With less than a month until the early bird deadline and six weeks until entries close completely for this year’s Influencer Marketing Awards, we wanted to revisit some of 2021’s deserving winners and find out about their growth and successes since achieving their IMA accolades.

Best Cause-Led Campaign

Pretty Green, winners of the Best Cause-Led Campaign were awarded for their partnership with Pantene for their work on ‘My Hair Won’t be Silenced’. Judges believed that this campaign was a clear winner as it sparked a much-needed conversation and streams of comments resonating with the fight to end discrimination against Afro hair. They said that it was “a beautiful campaign that showed heart and strength and worked with brilliant people who helped drive the message home through their content and earned media.”

Today, PrettyGreen Group is launching a new specialist Influencer Marketing agency, What They Said. Newly appointed Client Services Director, Joe Stratton, joins from The Studio London, to lead the offering, which is already delivering work for PrettyGreen clients Hasbro, Pantene, and SMARTY alongside some exciting new business wins.

What They Said is an influencer marketing agency driven by authenticity, creativity, and inclusivity. Its offering is rooted in the belief that a relationship-led approach is fundamental to driving long-term brand advocates. The generic platform approach to influencer marketing is diluting influence and credibility and a personalised and targeted approach delivers tenfold in terms of value and sincerity.

Joe Stratton, Client Services Director, said: “I am really excited to join What They Said as I feel it’s different to a lot of other agencies out there. We’re not about vanity metrics, spon-con, reach campaigns, or delivering big numbers without context. We build authentic relationships with relevant creators and have a unique strategic framework that allows us to create and deliver bespoke creative solutions for brands that deliver a commercial impact.”

What They Said sits within the PrettyGreen Group alongside Creative Communications Agency, PrettyGreen Creative Experiences agency, and The Producers. The PrettyGreen Group is an award-winning collective of creative communications agencies that deliver less ordinary PR, advocacy, experience, content, and social for less ordinary returns.

What They Said is a member of the Influencer Marketing Trade Body, the professional body for influencer marketing agencies and influencer marketing platforms. The IMTB is dedicated to building a robust, sustainable future for the influencer marketing industry through increased accountability, governance, and a unified voice.

Most Creative Influencer Campaign

MG Empower secured the Silver award in the Most Creative Influencer Campaign category for their work with Bumble on ‘#MyLoveIsBlackLove’. The initiative showed a real commitment to diversity as well as driving excellent results. Judges said that the campaign was adapted excellently considering pandemic social distancing restrictions and that there was “a focus not just on driving numbers, but real education.”

Maira Genovese, Founder and President at MG Empower said that “The main objective of our entry for this award was to showcase a campaign that not only delivered incredible results but also had a greater purpose that led to a positive impact on society.

“So besides exploring our targets, we have also focused on how #MyLoveIsBlackLove aimed to engage influencers and encourage them to share relatable content that could actually support the increase in the representation of Black culture in love images.”

The Influencer Marketing Awards fuelled an excellent year for MG Empower. In August 2021, the company secured its most significant development yet as it was acquired by the US-headquartered Amyris, Inc.

Maira said: “This journey has empowered our growth and development by establishing a unique operating model, a global digital innovation powerhouse that offers a holistic marketing communications ecosystem for brands to thrive in the digital landscape.”

So too, the culmination of such endorsements has powered the expansion of MG Empower’s global footprint, initially in the US, as well as the ability to scale new business lines and invest in developing its proprietary technology – a transition that has begun with the introduction of MG Studio, the creative hub for content production.

Built on the principle of co-creation, MG Studio will empower creators and brands to express their creativity to its fullest by leveraging the latest technology such as augmented reality, VR, and metaverse expertise to generate ground-breaking content and immersive storytelling.

Maira adds that “The Influencer Marketing Awards bounced us into an incredible year with phenomenal growth, development, and amazing new teams to welcome onboard – it gave us the foundation for so many reasons to celebrate!”

The IMAs will take place on the 9th June 2022 at the opulent Sheraton Grand Hotel in London, bringing the influencer marketing industry together under one roof for the first time since the awards in 2019.  
Bring your team and clients together now to shape your award-winning entries, download the entry kit before the deadline!

Share this post