Here is a transcript generated by otter.ai of The Content Mix podcast interview with Alessia Coletta, global brand manager at Trainline, on influencer campaigns and international marketing:

Carlota Pico 0:13
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to The Content Mix. I’m Carlota Pico, your host for today’s show, and I’m excited to introduce Alessia Coletta, who is brand manager at Trainline and has over a decade of experience in marketing and communications. Welcome, Alessia and thank you so much for joining us today on The Content Mix.

Alessia Coletta 0:35
Hi, Carlotta. Thank you for inviting me on this amazing Content Mix platform.

Carlota Pico 0:43
Thank you for joining us. Okay, Alessia, could you tell me a little bit about your background? How did you get to where you are today?

Alessia Coletta 0:50
Yeah. So essentially, i’m an Italian girl so my background is there. I’ve spent more than 10 years working across creative agencies in Italy as community managers first, then a social media manager and then I ended up in a digital strategist role. After two years in Ogilvy Italia Milan, my last experience in Italy, I just decided that, for me, it was time to think bigger. So I decided to just move to another country, that’s why I decided to move to the UK and now I’m here in London. I’m currently working for Trainline, I have been here for two years now and yes, it was a big challenge for me. But it was great.

Carlota Pico 1:45
What was it like as an Italian moving to the UK? What’s the labor market like in the UK?

Alessia Coletta 1:50
I’d say that it’s very different and I remember when I decided to move to the UK, my main aim was to learn, essentially, a different way of working, to live in a different context, not only a business context. I was really curious to see how the life was outside Italy. I found the market really open to people from abroad and it really surprised me. I had a good experience and I’m still having a great experience.

Carlota Pico 2:32
Excellent. So that’s always positive. Alessia, could you talk to me about some of the most memorable marketing experiences that have shaped you as a professional?

Alessia Coletta 2:43
Yeah, that’s a tricky one. So I have to say that in each of my experiences, I have learned something. I remember the first time I launched a campaign for an Italian TV channel, it was great because it was the first time that I had the chance to work with a big television network. Then I remember when I joined Ogilvy, I was looking at Nestlé Water as my main client and that was the first time I was looking not only at the social, and the social activities, but I was also looking at the more broad brand activities. So it was really, really funny and I was really proud when we launched the first campaign on TV and on Autobahn. So yeah, I’d say these are the two milestones in my current career. Here in Trainline, we launched a digital campaign last year in Italy and France, and that was the first digital campaign to have a social focus, so I was so proud of that campaign.

Carlota Pico 4:06
Congratulations on that Alessia. What’s it been like to move from an agency to a company, to a corporate now, basically, to working for what used to be one of your clients?

Alessia Coletta 4:18
Yeah, I have to say that I’ve understood plenty of stuff that I didn’t understand when I was on the agency side. So it’s a big change. It’s a big change because essentially when you are in an agency, you are the person that has to deploy something, or a campaign plan, whatever. When you are in a company, you act essentially the step before. So you have to think more broadly around what’s your plan for the year. You have to mix the activities that you want to run, with the business objective for a sponsor. Also, there is another big, big piece that is missed in the agency and that is the relationship with the stakeholder. So when you are in a big company, essentially you have to fight for your budget, for your ideas and you have to defend what you think. So have a good relationship with the stakeholder, it’s really important, you have to learn how to speak with them. So this is a piece that is missing in the agency.

Carlota Pico 5:33
What transferable skills did you acquire during your agency years, and now you’re applying to your corporate time.?

Alessia Coletta 5:46
The fact that I’ve been working in an agency for years, I think has helped me in pushing the company to try new things. The fact that you really know how the agency worker really adds to you when you are on the other side and you have to deal with the agency. I think that’s the biggest competence that I’ve transferred.

Carlota Pico 6:22
Well, with over 12 years of experience in marketing and communications, I do have to ask you about some of your favorite campaigns to date. So what campaigns have you admired, especially during COVID-19 times? Whether social media campaigns or branding campaigns, whatever stands out.

Alessia Coletta 6:41
Yes. So let me think, the two latest campaigns that I’ve seen during this pandemic that I actually really liked. The first one is from Skyscanner. The campaign they ran, I think the tagline was “We Will,” so it was a social campaign with PR activation and I found it quite interesting for several reasons. First of all, they were really quick in responding to this pandemic. They realized that the brand was the most important thing to defend during this strange time where we are living now. I found the campaign a great way to make the audience feel engaged with the brand in a time where we weren’t be able to travel, you know, so that’s why I quite like it. It was a good structured campaign because they had the first video, then a content plan across all the digital channels, so I found it quite interesting. Another one, it’s a local Italian, [billboard] from Netflix strategy, and it happened just after the lockdown ended. So essentially, the campaign was this [billboard] that looks like the cinema poster, you know, as Netflix was launching a new series or a new film, and the campaign said something like “now it’s time to go out and see the real cinema or the real environment.” And it’s really really smart and clever because they are a brand that are selling, essentially, an indoor platform and you are actually trying to get people out, so it was quite interesting.

Carlota Pico 9:00
Okay, very interesting. Well, thank you for bringing those campaigns to our attention Alessia. So from my background research, I understand that you started off in Trainline as global social media influencer marketing lead, is that correct?

Alessia Coletta 9:14
Yes that is correct.

Carlota Pico 9:16
You were recently promoted to brand manager so congratulations on that.

Alessia Coletta 9:20
Thank you!

Carlota Pico 9:21
But I do want to pick your brain a little bit on influencer marketing. Neil Patel said that influencer marketing actually generates 23 US dollars for every dollar spent on it, which is almost five times as much as traditional paid advertisement, especially now with ad blockers. So as a professional who has helped brands run influencer campaigns across many different sectors, through your agency life, then in Trainline, etc, what tools do you use, Alessia, to zoom into the perfect influencer for any given campaign?

Alessia Coletta 9:58
So yes, I have to be honest with you, in my career, I’ve always worked with agencies, influencer agencies, to help us to find the right profile we were looking for but I’m aware that there are plenty of tools outside. I think a good way is always to be on the platform you are looking for. So for instance, I don’t know if you want to activate an influencer on YouTube or on Instagram or whatever, you should be there and just have a look at who is the real person or profile that you’d like to work with. I can’t mention the name of a tool but I think that if you are a big brand, then you can always work with an agency. If you are a small brand, I think the better way is just to be there, have a look at what is going on around you in the platform where you want to be and this might be a good option.

Carlota Pico 11:04
Okay, and how would you zoom into the different influencers on that platform? By looking at certain hashtags, for example?

Alessia Coletta 11:11
Yeah, it really depends. I mean, if I want to activate an influencer within the fashion world, I will look for the latest trend and who has leverage on the trends using the features you have on Instagram, or Tiktok, the discovery feature. Then, if you think a profile is good for you, you can always just reach out to them. But again, I’m aware that there are plenty of platforms that are doing this job for you.

Carlota Pico 11:52
Alessia, let’s say that I use your approach, I find the perfect influencer, that influencer is actually a micro influencer and that person has, let’s say, around 20,000 followers, the person is aligned with my corporate values, with the company values, and it’s just the perfect role model to promote my service or my product. How much should that person get paid? How do you know how much to pay an influencer?

Alessia Coletta 12:21
It’s a really tricky one. So first of all, I think you should have a look to the audience. So the number of followers that this person has, then you should look at the quality of the content and just try to figure out what the right balance between the budget you have, what this person can give you, in terms of quality of the content and in terms of performance. So I think the measure that you will look at, it’s really important in order to define how much to pay an influencer.

Carlota Pico 13:08
Okay, what have been some of the most expensive campaigns that you’ve led? Without, obviously, disclosing any company secrets? Ball part figures, not saying any names.

Alessia Coletta 13:25
I used to work with micro influencers instead of the big ones or the celebrities. The reason why is that I think that if you want to be close to your audience, so you need to find someone that is really close to them. So when you work with the celebrities, or the big ones, you will have an amazing reach, you know, but then, are we sure that people will recognize themselves in that kind of profile? So that’s the question that I used to ask to myself, when thinking about the influences I want to work with. I can see that in the UK, the influencers are more expensive, compared to the other markets.

Carlota Pico 14:20
What about freedom? How much creative freedom would you advise companies to give to their influencers?

Alessia Coletta 14:35
You know what, it really depends, usually if I’m a brand and I want to work with you, you have to follow some guidelines, for instance, your brand identity, or you have to be in a good position with my value, for instance. So yes, you have freedom in terms of creating the idea, but we need to make sure that the idea that you create will resonate with my brand and my audience, and your audience. I would say that if the creator is a professional, they can do their job really well. If you work with someone that is maybe not good enough, you will have some problems with that.

Carlota Pico 15:35
Alessia, let’s say I find the perfect micro influencer and the micro influencer agrees to the payout, how much we’re going to be paying that person to promote our services or products, then my next question would be, how do you measure the campaign? How do you measure their performance? What KPIs do you zoom in to, to track the success of that campaign?

Alessia Coletta 15:59
It really depends on the objective of the campaign. So if we are talking about an awareness campaign, for instance, a brand awareness campaign, you will have to think that looking at the platform you are using, so if it’s YouTube, for instance, probably you will measure the completed views of the video. Or if you are on Facebook and Instagram, you will measure a reach, impressions and probably engagement rate, and then, if you have more concrete objectives, let’s says, sales or add to cart, for instance, that’s still very important metrics to measure. I’m used to seeing the influencer campaign, within a more broad activation. So usually the influencers are only part of a bigger plan.

Carlota Pico 17:04
Okay, so you’re measuring them as part of a campaign?

Alessia Coletta 17:08
Yeah.

Carlota Pico 17:10
Then do you use any measurement tools to track that as well?

Alessia Coletta 17:20
In my career, I’ve used plenty of tools like Hootsuite. But we also have internal tools for instance in Trainline, that allow us to measure, say, downloads. Facebook is a really good platform because they can easily give you all the data that you need. Then it really depends, as I told you, if the influences are part of a bigger campaign. I used to run a proper brand report. I will work with Nielsen, for instance, or external third parties that will have passed in order to define the real impact of that kind of activity on the brand.

Carlota Pico 18:19
Okay, excellent. So let’s take a step back actually Alessia. How do you know what content is going to resonate with your audience in the first place?

Alessia Coletta 18:27
Sure. You never know. I think the most important part is the audience. So if you are talking to a specific audience, you need to choose the right person and you also need to be sure that the sentiment or the perception around that person is good enough for you. Then, I think the most important thing is that the content needs to be really massive and it needs to have a really good affinity with what the audience is used to watching on the channel. If you are working with a YouTube creator, you have to be sure that the content that you’re asking for feels natural for his audience, otherwise your campaign will just be paid.

Carlota Pico 19:36
We’ve been talking a lot about influencers when it comes to promoting a brand service, a brand’s product, etc. But what about becoming an influencer? How do you create a personal brand online?

Alessia Coletta 19:51
That’s very difficult. I think it’s always about the relationship that you have with people in real life and in your digital life. So you always have to look around you and be aware of what’s going on outside your area and you always need to look for interesting people to connect with. If you are so proud of the work that you have done, you should share. You should share your competence, you should share your projects. If you have collateral projects outside your professional careers, why not? Why not share this project? So I think it’s not just about visibility, but it’s also about the quality of this visibility. Sometimes, there are plenty of people that are just too visible without any substance.

Carlota Pico 21:16
Do you think it’s possible to go viral without paying for the views?

Alessia Coletta 21:24
Ah, it might be possible, but on the other side we need to think that the platform today unfortunately works like if you pay, you can have a visibilty. So yeah, I think it’s possible but it’s really difficult.

Carlota Pico 21:48
Yeah, it’s always easier to pay to get those views right? Okay, and now for the last question of this section. Alessia, If you could do anything in this world, after 12 years of experience in marketing and communications, would you still be doing marketing?

Alessia Coletta 22:09
Yeah, why not? I mean, yes, I’m happy and I think you should never stop learning. This kind of job always allows you to learn new things because, as I said, it’s a kind of self moving environment, a fast moving environment. So you don’t have the time to just stop for one second and say, okay, there is nothing new. It’s just not possible. So yes.

Carlota Pico 22:44
Excellent. Well, on that note, we’re going to be moving into our rapid fire set of questions, which are basically your advice, your recommendations for our audience. To get the section started off, I’d like to ask about your own source of inspiration. So who do you follow? Who do you admire? Influencers, professional role models, people like that.

Alessia Coletta 23:04
I have always admired my colleagues. I mean, I can tell you that in each one of my previous experiences and even in this one, there is always someone that I really look at, because I think everyone has something to share with you. You should learn from the people that actually are doing your job in the real life. So I don’t have famous people that I admire, or influencers or celebrities, I always look at my closest group of people. I mean, that’s my personal view.

Carlota Pico 23:56
That’s a great view as well. Okay, Alessia, what about a book, a publication, a group, an event that you’d like to recommend?

Alessia Coletta 24:09
I would say that I was born in a social, digital environment and I found it quite interesting to go back to the basics. Just to give you an example, the book that I’ve read in the past month was, How Brands Grow, because I think you need to have a bit of theory about how, in general, marketing works for doing your job. It’s really important to know the basics to just improve on what you’re doing.

Carlota Pico 24:51
Excellent. To finish up this interview, what’s your favorite app at the moment and why?

Alessia Coletta 25:00
So my favourite app is Amazon Prime, because I’m using Amazon every day, especially for delivery. Then, I quite like Monzo. So essentially in the UK Monzo is a FinTech, it’s a digital bank. They have this app that I found really clear, easy to use and really smart. These are the first two that I have in mind that I’m using essentially every day.

Carlota Pico 25:43
What makes those apps so special for you? So like, essential at this moment?

Alessia Coletta 25:47
I think the user experience that they have. They are so simple, so smart. Really, intuitive, you don’t have to think about what you should do.

Carlota Pico 26:00
Okay, excellent Alessia. Well, thank you so much for joining us on The Content Mix. It was awesome to meet you, talk about influencer marketing and to pick your brain on so many other subjects as well.

Alessia Coletta 26:11
Thank you, Carlota, for inviting me, it was a pleasure.

Carlota Pico 26:16
It was my pleasure, and to everybody listening in today, thank you for joining me on The Content Mix. For more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, check out The Content Mix. We’ll be releasing interviews just like this one every day. Keep on tuning in, thanks again. Have a fantastic day and I’ll see you next time. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai