GRIN Gets Real

Featuring Kaya Yurieff, Reporter at The Information

The Information in April 2021 to launch the creator economy newsletter and write features about the fast-growing sector. Previously, she covered technology and social media platforms at CNN. She started her journalism career writing breaking news at TheStreet. She is fluent in Polish and based in New York.

Episode quote:

“Now, we really think of like independent musicians, as creators, we think of podcasters we think of newsletter writers, independent journalists who are going off on their own and, and writing a newsletter or giving people updates on Instagram.”

Visit the complete episode page to learn more. Or subscribe to the GRIN Gets Real podcast where you listen to podcasts.

The importance of DE&I in today's economy is vital. Taylar Barrington-Booker, Founder, and Head of Talent and Partnerships at Agency Cliquish, explored the importance and value of DE&I for creators. During our fireside chat, we focused on the effects of DE&I in the Creator Economy, dove into what it means to creators and brands, how we can make gradual changes that are impactful, and why DE&I is a movement, not a moment.

Some of the topics we discussed:

> The impact of not addressing DE&I.

>> The challenges from a creator's perspective.

>>> What a creator and brand can do to improve equality.

This episode is the after-show of our fireside chat, where we dig into all the questions we didn't get to during the live portion.

You can watch the complete chat here.

And listen to more GRIN Gets Real guests here.

During the latest Brands Talking Influencers fireside chat, How to scale your influencer program via testing, was sharing influencer marketing insights from Natural Dog Company.

During the live portion, we discussed how they leverage their creator community for content to repurpose across multiple marketing channels, building brand awareness and acquiring new customers.

We also touched on:

• Workflow best practices.

• How to test with purpose.

• Finding creators at any stage of an influencer program.

While we had a live Q&A, there were too many questions to go over, so we're bringing those unanswered questions to the GRIN Gets Real podcast.

Put your air pods in, turn up the volume and get ready for those unanswered questions with Emma Ecklin from Natural Dog Company.

The Customer Spotlight series of the GRIN Gets Real podcast highlights GRIN brands successfully leveraging creators as part of their marketing strategy. Each brand shares its brand story and insight on how creators add value to that story.

In each episode, we dive into who the brand is, its customer, the creator program, and the impact the creator economy has on its brand.

This customer spotlight features Inkbox.

Inkbox has been producing semi-permanent tattoos and accessories since 2015 and is constantly working on new ways to empower the ever-changing story of you. With over 10,000 artist-created designs, our Freehand Tattoo Marker, and Custom Platform, millions of people from 190 countries have gotten inked with our new-fashioned accessories that last 1-2 weeks.

Featuring Will Haire, Co-founder of Bellavix

.Will has worked with eCommerce businesses for many years in leading the strategic planning, implementation, and tactical execution of marketing strategies for products across all Amazon business segments. With responsibilities for channel growth strategies and achieving revenue and margin goals, his portfolio includes companies like Instant Pot, Pyrex, Derma E, Think, and Outward Hound.

Episode Quote:

"You know, a lot of it comes down to how much brand equity you have. How big is your audience? And what's your price point? Shoppers are going to be looking at those aspects as they're considering your different products and categories.”

Visit the complete episode page to learn more. Or subscribe to the GRIN Gets Real podcast, where you listen to podcasts.

Featuring Frost Li, Founder of Social Chat

She was the GM & Head of Growth at Wish, where, as the company’s first growth hire, she built the team from scratch and helped Wish expand to be the #1 shopping app in 40+ countries with 100M+ monthly active users. She’s served on Y Combinator’s Growth Counsel and as an advisor to Quince, Spring, Lyft, and Pinterest.

Episode Quote:

"When they have the influencer go live with them as a co-host on the site. All the influencer's followers actually go to the site instead of staying on the influencer's Instagram account or YouTube."

Visit the complete episode page to learn more. Or subscribe to the GRIN Gets Real podcast where you listen to podcasts.

Curtsy connects and empowers millions of women across the US to resell and shop apparel (and more) by helping them monetize their closets. Sam Atherley, Head of Influencer Marketing chatted with me during our fireside chat series Brands Talking Influencers. We dove into how they run a successful influencer program outside of the ecommerce space and how they leverage influencers for acquisition. They’ve seen a positive return on investment with their product gifting program, quality UGC, and increased brand awareness.

We also covered:

• Why content is key to their strategy

• The qualities to look for in creators

• How they optimize their workflow

• Negotiation tips to build long-term relationships

While we had a live Q&A, there were too many questions to go over, so we're bringing those unanswered questions to the GRIN Gets Real podcast.

Put your air pods in, turn up the volume and get ready for those unanswered questions with Sam Atherley from Curtsy.

The Customer Spotlight series of the GRIN Gets Real podcast highlights GRIN brands successfully leveraging creators as part of their marketing strategy. Each brand shares its brand story and insight on how creators add value to that story.

In each episode, we dive into who the brand is, its customer, the creator program, and the impact the creator economy has on its brand.

This customer spotlight features Loop Earplugs.

Loop Earplugs has redefined what an earplug should sound, look and feel like. Whether it’s hearing protection or comfort for your ears, Loop enables you to live life at your volume.

In this episode we chat with Alex Heckmann, VP of Partnerships at clean.io.

clean.io offers a unique solution built to give ecommerce merchants total control of their website user experience AND their revenue. cleanCART prevents coupon extensions like Honey and CapitalOne Shopping from auto-injecting discount codes at checkout and puts a stop to untrustworthy affiliate fees and attribution reporting. If you run influencer or affiliate promotional codes, cleanCART is the best way to ensure you are protected.

Featuring:

During our most recent Brands Talking Influencers fireside chat, How to implement the ultimate Influencer Marketing strategy, Matthew Wyman shared influencer marketing insights from Whisker, the world leader in connected pet care and refined pet accessories.

By taking a full-funnel marketing approach with their influencer marketing program, they've seen an increase in brand awareness and a YoY positive return on investment from creators.

During the live portion, we talked about

• There most recent product launch of LR4

• The creator mix for their influencer marketing success

• How they leverage UGC

• And so much more.

While we had a live Q&A, there were too many questions to go over, so we're bringing those unanswered questions to the GRIN Gets Real podcast.

Put your air pods in, turn up the volume and get ready for those unanswered questions with Matthew Wyman from Whisker.