Patrick Whitnall on Performing at Royal Albert Hall and Leading the Influencer Marketing Charge at AiMCO

Born and raised a Londoner, Patrick Whitnall remembers his parents encouraging all of his creative endeavours. 

“They supported my creativity through participation, endless car journeys and sitting in the front row for talent shows, auditions, theatre productions, and performing arts school,” he said. The highlight of his stage career was a solo performance at the famous Royal Albert Hall Variety Show. 

It is only natural for Patrick to have assumed a talent nurturing role in his professional career. As managing director of the Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO), his role consists of ensuring that Australian marketers and their chosen influencers can have confidence in each other. 

“Through our code of practice and accreditation program, we have created a world leading offering that creates credibility, trust and confidence for the influencer marketing space,” he said. 

“Brands can discover creators in any niche who have authority or authenticity with their audience that drives business growth and sales outcomes for brands.”

Patrick knows that brands will always follow their audience, as long as it’s brand safe. AiMCO was launched to lay out the foundations of trust and transparency between influencers and marketers. 

“Today, brands have moved from using influencers to amplify messages to a true engagement and conversion channel,” he said.

“Whether it is a nano or celeb influencer, the real benefits is the authenticity and community that brands can connect to, and jointly create content with digital native, successful creators.”

The average TikTok user in Australia spends 42 hours a month on the app, with a substantial chunk of that time spent g watching creator content. AiMCO leads the charge in ensuring that these influencers remain authentic and accountable when working with a brand. 

“Our work with a number of government departments, including the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission], TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration], and ATO [Australian Tax Office], help inform and educate our members on how legislation applies to the influencer marketing space, through the obligations and responsibilities of all parties.”

Over the past two years, AiMCO has created best practice guides on gifting, disclosure, therapeutic goods, better briefing, and metrics and measurement. With the support of the ATO, it’s been able to support creators and AiMCO members to understand the legal and tax implications associated with paying influencers. 

Accenture Song forecasts that social commerce is set to hit USD$1.2 trillion globally by 2025, proving that there are massive growth opportunities for brands when it comes to social commerce. However, Patrick argues that more Australian research is needed in order to prove to marketers that social media marketing can be effective for their brands. 

Patrick suggested that there needs to be a benchmark for performance and revenue metric if the ‘old guard’, which is often dismissive of influencer marketing, is to take it seriously. The evolution of these benchmarks would continue to boost brands’ confidence and “enable the industry, new and old, to see what best practice looks like.” 

“I would encourage brands and these businesses to ensure that influencer marketing is considered, captured and reported as a stand-alone channel and how it complements and enhances traditional channels.”