Welcome to this week's BANKNOTES newsletter.

Before you slip into a tryptophan-induced slumber, we wanted to stuff (see what we did there) your inbox with some insights from this week in eCommerce and creator marketing.

This week:

🚙 INFINITI launches marketing campaign driven by creators

🛒 TikTok launches eCommerce feature

🏋️ Creator Corner: Meet Abby Marie

📉 Webinar: How to recession-proof with creator marketing

Creator campaigns aren't just for apparel and CPG brands!

INFINITI, the luxury division of Nissan, has launched a new creator-powered campaign called Capture INFINITI.

Capture INFINITI showcases several creators and their endeavors with an INFINITI vehicle. Each creator was given a different vehicle in the QX series to “fuel their creative pursuits.

Why the campaign?

“We wanted to do something in the influencer space for INFINITI that was different … Now that they have this library, they can determine on a month-by-month basis where they want to deploy their assets,” said Godfrey. “INFINITI has had a lot of changes over the last decade: from model names to vehicle refreshes, and brand updates. It was more important for us to focus more on building the brand in a compelling way for potential consumers than it was to push for lower funnel activity. Especially for work with influencers, as it is best suited for awareness-based purposes.”
— Jon Godfrey, a senior producer of content for Alternator, the agency that worked with INFINITI on the campaign

How can marketing and sales teams learn from INFINITI's work?

• Lesson 1: Consider negotiations and contracts
  INFINITI and Alternator had a lot of creators they had to negotiate with in terms of the cost of creating the content and usage rights. Alternator didn't try to take this on alone but rather worked with #paid to help work through all of these complexities. And remember, it's always best to get usage rights worked out on the frontend.
  
  
• Lesson 2: Trust your creators to create
  Through the Capture INFINITI program, Godfrey says he learned to trust creators even more than he already had in past campaigns: “They have a great vision, they have a great understanding of the audience, and they can help you differentiate in the market,” he said.
  

• Lesson 3: Don’t bite off more than you can chew
  INIFINITI's goal was to end up with a catalog of creator-generated assets they could use for the next year, but someone has to edit, index and actually use all those images. So don't take on more than you can handle.

Read more about INFINITI's new campaign over at BANKNOTES

Another social commerce experiment

TikTok last week opened a 'TikTok Shop' option for a number of its brand accounts, allowing users to access a shopping cart 🛒 tab in the brand's profile where they could browse products and ultimately checkout.

While this is yet another step in a social commerce experiment that has mostly stalled in North America, it can't be ignored.

What sales and marketing teams need to know:

• While so-called social commerce hasn't quite taken off, yet, across streaming, etc., TikTok and others are dead set on making it a success. It's important brands utilize all of TikTok's marketing tools, including adding products to their TikTok catalogs.
  
  
• TikTok isn't going anywhere, in fact in a season of widespread tech layoffs, TikTok is HIRING: To the tune of more than 4,600 people this month!
  
  
• Don't wait for social commerce to explode before you focus on creator and influencer marketing or it will be too late. Brands that have a strong creator program in place will be in the pole position once social marketing does hit its stride.  

Creator Corner: Meet Abby Marie

Abby Marie’s videos satiate two cravings—the one for healthy treats and the one for well-crafted videos. Having previously succeeded as a bodybuilder, her career as a creator is one to watch. Abby's content sits at the intersection of health conscious desserts, high-quality videos and the neighbor that always has your back. She never fails to connect with followers in the comment section. It’s no surprise that Abby is loved by her brand partners and her audience.

Follow Abby:

• Instagram
• Her website

"Some don’t wear their scars on their sleeves ... some of us bury it under PRs, pre-workout and owning copious amounts of fitness attire ... Fitness and health obsessions are one of the most overlooked areas of mental health simply because it physically comes off as of top tier health. ⁣But it’s not, and it’s not normal.⁣

Upcoming Events: How to recession-proof with influencer marketing

Experts predict there is a chance of a recession in 2023, so how can you recession-proof with influencer marketing? Consumers are still expected to spend, but how they will spend is predicted to be different.

Join the #paid team, as we talk about trends, tactics, and creative solutions. You will leave the session having takeaways on how to implement creator marketing to decrease your risks and drive bigger impact in your marketing plans.

Save your seat!

What we're listening to: Holiday 2022 shopping predictions

It seems for the third consecutive year we're saying the same thing: This holiday shopping season will be unlike any we've seen before.

With the eCommerce boom regressing significantly in the shadow of an economic downturn, brands are having to be creative with how they attract people to their websites and brick-and-mortar locations.

Chloe Thomas, founder and host of the eCommerce MasterPlan and Keep Optimising podcasts says she's expecting many brands won't see March.

Listen to the DTC Growth Show!