Luisito Vigoreaux: How a iconic TV producer becomes one of the top emerging influencers in 2020

It’s crazy how COVID-19 has changed our reality. Who would have thought that one of the most iconic figures in Puerto Rican television would become an influencer and even reach millennials? Having 110K followers on Instagram and 85K in Facebook, Luisito Vigoreaux has become one of the top influencers during the pandemic with his content “Date Un Palo Con Luisito” (Have a drink with Luisito).

Luisito Vigoreaux is what I would call a versatile influencer. Thanks to his 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry as a producer of TV shows and theater, he has evolved in social media (Instagram is the main platform)

This being said, Vigoreaux has reached two kinds of audiences:

• People 39+ who’s been following him through his career
• Millennials — this one was a surprise for him. Before #DateUnPaloConLuisito, people of 18 to 25 years weren’t that familiar with him or his work. Now days, they follow his content in social media and even buy his merchandise.

Since the lockdown began, Luisito started posting cocktails recipes on a daily basis. With a simple photo of him in front of his pool, wearing a juvenile outfit, and writing down the cocktail recipe, he became an influencer. It’s incredible how his posture towards social media shifted (before the pandemic he didn’t liked anything related to Facebook or Instagram).

One of the brands that are currently collaborating with him is Walmart. During this Halloween Season, Walmart has relaunched the campaign #LaBarritaDeWalmart hosted by the Puerto Rican comedian Alejandro Gil.

The purpose of this campaign is to create awareness and engagement with the audience by challenging them to look for their favorite beer or recipes of appetizers to consume during the OktoberFest through a video ad.

Vigoreaux emphasizes that you’ll find every ingredient for your favorite food, beer, or cocktail at Walmart while wearing a German costume. In this case, the campaigned launched on Luis Vigoreaux platforms and it doesn’t have any shares from Walmart. Also, if we evaluate how he’s promoting this campaign, Luis’s tone is pretty casual.

Even though the post was published recently (October 26), it has the following impact on his platforms:

• Facebook — 429 views, 25 comments and 60 shares
• Instagram — 16K reproductions, 17,010 views and 34 comments

As we can see, there aren’t a lot of comments on both platforms, and he doesn’t engage with each user. But on the bright side, most of the comments are people giving positive feedback.

Some of the comments are about how funny is Luis, calling him nicknames, saying that he’s the best, and others even post memes. Meanwhile, some people comment on which is their favorite craft beer among the options that Luis presents in the video.

Both behaviors are an example of how your consumers become your marketers and how they feel friends with the influencer.

Like Mark Schaefer said in his book Marketing Rebellion, “…there’s no denying influencer marketing works — nearly 50 percent of 25-to-34-years-olds say they have been motivated to try a new product solely on the recommendation of a social media influencer.” (page 208). It would be nice to see if his followers go to Walmart to buy a craft beer recommended by Vigoreaux and share about it on social media.

It’s no secret that Luis is a cooking and mixology amateur. This being said, he’s a great profile for Walmart because he can reach and attract potential customers (his followers) who have similar hobbies and interests. Having influencers working with your brand is a great strategy to increase your marketing promotion. “They are perceived as experts and friends” (Shaefer, page 211).

So here I’m wondering…Are you ready for this OktoberFest🍻🎃?

References:

Schaefer, M. W. (2019). Influencers Becomes Trusted Friends. In Marketing rebellion: The most human company wins (p. 208). S.l., California: Schaefer Marketing Solutions.

Schaefer, M. W. (2019). Influencer Marketing VS WOMM . In Marketing rebellion: The most human company wins (p. 211). S.l., California: Schaefer Marketing Solutions.