Four marketing heavyweights will be discussing ‘The Future of Influencer Marketing’ at this year’s Mike Warne Event  on Wednesday 28 February 2018 at Bournemouth University (BU).

Speakers include Philip Brown, Head of Influencer Marketing & Brand Advocacy at Come Round; Louie Gatas, Digital Marketing Manager (EMEA) at Warner Bros; Jamie Spafford one of the founders of YouTube's most engaging cooking channel’s, SORTEDfood; and James Delves, Head of PR and Engagement at The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Under the spotlight will be the value and future of focusing and engaging with a particular individual, or groups of individuals, as a marketing strategy to influence your ultimate target audience.

Philip Brown, Head of Influencer Marketing & Brand Advocacy at Come Round focuses on getting brands into the hands and homes of brand advocates and influencers. Philip explains; “Word-of-mouth and influencer marketing have been used for decades – we all know it is valuable. From my experience, I also know that a long-term strategic influencer marketing programme has the potential to activate all layers of influence, starting at friends and family members, brand advocates, potential customers, the micro-influencer community, the vlogging community, and the talent / internet celebrities. It embodies modern, multi-layered and multi-channel marketing”.

The annual Mike Warne event honours the late CIM Regional Director, Mike Warne, who was a strong advocate of building relationships between aspiring marketing students and the CIM. It is organised by final year BA (HONS) Marketing Communications students, who always select a topical marketing discipline for exploration, analysis and discussion. This year’s subject matter is definitely a growth area that may be misunderstood.  

Jamie Spafford, one of the founders of YouTube's SORTEDfood channel, has helped build a global community of more than 2 million friends who love socialising around food, his role is looking after community, media and partner relationships. Jamie says; "It’s easy to forget how new the world of online influencers really is. There are some people out there doing a fantastic job of it, but it still has a long way to go, to grow up, before it is widely accepted as a trustworthy strategy for all. For me, moving forwards I’d like to see influencers and brands working closer together, to truly contextualise brand propositions within content and real-life experiences, in ways which can create real value for all 3 parties - the brand, the influencer, and most importantly the community."

Philip Brown adds; “The industry as a whole requires education as to what real influencer marketing is and what it can achieve. I’d hate for influencer marketing to turn into a practice that could almost be called programmatic ad-buying. Real influencer marketing requires focus on metrics that measure brand advocacy, so that the industry can grow beyond just a content creation tool.

If you would like to find out more about Influencer marketing, the event is open to all, it's supported by CIM and usually attracts over 200 attendees including BU students, faculty staff, local marketing professionals and business leaders. 

The Mike Warne Event - the future of influencer marketing takes place on 28 February 2018 from 6pm to 8.30pm at Bournemouth University’s Talbot Campus, in The Fusion Building. Ticket prices start at just £15.00 further information and booking.