Being a Nano-Influencer On UO’s Campus.

By: Kaytlyn Lozano

One brand that utilizes “nano influencers” (as discussed in Thursday’s class) is VS PINK and I am proud to say that I am one of the #pinksponsoredreps.

Based on the Influencer Marketing Framework discussed in class, I decided it would be appropriate to outline my experience as a PINK Campus Representative using this model, much like Kelli Matthews outlined her influencer roles with Will Leather Goods.

Define
VS PINK is a lingerie and apparel line whose target audience is female college students. The ideal Campus Representative is very involved on their campus and aspire to have a career in business or journalism.

Discover
Towards the end of April/ early May, PINK puts out an application on their PINK Nation Application that students from colleges with the PINK Campus Rep program can apply to. This application involves learning about who you are: what grade you are in, your major, campus involvement, passions, and career goals. Also, a part of this application is a video of yourself explaining why you want to become a PINK Campus Representative. Finally, there is a Skype interview with someone from L Brands (the parent company) to discuss your application further. In the end, two girls from each university with this program are chosen.

For two years now, I have filled out this application and have been so lucky to call myself a PINK Campus Representative for the University of Oregon.

Monitor
This is where the fun begins, when PINK and their team gets to know all 150 of us: Brand Certification Training.

In mid-July, PINK has a three-day, all-expenses paid trip for each Campus Representative to their headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Yes, hotel, food, flight… everything is all paid for.

Here, all of the Campus Representatives learn about everything PINK and in turn, PINK learns about each of us. The three days are jammed pack with events:

PINKchella
After everyone gets to the hotel and gets changed, we head out onto the buses to the huge welcome event PINK hosts for us. The past two years, the theme has been “PINKchella”. Here, all of the Campus Representatives take photos in their outfits, shop, mess around with the festival activities, participate in beauty sessions, and of course get ice cream and cookies.

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Sessions
The next day, we have a full day of getting to know the brand, learning about the Campus Representative role, and have brainstorming sessions with different departments of PINK (merchandising, beauty, etc). This past year, Teen Vogue joined us to teach us social media tips and tricks.

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Graduation Ceremony
After the completion of understanding the brand and our roles as Campus Representative, we get to “graduate” from training. Here, we have a commencement ceremony and get to celebrate being PINK Campus Reps with tons of food, music, and hanging out with the friends we have made.

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Photoshoot
Before our final group sessions on the last day of BCT, we have a professional photoshoot for the VS PINK website. Here are some of the behind the scenes.

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And here are the screenshots of the website:

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While from the outside of PINK BCT it all looks all over the top, I think it illustrates the effort PINK puts behind their Campus Representatives and their career goals. Each BCT I learned so much from all of the marketing, creative, and merchandising executives and felt like I was a part of the brand. That is the culture PINK cultivates with their Campus Reps at BCT: teaching aspiring college students who want to become business and journalist professionals and giving them the opportunity to bring PINK to their campuses using social media and events.

Action
Being a #pinksponsoredreps is unpaid and we do not sell any products. However, we do receive free merchandise and beauty products monthly that we can choose to post on social media. Every photo we post of it can be used by PINK for their social channels. For me, I generally post my #pinksponsoredreps content on my Instagram stories.

And yes, I do post unboxing videos.

Our responsibilities as Campus Representatives includes:

Creating content for our school-specific PINK social media (@oregonpink). Depending on what product we are giving away or outfits we receive, we generally like to post on both our Instagram stories and make an actual post. Here are some examples of content we have taken and posted on @oregonpink.

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As Campus Representatives, we also organize and execute events on campus. PINK understands their target audience: college students who are most likely spending money on books and food, not new clothes. With each event we host, we are given PINK products to give away for free, items such as bras, underwear, socks, sports bras, accessories, beauty, leggings, shirts, etc. These events range from surprise panty frenzies on campus, getting girls to come to a workout event on campus, or even a social media scavenger hunt. Whatever event we do, we mainly use social media as a tool to get the word out. We also “hire” a volunteer-based campus team, who helps behind the scenes with our events. Here is some content from those giveaways:

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Photoshoots
When we get products as PINK Campus Representatives, we usually get a photographer and have a photoshoot in the product, which PINK utilizes on their social channels and in their PINK Nation App. Here are some examples:

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In summation, my role as a PINK Campus Representative includes understanding social media in order to create effective content, generate attendance at events, and find new ways to speak to our campus audience.

Measure
While I cannot get into specifics about this part of my role, we do report back to our PINK boss on our social media campaigns and event attendance. These reports includes: Instagram story views, likes, follower increase/decrease, Twitter likes, retweets, follower increase/decrease, event attendance, successes, and failures. This part of my role really challenges my co-representative and I to adjust each time we have a new campaign and helps us grow as content creators, social media strategists, and event managers.

Being a “nano influencer” on campus IS a lot of work, but I am grateful to be a part of this experience. I never would have thought I would meet the social team from Teen Vogue, speak with executives from PINK, or ever have an all-expenses-paid anything in college.

The best part about being a PINK Campus Representative is the real-time, portfolio-building work I get to do on a daily basis, and PINK understands that when they enlist Campus Representatives. They utilize the nano influencer marketing strategy to generate brand recognition on campus, but also give college girls like me the chance to build their professional skills.

So that is the behind the scenes look of what it is like to be a #pinksponsoredreps / nano influencer for a brand. Feel free to learn more on @oregonpink on all social channels.

Twitter: @kaytlyn_lozano
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