By Joe Ellyatt
Influencer marketing is growing its reach and authority.
Even corporate giants like Unilever are shifting gears, with incoming CEO Fernando Fernandez announcing that the business will hire twenty times more influencers and that social media marketing will account for 50 percent of the budget because “brands are met with skepticism when their messages come directly from corporations.
He’s not alone; in 2025, over 50 percent of brands plan to increase spend on creators, according to a study by LTK and Northwestern University.
Influencers and the credibility challenge
Despite this, there are few examples to point to of a high-profile global launch in any sector, not just luxury, where the influencer is the lead activity from which all other marketing builds and takes its cue.
Let’s face it, while it’s evolved massively, influencer marketing can still have a bit of a bad rap. It’s not always the greatest at PR, as well as showing its genuine storytelling potential and the ROI it can deliver for brands.
This perception is beginning to shift. We are seeing growing professionalism in the sector and proof that influencer marketing can ‘move the dial’ for brands, driving reputation, bottom-line growth and playing a strategic communications role.
A luxury audience is a sophisticated one, and can detect inauthenticity a mile off. The press is littered with examples of brands that misstep because they don’t do their homework, which can be costly.
Dolce & Gabbana upset the Chinese market with its cultural insensitivity, and more recently, Fendi was called out for misattributing Chinese motifs to Korea in a campaign. Luxury brands are under immense pressure to get their global marketing right while understanding the nuances of different cultures.
Could influencer marketing be a solution to this challenge? Carefully curated influencers are capable of delivering hyper-personalized, hyper-localized observations and interpretations of a brand story that lands brilliantly with their highly engaged audiences.
Messaging done this way, understanding the nuances of each market, is a great way to screen out cultural gaffes and avoid accusations of cultural appropriation.
Driving authenticity and aspiration
Acutely aware of the risks of cultural misalignment, Penhaligon’s took a bold, yet truly authentic, approach to launching its luxury fragrance, AlUla.
Named after the UNESCO World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia, the brand worked with Komodo to design a carefully crafted influencer-led experience that would immerse audiences in the fragrance’s cultural and historical roots. The resulting trip activities were built around AlUla’s key cultural sites, blending the location’s natural landscape with the story of the fragrance in a way that was respectful and meaningful to the region’s heritage.
Thirty influencers from markets including Australia, France, Lebanon, Qatar, Spain, Saudi, the U.A.E. and the U.K. were carefully chosen and brought together as a group alongside Fanny Bal, the perfumer who created AlUla.
Success depended on Komodo’s activation expertise and deep engagement with local cultures. Komodo and Penhaligon’s also tapped local partners, including RCU Royal Commission, the cultural body representing AlUla, and the Saudi Tourism Board, to review details.
By fostering open, respectful dialogue, the team ensured that every element of the campaign – from influencer interactions to content creation – aligned seamlessly with the traditions, religions and values of the region.
Influencer-powered stories
Authentic, deep storytelling has become a byword in luxury marketing, but influencer marketing has been relatively shy of showcasing its credentials to do this. Indeed, it often faces accusations of superficiality and brashness that sit poorly alongside the discrete nature of “quiet luxury.”
What we do know is that Gen Z is increasingly looking for authentic stories. The very best influencer campaigns have story-telling baked into their DNA.
In our work for Penhaligon’s AlUla our mission was always to elevate the experience we created into an educational, immersive desert experience with deep meaning. We told rich, discrete stories that sensitively hero-ed the evocative place that inspired the birth of the AlUla fragrance and its associated culture and traditions, ensuring they were the powerful red thread woven throughout all activities.
While well-planned influencer activity can carry this kind of evocative story, it is at its most powerful when it dovetails with cinematic quality, pre-planned documentary-style educational content. This provides a broader context and perspective for audiences and tells the story from the brand’s perspective.
Luxury influencer campaigns built in this way can tell a commanding story that even the most iconic brands and their ad agencies would happily take credit for. At their very best, they take the influencers who take part and the people who follow them online on a deep, immersive experience that will remain with them.
By embracing influencer marketing as a lead strategy and not just an add-on, brands can build deeper connections, create unforgettable experiences, and, ultimately, redefine what luxury storytelling looks like in the modern era.
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