First Ever Youth Influencer Awards Launched In SA

In Trends

Celebrating the power of authentic young influencers who are changing the way brands market to the masses, Student Village is launching The Youth Influencer Awards (YIA – pronounced ‘Wire’) 2016, the first ever awards showcase of social media influencers under 25 in South Africa.

Hosted by exemplary and experienced industry experts, the awards will acknowledge the hustle of these influential youths across various categories including Music, Fashion, Tech, and Campus Influencer to name a few.

With social media influencers in the midst of agencies’ learning curve of how to best utilise them in marketing strategies, Student Village crafted the categories and criteria according to best practice and execution.

“In our 15 years of being at the forefront of influencer marketing amongst the youth, we’ve come to realise that there is a lack of understanding within brands and their agencies around this powerful marketing tool. Businesses that have till now only known of its importance, will now have a guide to what defines a truly aspirational influencer, as well as being able to add measure and merit to their influencer campaigns from the selection process,” said Marc Kornberger, Director of Student Village.

“We won’t only be measuring the success of influencers but we are also adding acknowledgement of brands, who’ve utilised influencer marketing effectively, to the mix,” He added.

The YIA awards is the first awards event of its kind to be hosted in South Africa and will be solely focussed at uplifting South Africa’s young influencers who are doing amazing work with brands and in their own capacity. The celebration of their work will not only end in award titles but be coupled with an opportunity to work with big brands and increase their recognition as captains of their industry.

“This is an amazing opportunity for youth looking to work with brands across the advertising, marketing and brand communications industry. The influencers chosen will also be setting the bar for winners to come and have the chance to interact with the South African creative experts who’ve decided the fate of the myriad of entries from across the country.”

Attendees can expect exclusive industry insights from this year’s panel of winners and judges including esteemed industry leaders comprising Musa Kalenga (Facebook) and Mike Stopforth (Cerebra) thus far.

“We are privileged to have this calibre of industry expertise on one panel. This event will be the ground-breaking of the young influencer industry and recognise authentic influencers uninfluenced by fame or other associations, making it imperative to have the right mix of experts.”

The YIA will take place in Johannesburg at Student Village, Houghton, on 3 November from 18:00 till 10:00pm. Please RSVP by clicking HERE. For all queries about the YIA call Student Village on 011 885 3918. For other news and updates, go to Facebook: Student Village and follow them on Twitter: Student Village (@SVillage).