TAKUMI launches TAKUMI X: a new creative division with a creator-led approach to influencer marketing
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The most impactful influencer marketing campaigns tend to be integrated across channels and disciplines. They’re driven by strategic insight and powered through creative storytelling.
TAKUMI X, a new creative division of influencer marketing agency, Takumi, aims to enable brands to work closely with creators to produce innovative and culturally-relevant content. Through the new endeavour, Takumi hopes to forge closer-knit relationships between creators and brands; with creators bringing their own insights and expertise into the process from the very beginning.
Over the years I have sat on judging panels critiquing scores of influencer marketing campaigns. Some are inspirational. Others, feel a little: ‘colour by numbers’. They follow a set pattern. The result: ‘seen it before’ content. It’s a theme Jim Lin, executive vice president of Golin Dallas, explores in an interview for my Influencer Marketing Lab podcast.
TAKUMI X seeks to redefine creators as creative consultants.
Data backs up this theme. Consumers are growing tired of seeing the same content over and over in their feeds. 44% of consumers in the UK, US and Germany agree that current branded content is boring and uninspiring.
TAKUMI X believes it has the remedy to this. It aims to flip the standard influencer marketing models and processes. Influencers produce content. They also provide brands with distribution. Importantly they are community custodians of that targetted distribution. They know best what their audiences like and what they don’t care for.
Luke Franks, a content creator partnering with TAKUMI X, says: “You have to listen to your audience and put them first. Ultimately they are the whole reason you are doing what you're doing. They are your boss but like a really supportive, encouraging, motivating boss who writes hilarious comments, which is ideal.”
The new division is seeking to reposition influencers like Franks as creative consultants. They plan to hand the reins over to creators and provide them with direct access to brands. And, importantly, TAKUMI X plans to involve the creator at every stage, from briefing insights and ideation through to launch and content amplification.
“Time and time again, we’ve seen that the most culturally relevant marketing content today is conceived and developed by creators. These are the people who are driving culture, setting the agenda, capturing the zeitgeist and creating virality that brands struggle to achieve alone,” said Mary Keane-Dawson, group CEO of TAKUMI, adding, “We are excited to facilitate deeper collaborations than ever before and offer clients unprecedented access to the firsthand insights and creative reserves of leading talent.”
The new offering includes a suite of services facilitating the collaboration between creators and brands for the conception, production and scaling of content, created by the best creative minds on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and Snap:
- Talent discovery: Nurturing talent and providing brands with access to diverse and emerging creative talent on the web; helping to connect brands with niche creators who are best suited for a specific campaign
- Creator-led creative direction: Bringing creators into the mix to advise the brands from the earliest stages of a campaign and consult on the entire briefing process
- Culture insights: Providing brands with direct insights to understand how creators’ audiences think, feel and behave
- Branded entertainment series: Executing content with a cohesive multi-channel approach and long-lasting brand stories
- Social media brand builds: Assisting brands with developing their social presence on new and existing platforms
- Branded & creator content: Producing branded content and organic creator-led content which is culturally relevant and developed by creators who deeply understand the brand and how to speak to its audience
- Amplification: Predicting, measuring and amplifying ROI; optimizing creative to maximize results
TAKUMI X is available in the UK with US & other territories rolling out in the coming weeks.
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