PrettyGreen launches influencer marketing agency, What They Said

Stratton is the agency’s first hire and is joined by five influencer marketing specialists. The agency will focus, Stratton says, on building “authentic relationships” with creators; not “vanity metrics, sponcon [sponsored content], reach campaigns or delivering big numbers without context”.

The human touch, says Stratton, is more important than ever as the influencer marketing space develops. “Influencer marketing benefits from a hands-on approach,” he says. “It’s all about trust and collaboration between brands and creators. By providing automated responses you’re not able to get the best results.”

This is reflected in the industry’s direction of travel: “everyone’s embracing a long-term approach through ambassadorial partnerships. The best results from these are garnered from the relationship you can built up with clients and creators – and building a fully-collaborative approach.” That doesn’t mean they’ll be developing a roster of influencers, though; “the best approach is to work with creators who are the best fit for the brand… it’s about trying to find the right influencers and making sure that they’re perfectly aligned to the brand and the brief”.

In accordance with PrettyGreen's own mission statement, diversity and inclusivity will be a founding priority: “there are filters that we put on all our campaigns to make sure we are inclusive of all society and the creator pool.” Authenticity is another: “the industry has moved beyond generic product placement. It’s about creating true, authentic collaborations that influencers will actually buy into. It’s about building bridges from start to finish.”

PrettyGreen Group, Stratton says, is growing; What They Said will be a key part of that growth. “I’m looking to bring in a more diverse client roster. There are a lot of emerging markets I’m looking to move into like the metaverse – the agency will stay at the forefront of the industry.”