The Creatorverse - AW: Social Media Week 2023

Last week, Crowd was invited to ‘Social Media Week’, an event hosted by advertising trade publication, Ad Week. The two day event was held at the Convene in Bishopsgate, London, where our social media executive and copywriter, Izzi Anwell, spent the first day attending exciting talks, workshops and networking. 

This year's social media week was focussed on exploring the ins and outs of the current ‘creator economy’ and how marketers and agencies can begin to collaborate more with creators to boost engagement and create stand out content.

Here are a few interesting takeaways..

1. “brands need to be moving at the speed of culture” - Emily Lorimer, Head of Social at Gymshark

This initial address provided insight into how current industry leaders perceive the use of social media for brand building, many of them remarking that in today’s ultra connected world, social media plays a bigger part in modern brand building than ever before. The importance of accurate positioning was heavily touched upon in this address, especially with regards to the necessity to be where consumers are and keeping up with them. 

2. “social media should not be a bolt-on” - Leila Fatarr, Business Leader and Founder of Platform 13

Business leader Leila spoke of the importance of ‘internal capability building’. She explained that in order to create effective and engaging content, social media and its applications needs to be fully understood and respected internally as well as externally. Leila went on to explain that once this respect is gained, only then will social media stop being an afterthought and considered throughout the campaign planning process. 

3. “take advantage of platform cross-pollination” - Karen Townsend, Global Social Lead at TikTok

The final workshop was centred around the half life of trends, how and where best to access them and when to act on them. Karen spoke of the benefits of the cross pollination that is currently happening between platforms, using one to access the trends of another. She went on to reference the trend ‘booktok’, a popular trend formed on TikTok which has now spread to other platforms like Instagram and Twitter. It was suggested that the best way to establish the scope of a trend is to attempt to access it in other areas beyond just its original source, then working your way back. 

Being invited to such a thoughtfully organised and executed event was a real pleasure for Crowd and we can’t wait to cross paths again with the folks at Ad Week. 

Need help perfecting your brand image or getting ahead of current trends? Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you and your business reach new heights.