What we can learn from the influencer marketing mistakes in Japan

Information has become democratic, which means that consumers have voices to become influential. As a result, it became much easier for the consumers to oversee and criticise company’s activities. Thus, when running an influencer marketing, even the small one, you have to be careful if you are not doing it right, as the small mistakes can easily be taken up as major problems.

Here are the four marketing tips we can learn from the Japanese influencer marketing mistakes.

Making sure that the ads are listed as ‘PR’

Although this seems not necessary to say, you should always be cautious and check if the consumers are informed that it is ads. There was a case where one of the female employees pretended to be an ordinary person and posted the effects of dietary supplements in Japan. As a result, the company was accused of running stealth marketing, closing its website. Especially if you are running multiple ads with one influencer, be aware that every post needs to be listed as ads. As word-of-mouth is highly reliable information, lying to the consumer about the credibility of the product will definitely backfire.

Are the ads appropriate?

Influencer marketing can be a failure even if you rely on a mega-influencer if the message/content associated with the service is not right. Thus, it is important to check if the ads have intended meanings. One of the top popular Youtuber, Hikakin made a mistake in promoting Mercari, a e-commerce company which has online flea market service. In 2018, he tried to sell a product called “Hair Ball,” made from used socks and his own hair. It may be funny content-wise, but it ended up receiving a lot of criticism as it was abominable. He apologized afterwards and it was taken down immediately. Therefore, you need to look at the ads from different perspectives to judge if it is appropriate.

Is your copy for the products misleading to the consumer?

This is especially important when promoting products related to beauty and health supplements, which the effects of the product are hard to see and different depending on the person.Thus, if you state that, for example, “this cleansing can make your acne disappear,” you have to state the scientific evidence as it is against the law. Also, if that is not the case, you should be careful with the phrasing, as it can be misleading to the consumer.

In Japan, a service called blood cleansing was once a boom. Many influencers promoted this service, saying that it is effective to boost the immune system. However, as there is not enough evidence, there were a lot of criticisms. Moreover, it became problematic when it was promoted as prevention to covid-19. Thus, for products whose effects are not clear, it is necessary to pay attention to the description of the introduction.

More exposure≠profit. Is the message correct?

It needs to be stressed that the point of influencer marketing is not mere the exposure. But rather, sending the right messages so that it leads to brand awareness with a positive image. In November 2020, the influencer Sari Kato crushed the cake when the food was offered at a restaurant. As bizarre as it sounds, the ads became very controversial. It had gained a lot of views temporarily, but for the wrong reasons. Thus, when running an influencer marketing, you should be careful if the message that the ads is sending is right. Otherwise, it will do harm to your brand image in the long run.

As listed, hiring a large number of celebrities for marketing does not mean that influencer marketing will be successful. If you do not have the right kind of content or message with it, the result can be detrimental to your brand image.

What can be effective about influencer marketing is that when the right message is directed towards the right target audience, people will remember and hopefully buy the products. Without such understanding, it will not be much different from mass advertising and you may end up in a failure.

If you are not sure which influencer to collaborate with or need help getting started, please feel free to reach out and contact us.