The Rising Soci@l Star Talent Search launches for its second year. The search was launched in 2016 by influencer strategy agency The Remarkables Group and based on success of its first outing, is now an annual event.
The 2016 search secured 317 entries, 100,000 views on the video launch assets and over 25 million impressions on the #RSSAU hashtag.
The national talent search for digital influencers is looking for the hottest, smartest, coolest creators across an increased seven categories (the 2016 search having four), with five iconic brands leading the charge:
- Priceline Pharmacy (Beauty and Wellbeing)
- Westfield (Fashion)
- Schwarzkopf (Hair)
- Home (Origin)
- Food (Woolworths)
- Parenting (Little One’s)
After an initial call for entries, 35 finalists will undertake The Apprentice-style content challenges. The seven winners will be chosen by a panel of industry judges, including Junkee Media’s Tim Duggan and influencer Jen Bishop from Interiors Addict. Each of the seven winners will score $5,000 cash and become an ambassador for their category’s brand partner, as well as being profiled on Collective Hub channels.
Lorraine Murphy, founder of The Remarkables Group said: “We were over the moon at the response to Rising Soci@l Star in 2016, and the calibre of talent the search uncovered. To see the winners continue to flourish has been so rewarding. For example Nikkia Joy, the 2016 Beauty winner, entered the search with 80,000 YouTube subscribers and just a year later has ticked over the 340,000 mark. The influencer space has developed at an even more rapid rate in the last 12 months, and we’re excited to find a new wave of talent again in 2017, with the support of a stellar line-up of brand partners.”
Jo Rose, head of content marketing and social media at Woolworths said: “At Woolworths, social media is an important channel to connect with our customers and working with relevant social influencers is a key component of making that connection. Being the first food partner for Rising Soci@l Star enables us to support the growth of talent in the social media space and engage on a grass-roots level with emerging influencers, and initiate some exciting partnerships that will give us further opportunities to engage directly with our customers.”
Allana May, marketing manager at Priceline Pharmacy said: “We are very proud of the close relationships we have developed with influencers within the beauty and health space, which is a result of the ongoing prioritising of this part of our digital and content strategy. Following our involvement with Rising Soci@l Star in 2016, we are delighted to be involved in both the Beauty and Wellbeing categories in 2017 to discover two highly talented and passionate beauty and health content creators to work with our brand.”
The search is channel-agnostic; the only entry criteria is that entrants must be over 18, be based in Australia and have been running their platform for between 12 to 36 months as of 24th February 2017.
Entries are open until 7th April at risingsocialstar.com.au. Winners will be announced at the Rising Soci@l Star party in Sydney on 23rd June 2017, and a new event – #RSSAU LIVE – will be held the following day, geared at helping influencers develop their skills across multiple areas.
