The advertising industry’s education programme Media Smart has launched a brand new resource aimed at helping children understand the commercial link between social influencers and the brands they may be promoting.
The rising numbers of social influencers in young people’s lives has prompted Media Smart to create a film-based PSHE teaching resource for 11-14 year olds, the first of its kind to tackle this area of marketing.
The Influencer Marketing Education resource has been developed by education insight specialists EdComs. It features popular youth influencers like Hannah Witton, who have volunteered time to feature in short films talking about what influencer marketing is, why brands use it and its regulations. Other topics of the short films, where influencers talk directly to young people, include how to critically evaluate social media content, how to identify paid for promotions/adverts and the use of airbrushing and filters in content.
The films will be supported by teacher guidance and a presentation for use in assemblies or the classroom. Students will explore and evaluate the purpose and techniques of influencer marketing, with the aim of building digital and media literacy and emotional resilience.
The importance of the ad industry in taking responsibility for explaining the links between influencers and brands was highlighted by advertising’s think tank Credos recent research which showed that 74% of parents think industry has a role to play in educating young people about this form of marketing.