Exploring Consumers’ Experiences of Co-branding with Influencers: A Case Study about Influencer Marketing with Nelly.com

Abstract

The emergence of brands using influencers to reach their consumers, i.e. co-branding with influencers, has created a need for knowledge about how consumers experience it. With the aim of increasing this knowledge, a case study in the fashion industry was carried out with the brand Nelly.com. Focus groups were performed, where four different collaborations with influencers were discussed. The findings from the focus groups were cross-analysed and revealed four themes influencing how the consumers experience the co-branding with influencers. These themes are Benefits, Innovativeness, Authenticity and Associations of the brands. The theme benefits regards different benefits which the consumers request from the collaborations. Within the theme innovativeness, the consumers’ request for collaborations that are innovative and surprising are highlighted. The theme authenticity regards the importance for a collaboration to feel relevant, trustworthy and genuine. Finally, the theme associations of the brands shows how the consumers’ previous experiences of brands affected how they experienced the collaboration. All the themes directly influence the consumers’ experience of co-branding with influencers, however, associations of the brands where also found to permeate the three other themes.