Caroline Drucker leads Instagram's partnerships team across EMEA, focusing on the region's top influencers, athletes, celebrities, musicians and public figures. She’ll be partaking in Dubai Lynx Festival 2020 through a session titled 'The Art & Science of Branded Content and Storytelling.'
What are your top three sources of inspiration?
I’m always inspired by conversations with my kids. I had a conversation yesterday with my five year old about the difference between nature and technology. They are always pushing me to think big! I love looking at old magazines and going through old ads. It’s fascinating to see the development of what used to inspire consumers in the past vs today – it always sparks new ideas. Finally, Instagram! Being part of a platform that brings people closer to the things they love and inspires them to explore their passions is truly amazing.
What can we expect to learn from your content session at Dubai Lynx 2020?
The Art & Science of Branded Content and Storytelling session will focus on how to effectively use Instagram to master the art of storytelling and branded content – hitting the sweet spot between brands, creators and consumers through the platform. I will share some of the best examples of brands and creators working together to build immersive content across IGTV, Stories and Feed for the audience to adopt and renovate for their own content on Instagram.
Dubai Lynx will provide a great window into the region’s top creative minds and all the amazing creative work born locally.
What do you hope to take away from your time at Dubai Lynx?
I’m looking forward to spending some time in the region, especially in the city of Dubai as it brings various cultures together. Dubai Lynx will provide a great window into the region’s top creative minds and all the amazing creative work born locally. It’s quite interesting to see how brands enter social and cultural conversations here in the Middle East, where we see an incredible wave of young talent thriving on Instagram.
I always find similar experiences enriching – it provides me with a fresh perspective that I get to bring back home.
What’s the key to successful brand/creator collaborations?
Millions of people have turned their passion and creativity into their livelihood with influencer marketing growing into one of the most powerful ways for brands to let potential customers know about their products. As this new landscape has taken shape, Instagram became a natural home for these partnerships to come to life. A powerful new channel for Instagram’s business community to flourish is "branded content", which is partnerships between brands and creators on the platform.
Every content creator has a distinct profile that tells their own story. What we know works best is authentic content, so if collaborations are staged and scripted, it’s not going to come off well. The best way to collaborate is to give creators ownership of the project so they are 100% connected and for brands to select creators who share their brand values.
