SOCIAL MEDIA
Liam Harrington, 24, from
North London started his
entrepreneurial journey at 17 when he founded a merchandising company.
Harrington was never an
academic so
relied heavily on his personality, and to this day, he feels that this is the strongest asset. It has helped him massively in the creation and development of UNILAD, which is now one of the largest media platforms in the
An avid fan of charitable
causes, Liam is determined to use his social power for the
explains. “I grew up with Facebook, from day one I went on the whole journey with Facebook. Someone four years younger than me grew up with Snapchat and Twitter. I’m an expert marketer on my platform, and there are other expert marketers on their platforms who are younger than myself. [I put them] on my team and get to reap the rewards.” In an ever switched-on world, with
platforms being accessed 24/7, the younger demographics are also the most aware generation when it comes to paid reach and advertising. They know when they’re being sold to. However, rather than trying to hide it from them, Harrington claims that it’s best to go with the grain. Be up front
something that they can gain some value from. Harrington explains from the point of view of a millennial: “we demographic do not mind being advertised to as long as it’s done in a
way that we like and we can engage with.”
Theory In Action
“We had a campaign to run with Levi Roots and his Reggae Reggae sauce. It was coming up to summer, and they wanted everyone to start using it on their barbeques […] and I had a meeting with them and their marketing team, and I said what would you like to achieve from this. They said [they] really want[ed] a viral campaign, where [they could] get people submitting content. I was thinking [the] word viral is used way too much get a hundred million views, or are you actually looking to generate sales of your product. They suggested a video in a similar vein to the ALS ice bucket something with the sauce and submitting it, and it felt really forced. I knew from the moment they said it
better and tackle hard-hitting issues that his generation face including:
homelessness, mental health and education. Alongside Sam Bentley, Liam Harrington is determined to change the way we consume
content for the better.
that that was never going to be them. I said ‘you need to make your product desirable, and you need to make people think that they need your product in order you create something.’ So I suggested a series of barbeque style videos, really quick one and a half minute recipes you can make with the sauces. But the crucial part was that I wanted people engaging with that content, so that at the end of it they said ‘I really want to make this, and in order to make this I need to use the sauce.’ People were loving it, they were loving the recipes and they were loving the videos. That’s already a like, and that’s a share as well. And it just so happened we drip fed in subtly the fact that Reggae Reggae sauce is what made it what it was, so that when they’re going round the shops, they see it and they pick it up. And that’s marketing is. Instead of me trying to shove something down your throat and saying ‘go buy it now!’ let’s get more people watching it, more people engaged, and that will hopefully make a happier consumer.”
At the Festival of Marketing, Harrington discussed reverse of things. I want to educate people and make sure they realise youth is the way forward, the way to capture an audience. And I want to talk about how to create content that gets the same engagement as a normal piece of content, but just so happens that you’re also marketing a product. I’m stage, too, the people who know how to do it best with their audience.”
41 issue 29 winter 2016
Words: Georgia Sanders
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