South African agency launches Martell’s Home Live global influencer programme in New York

Following its 2018 appointment as the influencer agency-on-record for the luxury beverage brands in the Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët (MMPJ) stable, South African agency, HaveYouHeard, launched Martell’s global influencer programme in New York at the brand’s first ever Martell HOME Live event.

The agency’s Head of Strategy, Ryan McFadyen, was in New York to meet the influencers invited to Martell HOME Live, and to assist them in creating relevant content that resonated with their followers and the brand’s ethos.

Based in Cape Town, and with offices in Johannesburg and London, HaveYouHeard was appointed last year after it conducted influencer workshops for the MMPJ brand and insights teams in Europe. Its first task as global agency-of-record was an in-depth study on the various influencer tribes in key markets for G.H. Mumm and Perrier Jouet. The learnings and insights from this study were then used to shape the brand’s global influencer programme.

“To say we are excited to be working with the MMPJ team worldwide is an understatement,” said McFadyen. “We’re honoured the team regards our approach towards influence marketing as leading the field, especially seeing as the team had consulted with several major influencer agencies from other markets,” he said.

Martell’s marketing outreach – Martell HOME – recognises that humans are changing the way they socialise. According to PR Week USA, 55% of Generation Z and Millennials define the term ‘community’ by shared interests and mindset … without regard to shared geography.

Bringing the HOME concept to life, Martell HOME Live is the world’s first interactive physical/digital late-night show broadcast from an intimate party hosted and created by those shaping our social lives today. For the inaugural event in New York, HaveYouHeard identified seven connected individuals who knew, admired, respected and enjoyed each other on the day of the event. They were Allison Graham, Julio ‘The Whooligan’ Galvez, Kitty Cash, A$AP Nast, Leo Chan, Bryan Griffin and Meyhem Lauren.

“All influencers created incredible content that clearly depicted the event from their point of view. It was authentic, fun and added to a positive perception of Martell HOME Live, building a solid foundation for the episodes to come. The supplied content fitted well within their aesthetics and their standards. While all seven individuals fitted comfortably within the brief and Martell influencer profile, they also fed off each other’s energies to add to the positive atmosphere of the event,” said McFadyen.

“We can’t wait to get working on the next events scheduled for later in the year.”