Perhaps most disturbingly, earlier this month, popular streamer and internet personality Yung Filly was arrested in Australia on rape allegations and charges, a development that has shocked his fans and cast a dark shadow over the world of online live streaming. He has already been dropped by Footlocker, while previous collaboration partners like Asos have taken down any historical campaign imagery from their site.
Brands need to be proactive, not reactive
To succeed, brands need to approach streaming partnerships with both caution and creativity — plus plenty of preparation. Still, there’s only so much brands can anticipate, which begs the question: when does the risk outweigh the reward?
Seventy-one per cent of consumers say they expect a brand to take a position on issues that matter to them, according to Julian Payne, global chair of crisis and risk at global communications firm Edelman. “That’s why it is really important in that instance that you are aligning with individuals who help you demonstrate your values as a brand.”
For Payne, a strong brand-creator partnership that starts with thorough vetting and an alignment of values. “It is unlikely that you will find anybody in this space who is absolutely entirely aligned with every single aspect of your brand. You have to decide how much overlap is enough,” he says. “It’s important that you understand the individual and what they stand for. If you don’t spend time with those individuals and understand who they are and what makes them tick, you leave yourself vulnerable to connecting with individuals who won’t be great ambassadors for you throughout the lifetime of your partnership.”
The worst thing you can do is take deeply strategic decisions in the heat of crisis management, cautions Payne. However, a lot of brands are currently stuck in reactive crisis management because they lack the proper strategy and technology to mitigate risk in the first place. This is especially the case with streaming, where there is significantly more content to wade through to pick up on any potential harmful beliefs or past statements. Meanwhile, the fragmentation of audiences across different platforms that may be unfamiliar with a brand’s social media team is another flag for Payne.
Viral Nation has recently been working on innovative tech software Secure to combat this issue. “Equipping social experts who understand the terrain of content creation with a powerful AI-powered tool that allows for creator vetting at speed and scale, is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a must-have for brands,” says Galiese. This deeper level of vetting helps ensure that the creators brands partner with are a good fit from the outset, reducing the likelihood of crises down the line.
Ultimately, the key is to remember that a brand is separate from the individual. While creators can bring attention and elevate a brand’s profile, brands have the right to step away when a creator’s actions no longer align with their values, Payne says. “As long as the brand explains its position calmly and clearly, and takes swift, thoughtful action, consumers are intelligent enough to see that the creator’s remarks do not necessarily define the brand itself.”
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