James Watt launches influencer marketing venture

James Watt has launched his new business, Social Tip, an app which rewards people for posting about brands.

“This is good old-fashioned word of mouth marketing, but amplified for the digital age and scalable through our innovative technology,” said the former BrewDog chief executive.

The start-up's proprietary algorithm calculates the value of posts - based on views, likes and engagement - and rewards users by depositing cash to their Social Tip accounts.

“The most powerful marketing we ever had for BrewDog had nothing to do with us,” said Watt. “It wasn’t the stunts and it certainly wasn’t advertising; it was everyday people sharing their love for our products.

“With Social Tip, we want to release the power of authentic brand love, so that fans get meaningful rewards for posting about their favourite brands, businesses and experiences.”

Watt went on to suggest that traditional influencer marketing has always had a credibility problem. “No-one believes that celebrities or the biggest TikTokers and YouTubers just happen to be really into a brand; that’s why the power of conventional influencer endorsement is limited and dwindling.”

As well as rewarding users for promoting brands, Social Tip also aims to be the first repository of user-generated brand content, and an opportunity for consumers to monetise their posts by licensing images and rights for advertising and marketing.

Launch brand partners include BrewDog, Bella & Duke, Homeslice, Huel, PureGym, Slug & Lettuce and Virgin Pure.

“There is no denying that how consumers purchase products and services is heavily influenced by social content,” said Fred Soneya, co-founder of Haatch, a UK tech investment fund.

“Our attraction to investing in Social Tip is threefold; trust in paid advertising continues to fall, rewarding verified purchasers who share on social creates significant ROI for the brand whilst continuing to build loyalty with customers, and backing the B2B platform which is distributed by the largest brands is the scalable strategy.”

The founding Social Tip team also includes Thomas Matecki, former chief technology officer of fintech firm Zilch, and Georgia Lee, former managing director of premium food delivery service Supper.

Social Tip will officially be launched and become available for download later this summer.

Watt, who stepped away from the helm of BrewDog after 17 years, has also invested in “15 to 20” start-up businesses, including leading a £500,000 funding round for soft drink firm Living Things last week.

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