WHEN KOLS MESS UP:

HOW TO STRATEGICALLY AVOID CONTROVERSIES AND FIND THE RIGHT KOLS

There are several controversial issues related to well-known KOLs in Taiwan. Although the volume and discussions have increased rapidly, selecting the right KOLs to effectively avoid public relations crises has become an important matter for brands. Regarding this problem, AsiaKOL suggests avoiding choosing the KOLs that had controversy within 6 months. The more controversial the KOL is, the heavier the impact on ratings and indirect influences on brands’ sales and reputation.

To avoid public relations crises after collaborating with KOLs, brands can first investigate the past ratings of such influencers and his/her speech style, and select the candidates with positive images and impressions. Brands can even ask them to sign a “Moral Clause” to ensure rights and obligations during cooperation. If the KOLs violate the rules and harm the brand’s image, it has the right to require him/her to bear corresponding liability.

      1. Controversies/The false persona shattered among KOLs

The social community has been quite unsettled since the middle of May 2023, with many well-known KOLs being "flared up" or having their personas collapsed. To be specific, the so-called persona refers to "character setting", such as body shape, appearance, personality, behavior style, etc. integrated into an online image. The collapse of persona means that the true image of the KOL is revealed to be different from the persona presented on the Internet.

Many KOLs in the community are packaged under certain "persona" to create specific images to earn fan traffic, exert influence, and even become media darlings. However, certain issues have happened to some KOLs recently, which makes netizens feel that the nature of those KOLs is different from their "personas", and thus "their personas have collapsed." For instance, the mother of seven children known as "The Lins' Kids" was involved in several scandals.; the famous YouTuber Lioumonn was also criticized by photographers for her poor cooperation and being a “poser”.

When encountering scandals leading to the shattering of persona, KOLs are likely to drop followers and be tagged in negative news if they fail to handle the scandals properly. In contrast, they can raise their popularity if the scandals are ingeniously handled. Let’s say the co-branding incident between Joeman and the convenience store chain 7-Eleven. The co-branded products were heavily criticized by netizens when first launched. As the public relations crisis was likely to happen, Joeman immediately spent time communicating with his artist manager and brand to confirm the content and purchasing process. His enthusiastic attitude to accept criticism humbly has helped him consolidate the follower stickiness.

▲ Joeman released a video response to the 7-Eleven co-branded product incident

      2. The Indicators to select KOLs

Indicator 1: Structure Of Followers And Related Data

As brands understand that they need to be careful in selecting KOLs nowadays, during the evaluation stage, brands can pay more attention to the daily social management status of the KOLs, such as number of followers, interaction rate, content style, occupation, interests and places. When needed, brands can require KOLs to provide the background structure of followers and related data for evaluation before the collaboration starts.

Indicator 2: The Target Of Marketing – Exposure Or Conversion

Brands can select suitable KOLs based on their ultimate goal – whether it is brand exposure or conversion. If it is all about exposing, macro and mega KOLs with hundreds of thousands or more than one million followers might be more appropriate. In contrast, when the marketing budget is limited, multiple micro-influencers with high interaction rates, good image and text quality can be invited to be exposed at the same time, which usually has a good traffic diversion effect.

Indicator 3: Say No To KOLs With High Negative Voices

If a KOL's negative voice is high, it is very likely to attract negative comments in the community, slander the brand image and even affect the stock price. In the past, many macro KOLs had to cancel their events due to controversial incidents. In the end, they had to hide and remove the articles and videos they had collaborated with, resulting in double losses for the KOLs and the brands.

Every brand wants to stay away from controversial KOLs, to avoid spending a lot of money on such influencer marketing but failing to achieve profits. It is recommended that they cooperate with a professional KOL marketing company and make good use of objective data to evaluate the suitability of candidates. This will make it easier to avoid risks.

      3. How To Stay Away From Risks When Collaborating With KOLs?

Before collaborating, brands should cautiously evaluate whether the KOL is consistent with their brand image and values. This can protect the brand image from being harmed by such KOL’s speech or behavior. If KOL’s speech or behavior is not consistent with the brand image and values​, it may negatively affect the brand image and consumers’ trust in the brand. 

In addition to having the AIE system, which can help brands understand the social management data and performance of KOLs at a glance, AsiaKOL also works with the QuickseeK database to provide brands with the most accurate and fast public opinion analysis tool, instantly identifying the suitable KOL by the level of favorability, as well as the positive and negative voices. In case brands want to check whether a certain KOL's interactions have been greatly affected by negative incidents, Quickseek's public opinion database can search for comprehensive information and help brands avoid KOLs whose comments or actions may damage the brand image.

Let’s take the picture below as an example. The Quickseek database can collect the positive voice rankings of parenting KOLs through public information across the Internet, calculate the positive/negative voice of KOLs, analyze the key topics of the KOLs in detail, and provide a complete evaluation basis for brands. Through the objective data assistance of KOL consulting companies, brands can reduce the problem of information asymmetry and wrong judgment when looking for KOLs. Don’t hesitate to contact Asiakol when you have relevant needs!

      4. Monitor public opinion to avoid potential controversies - Cooperate with high-favorability KOLs to enhance brand image

Cooperating with various KOLs with different attributes is a process that requires careful consideration and preparation. With the Quickseek public opinion database, AsiaKOL can help brands avoid potential public relations crises when selecting KOLs, ensure that brand interests are not harmed and enhance the brand image. In the past, AsiaKOL had rich marketing experiences and could plan a series of KOL marketing plans for brands. From proposals, project planning, candidate selection, project execution and project closing, the A-Z process was all smoothly handled by the team, which had countless successful cases. If brands have entrustment requirements for parenting KOLs, our team can provide relevant suggestions on implementation and ensure the effectiveness of the cooperation!

AIE - KOL Evaluation Database

The AIE – Asian KOL Evaluation Database can search for KOLs in specific fields with various categories, and analyze the important reference scores of KOLs such as interactions and breadth of influences, helping brands locate the “dream type” of KOLs, enhancing the accuracy of marketing campaign. If you want to know about community performance of Taiwan or international influencers, contact us for more details!
Contact us: http://[email protected]