Kate Actress: I once returned money to a brand that needed my influencer services
Kenyan actress Catherine Kamau, popularly known as Kate Actress, has stated that influencers’ roles is to create trust between a marketer and its customers and that an influencer and a brand must align for the partnership to work.
Speaking during a Twitter Spaces conversation hosted by Social Media & Content Marketing Expert Janet Machuka, regarding the impact of influencers in driving brand stories, Kate also called out brands that often change their influencers, saying this does not earn them any trust with their stakeholders who feel they are inconsistent.
“For me to remain authentic, I’ve learnt how to say no to brands I feel that maybe don’t align with my values. I have learnt how to hold brands accountable. As an influencer, you are not here to sanitize brands. I’ve had to return money to some brands because I realized they wanted me to sanitize them in some ways and I’m not for that,” Kate said.
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“I think it’s just about building trust between you and your TA. If you can put them on a retainer, those that you think are giving you conversions or the visibility, I mean, it’s up to you,” she further explained.
The actress is currently one of the biggest influencers in the country. She has been the face of various products in the country for years now, and whenever people see her, they immediately associate her with the brand she has been advertising and influencing for.
For 12 years now, she has been the face of Harpic cleaning products in Kenya. In April 2022, she was named the face and brand ambassador for Nice and Lovely body lotion – one of the renowned beauty products by L’Oreal, a French owned global company. Lately, she has been heavily involved with the Netflix giant streaming platform.
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Aside from having some of the movies she acted in streaming on the platform, Kate has been influencing for Netflix and is among a handful of Kenyan actors and influencers who participate in Netflix events around Africa, including Netflix film premiere events and lavish social events in South Africa as was the case with the premiere of Queen Charlotte, a prequel to the world renowned Bridgerton series.
Her Instagram account with more that 2.2 million followers also shows that Kate influences for other brands including Garnier, a real estate company and a local supermarket among others.
Large corporations are now opting to work with influencers and utilizing their huge segmented following to rake in higher sales as opposed to broadcasting advertisements on mainstream media for a general audience with lower sales.
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