AiMCO Unveils 2024 Award-Winning Influencer Marketing Case Studies
The Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) has announced the release of 29 case studies from all the winners of its 2024 AiMCO Awards, allowing its members and the broader industry to learn from the best in influencer marketing.
The case studies go behind the scenes of how prominent brands use influencer marketing including 7-Eleven’s ‘Dark Café’ campaign, delivered by Bastion, that was awarded the Most Influential Campaign for 2024, plus Optus, ALDI, Netflix, Northern Territory Tourism, Neutrogena, PayPal, and U by Kotex.
The strategies employed by leading agencies in the influencer space are also featured and include Social Soup, Hello Social, and Wavemaker.
Also highlighted in the batch of case studies are the top influencers in Australia including feline chef Princess Honeybelle (@princesshoneybelle) and her owner Nicole Wade, who were named the Most Influential Creator, plus EYstreem (Jordan Barclay), Bites With Lily (Lily Huynh), Ginger & Carman, Kick it Forward (Joshua Garlepp, Harry Fitzgerald and Giorgio Savini), Reno Dad (Luke Moore), Sinead Hergarty, and Taz and Alessia.
7-Eleven’s Dark Café campaign, which saw a pop-up café offering free coffees to drive awareness and engagement with the brand’s new coffee blend, resulted in 7-Eleven successfully tapping into a blend of storytelling and strategic influencer collaborations to create a buzzworthy experience.
7-Eleven marketing GM, Adam Jacka, said, “We set out to challenge perceptions and prove that great coffee isn’t just about brand, but about the quality of flavour and even with unbeatable value.
"Dark Café was the centrepiece of our new blend coffee campaign. The activation drove a huge volume of coffees over the three days and resulted in two-thirds of customers feeling more positively towards 7-Eleven coffee after their experience and 50% more likely to purchase in the future. Beyond the physical café sampling, we reached 12.4 million Australians through social media, editorials, radio, and television. In the months following the campaign, 7-Eleven saw strong momentum in brand metrics such as ‘Coffee 1st Choice Consideration’ when compared to cafés, QSRs and other convenience competitors.
“In today’s digital world, influencers shape the choices we all make — from what we wear to the coffee we drink," Adam continued. "At 7-Eleven, influencer marketing drives more than reach -- it builds trust and engagement amongst consumers through authentic branded content, in the moments that matter.”
Bastion managing director – corporate communications and PR, Richard Chapman, added, “Influencer marketing was a key component in our campaign strategy as we wanted to generate awareness, excitement, and ultimately drive trial of the new and improved 7-Eleven coffee blend. Advocacy through a scaled micro-influencer campaign and key tastemakers was imperative to kick-start the campaign and get as many people talking about how great the new coffee blend really tastes.
“We were honoured to win the award, and it was a great accolade for the team for all their hard work to generate the results. Our campaign exceeded all KPIs but we knew we had landed on a special idea when the advocacy generated via the influencer marketing drove the talkability and reach and that, in conjunction with the earned activity, increased trial at scale.”
Princess Honeybelle has amassed more than 600,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok for her sweet cat content, which includes recipes and heartwarming costumes. Known as the ‘Kim K of cats’, Princess Honeybelle has partnered with brands, including HelloFresh, Oatly, LG, and AfterPay. This year, Princess Honeybelle will now focus on growing her YouTube channel and there are plans to release a cookbook.
Princess Honeybelle’s owner, Nicole Wade, said, “Winning the Most Influential Creator award means so much to me as a pet creator, especially in a space where we’re often not taken as seriously as other types of creators. It’s incredibly validating to see the impact and joy our content can bring recognised in this way, and I hope we can inspire others to keep sharing those special moments that connect us through the love of our pets.”
AiMCO managing director, Patrick Whitnall, said, “The 2024 AiMCO Awards Case Studies is a playbook for how to achieve the best in influencer marketing. These case studies, across 29 categories, are a marker of excellence in our industry and demonstrate not only the success these winners have garnered for themselves as creators or for brands and brand partnerships but showcase the strength and momentum of the influencer marketing industry. These case studies are the best of the best, selected from 127 finalists and a record number of entries for the awards.”
The 2024 AiMCO Awards Case Studies contain all the award winners from 29 categories.
The 2024 AiMCO Awards premier partners were GroupM and Hello Social. Major sponsors included the Amazon Influencer Program, influencer marketing technology service, Fabulate, and management service Talentpay. Born Bred Talent and Rimmel were contributing partners, along with gifting sponsors Consumer Healthcare Products (CHP) Australia, Colgate, MadeMart Co., PapaFlock and Sticki.
