberate their creativity by eliminating brand briefs and simply asking the creators to make the content they know their audiences want to see.

A Fortune 10 company - AT&T TV - became patrons of the originality that is usually borrowed or stolen from Black creators.

The content house is our always-on content solution for TikTok, generating 10 videos per month, with halo content on Instagram and Twitch.

By investing in the house, the brand seamlessly moves at the speed of culture. Content strategies are executed in a matter of hours as opposed to days and weeks. The best work is produced when the talent feels empowered to make their own creative decisions.

They are writers, directors, cinematographers, producers, actors, and editors, all in one. This is the future of influencer marketing. This is “diversity” content done right.

Data:

Using cross-platform API access, the cast and demographic information of the cast's audiences are analyzed and the campaign performance is tracked over time.

Audience:

Our target audience is Gen Z on TikTok. 85% of the audience on TikTok says they learn about brands and products from social media and 72% say they are more likely to buy from a company with a strong purpose. (Marketing Drive)

Relevance:

Gen Zs are savvy and quickly reject inauthenticity and transactional or performative collaborations. Primarily executed on TikTok, the world’s most engaged social platform, the launch took place during Black History month, but we didn’t specifically call BHM out.

Approach:

Create a safe and supportive space for the creators to live and work. Then, leave them alone to get to know each other and build their creative collaboration authentically without big brother lording over them with brand tactics.

Implementation:

Cast 5 social media creators who are storytellers and actors focused on comedy and skit making, each will bring the creator house to life in an entirely unique and unpredictable way.

Timeline:

To make The Crib a truly immersive and authentic journey, we invested in a 7-month ongoing execution from February to August 2021.

Placement:

Primarily focused on TikTok, we wanted to step away from the formulaic Black History Month marketing pattern. We invested in the creative scope of each Crib member, allowing the content in the campaign to be whatever they wanted it to be.

Scale:

The cast will live in the house for 7 months, creating up to 10 videos a month - both individually and collaboratively under the @thecribaroundthecorner handle. The creative concept revolves around providing a window into their lives as they build reality TV-styled narratives around their house adventures.

What happens when you invest in brand advertising that actually serves Gen Z?

In 3 Months:

- 400 Thousand+ Followers Gained

- 12 Million+ Video Views

- 4 Million+ Video Likes

- 860K+ Organic Views on Announcement Post

- 24K+ Total Comments

- 99% Overwhelmingly Positive

- $527k in earned media value from a single article

And we still have 4 months to go!

We wanted to demonstrate that there is not only a moral imperative to contribute to anti-racism by supporting and promoting Black creatives, but there’s a real business opportunity when you allow Black creators to authentically connect with their audiences on behalf of your brand.

As the Bloomberg article lays out, many brands said they think Black Lives Matter in 2020, but those same brands have yet to be held accountable for expanding efforts that bring minority representation into their companies and into their marketing plans.

Accurate representation in marketing is overdue and effective. Investing in emerging talent who connect directly with audiences who are typically underserved by mass advertising is a way to ensure niche communities that your brand sees them, hears them, and values them.