Newly branded Johannesburg-based media specialist theSalt is bringing authentic influencer-driven communication solutions to marketers and brands across the country that deliver on the bottom line.

CEO Pieter Groenewald explains: “As companies have adapted to their changing environment in an effort to reclaim the narrative, a new tool has evolved: the brand influencer. Brands have realised that most success is achieved when happy customers tell the brands story, on their behalf.”

theSalt is a rebranding of the established business Brandyourcar.com which is more in line with the company’s current media offering.

“Brandyourcar.com began as a business focused on vehicle branding in lifestyle environments, but with the recent trends around influencer marketing, has evolved where the hero is no longer the branded vehicle,” says Pieter. “Today’s true influencer is the driver, the consumer, the client, who through their own social media platforms and word of mouth referrals can have an enormous effect on the success or failure of a brand in today’s hyper-connected lifestyles, with the car still a trigger point.”

He says that the symbolic significance of the rebrand is that salt is effectively one of the natural elements that can make or break a meal or experience. “It’s humble, authentic, unfabricated and when used correctly, metaphorically, has much the same effect as an influencer in a marketing campaign that brings it all together through real, peer-based communication formed on actual positive experiences,” he says.

“The rise of digital and social media has given the consumer a voice, and we know that in today’s world, a brand is no longer what they tell the customer it is, the brand is what customers tell each other it is. Based on this, we’re using our existing database to identify key influencers for brands, authentic customers, and utilising the various channels available to them, both online and offline, to communicate their positive experiences about a specific brand to their communities.

Word of mouth conversations, social media platforms, video, audio, image and text are already widely utilised by consumers to sway their peers, we’re simply tapping into identified influencers for the benefit of our advertisers, boosting levels of trust between brand and consumer, engagement and ultimately ROI,” he says.

“Our unique channel isn’t designed to replace any of your current communication platforms, but rather to compliment them, just like salt does - it adds to the flavour.”

theSalt falls under the banner of the newly formed innovation hub Nfinity headed by CEO Ken Varejes, widely known in the media and marketing fields as an innovator and entrepreneur extraordinaire. Varejes was most recently the founder and CEO of Primedia Unlimited, the country’s largest groupings of out of home companies.

For more information, email Pieter Groenewald at [email protected] or [email protected]. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.