Accountants, strategists, copywriters or art directors, we are all communication people. And one of the first things you realise when you enter the industry is that you need to understand the context in which you’re doing communications campaigns for your clients. Sure, some people tend to forget to take the pulse of society anymore, but we at Minio really believe that the most important thing is understanding: understanding consumers deeply, understanding the real business needs of clients, understanding the things that move people.

That’s why the Minio Studio team made the most of the 2023 conferences. Yes, we went to almost all of them. And now we invite you to read the impressions and highlights our colleagues learned.

1. Which conference did you attend and what was it about?

Patricia: I went to the Digital Divas conference + awards gala, hosted by Avon. Basically it’s that night where all the digital divas get recognized and receive praise and applause. I loved it!

Alexandra: The 11th edition of Digital Divas, both the conference and the gala. It’s a conference about online divas in particular, but also about the most appreciated content creators in lifestyle, beauty, health, travel and more. The 3 sections of the conference explored different topics that are highly relevant in the online world.

2. What was the most interesting topic discussed there, from your point of view?

Patricia: From my point of view the most interesting topic was the discussion between Emil Rengle and Cristina Stănciulescu. The two of them had an extraordinary chemistry in the dialogue, they talked about authenticity in the online environment, and in my opinion Emil Rengle is really an icon of authenticity in the Romanian online environment.

Alexandra: I found it very interesting how Twitch is “on the wave” now, among content creators, thinking that it was originally used predominantly by gamers. Some of them already stream frequently with their communities, and many others already think it’s a social media platform that can facilitate interaction between followers and influencers, which is why they want to try this channel as well.

3. Who was your favourite speaker and what attracted you to them?

Patricia: Somehow I think it’s wrong to say we had a favorite speaker, the focus was on influencers entirely. I was really impressed with the new influencer niche, at one point Louis Florea was telling a story about how they were brainstorming content in the living room in pandemics when they had to keep themselves on fyp. New gen of influencers work hard!

Alexandra: I came to the conference prepared to discover most of the speakers, without researching them beforehand, but I didn’t expect to like Mira so much. She surprised me by the naturalness with which she tackled the serious, but more sensitive topics in her life. The maturity with which she spoke about her accident and the way she responded immediately after it happened struck me as very brave, especially as it highlighted how important caution and care for those around us is.

4. Tell us one super-awesome thing you learned at the conference, something that changed the way you do things.

Patricia: I’ve found that brands prefer long-term collaborations with an influencer because a relationship of trust has already been established and is no longer in question. Somehow we can take this little piece of information and use it in our daily lives and at work, of course.

Alexandra: That there are brands that are willing to send products to influencers for testing before the start of a campaign, and if they don’t fit the influencer’s profile they don’t continue the collaboration. If it could be applied to more brands, I’m sure it would help us make an easier decision when choosing creators who can help the campaign, for real, not just in theory.

5. Tell us one thing that simply amazed you, something you first learned there.

Patricia: What amazed me enormously were the brand activations. Indeed, if brands put the emphasis on it, activating for the conference comes out as well as an offline activation for the general public. My favorite was the one from Answear, Prosecco o’clock! Basically we had this natural makeshift wall with a bell attached to it, and as you rang the bell from the wall a hand would come out and serve you a glass of prosecco. Very fun and impactful!

Alexandra: The fact that when setting fees for influencers, the most important criteria to start from is the engagement rate and that there are higher fees for smaller influencers. This is apparently due to the influencer profile, which can become the key ingredient that can make a campaign successful.

6. Conclusions: closing thoughts about your experience at Digital Divas or at conferences in general.

Patricia: I was very happy to be at Digital Divas for the first time, as it’s one of the award shows I’ve been watching for years, and likewise, I’ve been voting for my favorite influencers for years. It was a day full of beautiful activations, beautiful people, real valuable insights for the influencer marketing market and really good food!

Alexandra: Specifically, at this conference I loved that the speakers were highlighted by the moderators. Every single one of them who took the stage pointed out things relevant to the industry. On the other hand, from my point of view, conferences seem to be the starting point for innovation and exchange of ideas.