- TAKUMI’s new creative arm ushers in the next generation of influencer marketing to craft the future of branded content
- TAKUMI appoints Jim Meadows as Chief Strategy Officer to lead TAKUMI X
London, UK – August 27, 2020: TAKUMI, the world’s leading influencer marketing business, today announced TAKUMI X: a new creative division with a creator-led approach to influencer marketing.
Backed by Takumi’s heritage from over five years of delivering award-winning creative-first influencer marketing campaigns, TAKUMI X is a new creative division enabling brands to work closer than ever before with creators to produce innovative and culturally relevant content. Designed for existing and emerging platforms, TAKUMI X facilitates a new working relationship between creators and brands; with creators bringing their own insights and expertise into the process from the very beginning. Launching today, TAKUMI X is available in the UK with US & other territories rolling out in the coming weeks.
While influencer marketing has become ubiquitous, even the most experienced marketers struggle to create powerful, effective campaigns in extremely fast-changing environments. Further, consumers are growing tired of seeing the same content over and over in their feeds. 44% of consumers in the UK, US and Germany agree that current branded content is boring and uninspiring. TAKUMI X tackles these challenges by flipping the standard influencer marketing models and processes on its head, handing the reins over to creators and giving them direct access to brands as acting creative consultants. With its key distinguishing feature, TAKUMI X involves the creator at every stage, from briefing insights and ideation through launch and amplification.
“Time and time again, we’ve seen that the most culturally relevant marketing content today is conceived and developed by creators. They are modern-day Don Drapers; creative and influential forces to the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1960s. These are the people who are driving culture, setting the agenda, capturing the zeitgeist and creating virality that brands struggle to achieve alone,” said Mary Keane-Dawson, GROUP CEO of TAKUMI. “We are excited to facilitate deeper collaborations than ever before and offer clients unprecedented access to the firsthand insights and creative reserves of leading talent.”
The Evolving Role of the Creator
Creators have a deep understanding of today’s cultural landscape and its intricacies and are uniquely positioned to help bridge the gap between brands and consumer audiences. Unlike most campaign structures today, the TAKUMI X process positions the creator as the facilitator of campaign development; giving them full license to be creative and participate in activities including writing the brief. (According to TAKUMI’s recent whitepaper, influencers value ‘creative control’ above all else when working with brands, followed by ‘a clear brief.’) As creators become more sophisticated, their roles are changing and they are now acting as executive creative directors and producers on behalf of the brand. Creators have a deep understanding of today’s cultural landscape and its intricacies and are uniquely positioned to help bridge the gap between brands and consumer audiences.
The Content Studio for Culturally Credible Brands
TAKUMI X offers a suite of services facilitating the collaboration between creators and brands for the conception, production and scaling of content, created by the best creative minds on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and Snap. Services include:
- Talent discovery: Nurturing talent and providing brands with access to diverse and emerging creative talent on the web; helping to connect brands with niche creators who are best suited for a specific campaign
- Creator-led creative direction: Bringing creators into the mix to advise the brands from the earliest stages of a campaign and consult on the entire briefing process
- Culture insights: Providing brands with direct insights to understand how creators’ audiences think, feel and behave
- Branded entertainment series: Executing content with a cohesive multi-channel approach and long-lasting brand stories
- Social media brand builds: Assisting brands with developing their social presence on new and existing platforms
- Branded & creator content: Producing branded content and organic creator-led content which is culturally relevant and developed by creators who deeply understand the brand and how to speak to its audience
- Amplification: Predicting, measuring and amplifying ROI; optimizing creative to maximize results
New Executive Hire to Lead TAKUMI X
TAKUMI is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Meadows as Chief Strategy Officer, who will lead the new TAKUMI X practice. Jim is an experienced strategist with 10 years’ experience in social media and branded content. He has managed social media content for brands including Virgin Media, Redbull and British Red Cross and previously co-founded specialist agency Commit driving long term influencer and UGC strategy for global consumer brands including Seagate Technology. Jim’s appointment supports TAKUMI’s global growth plans with a goal of expanding TAKUMI X into six markets by the end of year.
“I have admired Takumi’s campaign content for many years and am so pleased to be joining this organization at such a pivotal point, ” said Jim Meadows. “Takumi has paved the way in the influencer marketing industry, and we are looking forward to guiding clients to uplevel their marketing with more realistic, authentic, diverse and culturally relevant content than ever before through TAKUMI X.”
“Brand narratives at times read like a Shakespearean prose directed towards a 20th-century teen which of course gets lost in translation. Brands must understand that there’s a reason why creators are able to produce content that speaks volumes and why their audience trusts them,” said Shaadow Sefiroth, creative director and TAKUMI X ambassador. “TAKUMI X is an exciting and bold move that tackles ideas in a creative way and will help translate ideas in a language that impacts, inspires and impresses.”
To learn more, visit www.takumi.com/takumi-x
About TAKUMI
TAKUMI is a leading global influencer marketing agency which offers influencer-led creative strategic solutions for brands, enabling them to connect with audiences across social media in depth and at scale.
TAKUMI specializes in providing unparalleled influencer marketing insights and knowledge from 5+ years of partnering with leading brands across the globe including Clarins, Kellogg’s, Visa, Pernod Ricard and Mercedes.
Offering end-to-end client services and operating across multiple markets and platforms, TAKUMI is driven by creativity, talent, data, technology and strategic expertise.
TAKUMI has carried out more than 3,000+ campaigns to date, working with thousands of curated content creators, and is trusted to manage influencer relationships to deliver compelling, innovative campaigns which spark meaningful conversations with audiences.
Founded in 2015, TAKUMI is headquartered in the UK, with offices in London, Berlin and New York and operations in a further five EU countries.
TAKUMI was named among Britain’s fastest growing businesses and most promising scale-ups by Syndicate Room and named ‘Best Relationship Management Tool’ at the 2019 Influencer Marketing Awards.
Notes to editors
Report methodology
In August 2020 Takumi executed and commissioned a study of 752 nationally representative respondents across UK, Germany and US (aged 16+) via Glowfeed.